Sam Wilson's trauma response
Surprise, surprise I'm writing another post about Samuel Wilson and his not-so-healthy-but-not-super-obvious mental health... Here we go! Let's get into Sam's trauma response(s): fight or fawn?
The fight trauma response when used positively and productively can help a person "establish healthy boundaries, be assertive, find courage, become a strong leader, and protect oneself and loved ones (when necessary)". Sam manages to display all of these aspects in his personality and honestly it's refreshing because typically when a character, especially a male character, has a fight trauma response they tend to be toxic people with severe toxic masculinity instilled in them, but Sam doesn't have that.
Sam regularly establishes his boundaries by telling people what he will and won't do or what he will and will not accept. In his fight with Rumlow, he tells Rumlow to shut up with his villainous monologue. After Project Insight gets shut down, Steve tells him that he doesn't have to go looking for Bucky\the Winter Solider with him but Sam chooses to anyways. In TFATWS CAATWS, Sam tells Bucky that he will not accept Bucky hassling him about his rights, the shield, or what Steve had excepted (specifically in the therapy scene where Sam tells Bucky to "shut up"). Also in CAATWS, Sam establishes with the officer that he will not be handing over his ID because he wasn't violating any laws by just talking with Bucky. Sam's assertiveness is obvious in his introduction in CA: TWS when Sam flirts with Steve and Natasha within seconds of each other, as well as his flashy flying style and his approach to the boat and his family's business. The courage that flows throughout Sam is most obvious when he sets out to look for an assassin with very little hesitation, not to mention that he was the first to oppose the Sokovia Accords. I don't really feel like I need to explain Sam's leadership skills because mans is Captain America and marvel designated him to being Steve's lapdog for like four films. Lastly, Sam is a SUPERHERO! Of course, he's protective of people it's in the job description.
However, a fawn trauma response entails "denying preferences and personal boundaries to make other people happy in order to avoid 'danger'". While this definition doesn't really fit Sam the following might: "Do I put my needs aside to make others feel better? Do I feel empty in relationships after giving too much of myself?". The answer to both of these questions for Sam would most likely be "yes". The article I'm quoting states that if you answer yes to more than two out of five questions you may have the fawn response. Even though only two of the questions applied to Sam, he evidently doesn't have the fawn response but saying yes to any of the questions is something.
Sam saying yes to: "Do I put my needs aside to make others feel better? Do I feel empty in relationships after giving too much of myself?" makes sense for two reasons. As a black person, or a person of color, you learn at a young age what you should and shouldn't do in certain situations with white people, cops, and the general public. Also as a person with mental illness and\or a neurodivergent person there becomes this sometimes overwhelming need to fit in and just have people like you without using you or leaving you in a few months when you stop masking. With the intersection of these two things in Sam, he has no doubt faced hardship on account of his blackness (episode 1 & 2 of CAATWS) and he faces hardship on account of his trauma and mental illness (time in the USAF, losing Riley, losing Steve, growing up black in the southern USA, possibly being not het and\or cis, etc).
Sam has been through A LOT in his time in the MCU and not once has this man admitted to feeling too good and that's a bit of a problem ngl that's really on marvel writers. There are some positive aspects that the fawn response can facilitate "compassion for others, compromise, active listening, and fairness" but all of those things are really just traits that decent people should have regardless of their trauma and\or their trauma response(s). I'm not really gonna touch on those things in this post or on my blog unless I deem it relevant because it feeds into the narrative that Sam is some kind of comfort stuffie for their (white) fav and we don't vibe with that here. Sam is a fighter always has been, always will be and we love him for it, so let's give Sammy a nice hug because he's Samuel Thomas Wilson!
sources: Fawn Response, 4 Types of Trauma Response
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