I can't speak as a Spuffy fan, but I would say I would not introduce this show to anyone who had trauma issues. I did warn one woman with deep trauma issues regarding rape (she couldn't even read about it in a book without sometimes destroying it) and she had me sum it up for her and carefully select the episodes to watch for her in season 6. She was not pleased how the Spuffy arc in season 7 handled it, though as much for pragmatic reasons as personal ones. It turned her off of Buffy (the only season 6 ep she liked was OMWF, and other than that Buffy ended with season 5 for her). Perhaps I should mention that she was in her late 50s at the time.
And hash tag activism is way too decentralized to assume much about anyone who engages in it (and it would not surprise me if there are Spuffy fans that use the Me, Too hashtag, especially if they imitated Buffy's bad choices toward Spike in the real world which tends to turn out a lot worse in real life). Some involved want a reasonable and much needed talk about a problem in society while others are about infantilizing women who conflate flirting with rape or even want to treat all men as guilty and all women as innocent by virtue of gender, and a great many other variations. Though before the MT, I saw one guy online who took anything Anita Sarkeesian said as gospel hate on Sucker Punch for objectifying women and being misogynist, and then without missing a beat praised Heavy Metal for empowered female characters (I'm sure he'll change his mind once Mamma Sarkeesian tells him to, but he had room for that kind of cognitive dissonance at the time, and I expect many Me Too hashtaggers can find room for cognitive dissonance as well).
I don't mean to say that all who do this do so through cognitive dissonance (though I think he does). It's a complex world. I can even think of one ship I love (from a book/movie few have heard of) that I would not want to be allowed by law, and I don't see it as contradictory (and I'd be willing to say why but I've gone on long enough and may not be relevant to what you're looking for).
If someone were the type to infantilize women or otherwise upset that the world isn't their safe space then I wouldn't show it to them, but then I wouldn't likely have much to do with them or they me anyway, so it's a moot point. If I knew someone was like that and they were watching the show, I might give a heads up, or at least say that season 6 and what follows may test their boundaries, but that's about it. For the most part I'd just shrug it off and not care what they think or feel, especially if they were made aware of it but watched it anyway.
And just in case it needs to be said...not all Millennials and Post-Millennials are in need of coddling or easily distressed. They gave us other hashtag movements like GamerGate as well (another heavily decentralized hashtag movement that means radically different things to different people who take part in it--and includes plenty of females, btw). From what I hear most are trying to get by without getting burned by any internet lynch mobs, and those in college just want to get their degree and get out of that madhouse as fast as they can. They have enough problems without inviting more through open disagreement with political fanatics and extremists. And if they can watch shows like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad then they can sure as hell get through Buffy. (It's also worth noting that plenty of older generations can be just as hyper sensitive themselves, even if it's often from a more conservative viewpoint.)
And I personally don't get passionate about ships nor my shows. Though it seems a radical notion these days (but I know I'm not unique), some of us don't need the world to validate our choices of media, nor do we look down on those who choose to watch different shows instead. I can even recognize shows I won't watch as brilliant, just not my cup of tea. Though I did have a hard time not saying anything when someone told me he hated Buffy because (as best I recall) "you can't beat up demons, and I won't watch a show that doesn't understand that." 😀
On a side note, I think you'd have better luck posting (or moving) this to the Spike subforum.
