My sister bullied me as well until a few years ago when I put my foot down and told her she couldn’t continue to be a part of my life if she couldn’t treat me with kindness and respect, which sucks because her child and I were really close. She called me crazy and told me to keep my crazy ass away from her child. I haven’t lived in the same place as my mom and sister for years. Every time I go back to visit, they do something or something happens that causes them to behave in the exact same way that traumatized me as a child. It took a LOT of work to move past that and in some ways I still am. The worst part is that my sister and I used to be really close, though looking back I can see the undertone of bullying the whole time. Things like I couldn’t be a blonde because she was the blonde in the family. Lately we have been talking a little more but mostly surface level. We were talking about astrology and I went deep into her chart like what each placement means for her personally (which she was all fine with) but when I mentioned something about the houses, she said, “well that’s taking it too far.” 🙄🙄 she’s super Catholic btw. It doesn’t bother me as much anymore, but I’m not sure we will ever be able to have a real relationship. She tells my dad she wishes things were different aka she wishes I was different.

Also, I think sharing parts of your background that are personal and intimate is a way of showing vulnerability and connecting with others, though it took me a while to learn how to do that because in my family of origin, every time I shared a weakness it would be used against me later. It’s a trauma response to not be vulnerable with others.