it doesnt help that in online social justice-oriented spaces generally there's an overall notion that anything you say is more valid if you can attach your lived experience as a marginalized person to it. in more toxic instances this can lead to peoples' opinions being dismissed or their negative emotions or experiences being downplayed because they don't confess to having some kind of trauma, disorder, marginalized identity, etc. so of course, in such a situation, young people expressing a normal need for emotional validation or just wanting to be heard might attempt to adopt identities in order to fit in and be taken seriously.
Re: Unpopular Opinion...
it doesnt help that in online social justice-oriented spaces generally there's an overall notion that anything you say is more valid if you can attach your lived experience as a marginalized person to it. in more toxic instances this can lead to peoples' opinions being dismissed or their negative emotions or experiences being downplayed because they don't confess to having some kind of trauma, disorder, marginalized identity, etc. so of course, in such a situation, young people expressing a normal need for emotional validation or just wanting to be heard might attempt to adopt identities in order to fit in and be taken seriously.