#eldest daughter syndrome is mostly a pop psychology thing

[tarucore]

screenshotting this one bc I can acknowledge that I’ve got shipper goggles on and op isn’t about that life which is fair but

I feel like batfam fans misunderstand the term parentification a lot and conflate it with Dick filling a parental role for his siblings, which might be part of the “oldest daughter syndrome” that’s so often pinned on him but that isn’t what parentification actually means

If I say that Dick Grayson was parentified, then that isn’t referring to him taking care of his siblings, it refers to the way Bruce treated him. As someone capable of taking care of his emotional needs and not as the child in need of care in the relationship

Parentification is a term that’s been around for decades, and while having to care for younger siblings might be a part of the definition, it focuses mostly on the role reversal of the parent-child dynamic. I’m not going to get into the psychology of it but being parentified has very little to do with if he actually acted as a parent for his siblings and everything to do with if he acted as a parent for Bruce

This is honestly why I prefer the term spouseification, which is less ambiguous than the term parentification and I feel accurately describes their “equal” relationship and the type of emotional abuse that Dick went through

Also from what I’ve read, Dick doesn’t act as a parental figure for any of his siblings except for Damian. While he might have given extra emotional support to Tim due to Bruce being Bruce, Dick still fits solidly into an older brother role. I’m not even going to touch on Dick’s relationship with Jason which is too weak to even be considered fraternal never mind parental

#cw abuse #cw emotional abuse #dick grayson analysis #dickie bird #idk why I went off like this but parentification really has nothing to do with the siblings #like that’s not the psychological term #eldest daughter syndrome is mostly a pop psychology thing #it might be a real phenomenon that is heavily influenced by parentification but they aren’t synonyms #I’m hesitantly tagging this #brudick #just because I mentioned I ship them and want to do anyone that blocks that tag the courtesy of ignoring me #bruce wayne #and another thing!!!! i don’t consider dick’s relationship with damian negatively at all #it was extreme circumstances as comic books often are and they have a very healthy parent/child relationship from what i’ve seen #*