Camouflage has two purposes, defence and ambush. Animals like zebras develop striped patterns that makes it hard to distinguish individuals this increases their chances to survive in the case of an attack.
But simultaneously the light brown color of a lion is a form of camouflage that helps the lion to be less visible in the grass. This gives the lion the advantage to remain unseen until the critical moment where he is an advantage before he attacks.
Human beings are not like zebras, we don't necessarily develop physiological adaptation to fend off predators or become more efficient hunters.
But we do use clothes and the way we groom our bodies in a similar way animals develop evolutionary adaptations to camouflage.
Defensive camouflage is all about hiding your emotions, because they are going to give out the fact that you are weak and easy to exploit. While ambush camouflage is about hiding your intentions,
In order to develop camouflage you need to be trapped in a situation where it is impossible to avoid predators or it is impossible for you to get what you need in a fair way. This is why camouflage is accompanied by denial, people who use it are often unaware that they do. Denial it is in itself an adaptation to being trapped in abuse or lacking the knowledge to how to get out of the abuse. You could say that emotional camouflage is just a symptom of denial.
As the most efficient predator that attacks humans is the human itself we have to develop camouflage that works against our own species. Which means that the camouflage that we develop has to both attract certain people of our species while simultaneously reject another group of the member of our species.
A great example of this is the alternative cultures that develop around the mainstream culture, like currently the hipster movement. There are other ways people use camouflage: like wearing a suit, body building, alternative culture clothes even poor hygiene could be considered to a certain degree a form of camouflage the same way a skunks uses a strong pungent smell to repel predators, being overweight etc.
By wearing different clothes that the older generations does not wear anymore and using grooming like big facial hair you accomplish two things you alienate the older generations which serve the purpose of the predators. While you simultaneously make yourself appealing to other people like you that fell victims to the abuse and felt the need to camouflage using similar methods.
This is a great way to alienate the abusers and surround yourself with people that don't posses predator instinct. However there is a flaw to this strategy victim of abuse are not the most functional people in the world so you limit yourself to having relationships only with dysfunctional people.
If it is true that you are trapped in abuse and there is no way to escape it, living in fear and hiding who you are it is the best course of action. After all what is the zebra supposed to do there is no way out. When it comes to humans things get a little more complicated, because is not your species that defines you as the one that is being hunted. As much it is your view of the world and reaction to it and this is possible to change, it is like having the possibility to teach zebras how to use weapons.
The solution is not necessarily to become the hunter instead of the pray, because hunters need camouflage too as much as it is in learning how to disarm and avoid the predators and demand to be treated in a fair way.
