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Trigger (Happy) Warnings:
Mar. 6th, 2014 04:59 amBeen engaging in a bunch of discussions about a new online trend. People are complaining about, of all things, Trigger Warnings. If you're not familiar, a "Trigger Warning" is a single sentence before an article, a TV show, vid, or podcast that contain subject matter known to be triggering--that is to say, can cause profound discomfort or distress to someone. TW's cover things like sexual assaults, child or animal abuse, eating disorders, abusive or hateful language--that sort of thing. Trigger Warnings are also used in the creation of "safe spaces" online (or in RL, I suppose) so people can go to a given forum or chatroom and know that certain topics won't come up or that specific types of asshattery won't be tolerated.
So yeah, there's a backlash now. Apparently, there are "too many" trigger warnings. All this compassion is getting "ridiculous," and the "whole thing has gone too far," say pundits and bloggers everywhere. I can't help but translate this as "Okay ladies, we've acknowledged your feelings, now please stop bitching about X, Y, and Z. Being respectful to your hangups is getting old, and some of your fears and issues are dumb IMO."
I very rarely bust out the "P" word, but people who don't have to give a single thought about Triggering do have a kind of Privilege. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to live a life free of anxiety or without fear of some kind of embarrassing or debilitating reaction to something. If this is your life, that's awesome for you. You should be able to develop some friggin compassion for people who were not so lucky.
I don't doubt that there are writers or publications that are overzealous about their Trigger Warnings. I agree that there are more Trigger Warnings around than there used to be. Some drivers don't know how to use their blinkers--it doesn't mean that blinkers have "gone too far." What the fuck does "gone too far" even mean anyway? Anyway, more Trigger Warnings doesn't necessarily mean they need to be curtailed. It might just mean that we're learning to care more about how our words affect others. Wouldn't that be neat?
When people complain about Trigger Warnings, one of the slippery slope fears is that it creates a fantasy world where people can hide from reality. This is so dumb, I can't imagine that people actually believe it when they say it. If you skip an article about rape, you might just forget that rape exists? Not bloody likely. Maybe you're reading the news on your break at work and just don't want to be thinking about rape for the rest of the day.
Underlying it all, I think, is a contempt for feelings by people (who should goddamn well know better) who confuse emotion for weakness. And boy, do we hate other people asking us to accommodate "weakness." I don't expect to hear that nonsense outside of FOX "news" or Dr Drew. Just as food stamps don't make people dependent on food or whatever, Trigger Warnings don't make people forget that there is bad in the world. If anything, people who appreciate and utilize Trigger Warnings know first-hand about the evils of the world, and just need (and fucking deserve, goddammit) a break from it every now and again. How about not giving them shit for it?
Ultimately, it's a single goddamn sentence. If it doesn't apply to you, by all means, scroll right on past it. I know people are in the habit of skimming most of what they read online. Why else would people send me links to my own articles saying "Saw this and thought of you..." ???
So yeah, there's a backlash now. Apparently, there are "too many" trigger warnings. All this compassion is getting "ridiculous," and the "whole thing has gone too far," say pundits and bloggers everywhere. I can't help but translate this as "Okay ladies, we've acknowledged your feelings, now please stop bitching about X, Y, and Z. Being respectful to your hangups is getting old, and some of your fears and issues are dumb IMO."
I very rarely bust out the "P" word, but people who don't have to give a single thought about Triggering do have a kind of Privilege. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to live a life free of anxiety or without fear of some kind of embarrassing or debilitating reaction to something. If this is your life, that's awesome for you. You should be able to develop some friggin compassion for people who were not so lucky.
I don't doubt that there are writers or publications that are overzealous about their Trigger Warnings. I agree that there are more Trigger Warnings around than there used to be. Some drivers don't know how to use their blinkers--it doesn't mean that blinkers have "gone too far." What the fuck does "gone too far" even mean anyway? Anyway, more Trigger Warnings doesn't necessarily mean they need to be curtailed. It might just mean that we're learning to care more about how our words affect others. Wouldn't that be neat?
When people complain about Trigger Warnings, one of the slippery slope fears is that it creates a fantasy world where people can hide from reality. This is so dumb, I can't imagine that people actually believe it when they say it. If you skip an article about rape, you might just forget that rape exists? Not bloody likely. Maybe you're reading the news on your break at work and just don't want to be thinking about rape for the rest of the day.
Underlying it all, I think, is a contempt for feelings by people (who should goddamn well know better) who confuse emotion for weakness. And boy, do we hate other people asking us to accommodate "weakness." I don't expect to hear that nonsense outside of FOX "news" or Dr Drew. Just as food stamps don't make people dependent on food or whatever, Trigger Warnings don't make people forget that there is bad in the world. If anything, people who appreciate and utilize Trigger Warnings know first-hand about the evils of the world, and just need (and fucking deserve, goddammit) a break from it every now and again. How about not giving them shit for it?
Ultimately, it's a single goddamn sentence. If it doesn't apply to you, by all means, scroll right on past it. I know people are in the habit of skimming most of what they read online. Why else would people send me links to my own articles saying "Saw this and thought of you..." ???
