TRIGGER WARNING: Trigger Warnings

The BBQ Pit
1

All too often, I’ve been reading lively, thought-provoking content from a forum, blog, or online magazine, only to finally get so fed up with the constant "TRIGGER WARNING!"s that I just stop going there. Despite the fact that I’ve only ever seen them crop up in feminist circles, I personally think they are idiotic, obnoxious, **sexist **bullshit.

Case in point: Feministe puts up a post:

And the post links to an article about an Onion joke and comments,

Then the post ends with

Well no shit, Feministe! I was about to click on that link thinking it would be about pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows. Thank God your helpful trigger warning informed me that it was actually about violence against women, a joke about beating a woman to death, and Chris Brown beating Rihanna. I never would have known! Because evidently, as a woman, I’m a moron.

Look, let’s just be fucking adults, put descriptive titles on our posts, and give people a head’s up before linking them to very explicit sexual, violent, or gross content. Fine, good. But please for the love of cross-dressing Thor, don’t label it as TRIGGER WARNING, because the whole concept is insulting and patronizing. The entire basis of this practice is a belief that the women reading these sources are delicate, defenseless creatures. And that we don’t merely have complex emotional and intellectual responses to information, we’re like robots or some kind of sleeper agents for hysteria that can be *triggered *by the tiniest reference to our problem subject.

What are these bozos going to do when they realize that the trigger warning actually contains a reference to the “triggering” subject? Oh noes! We better start just posting “TRIGGER WARNING: something bad.” But, you know, “bad” has negative connotations. It might trigger someone who has had a bad experience. You know what, maybe someone should just act as a kind of gatekeeper over subjects, someone to say, “Oh sweetheart, you’re just too delicate to read about this horrible subject. Your strengths really lie more in the nurturing, caring areas - maybe I can direct you to a thread that suits your natural talents and inclinations better.” Oooh, yeah, this is a great idea. Then all the women would be totally protected and would never be triggered. But the gatekeeper might get still get triggered . . . wait! let’s make it a man! Perfect. Feminism is saved!

(Oh, and for the record, I thought the Onion’s joke was funny, too.)

2

I hadn’t heard of this term before. When I saw the title of this thread my first thought was -

“What is it Trigger? Is Roy Rogers in trouble? Are the bad guys coming at us?”

3

I think the only time they’re really needed, those posters are the ones who wouldn’t use them regardless, so we’d need some kind of configurable browser add-on to flag shit for you.

I remember being pissed at someone in (IIRC) GD who decided to win the latest death penalty debate, he had to suddenly drop in a “why wouldn’t you execute (horrendous torturer/rapist who did X, Y, and Z (graphic detail)) because duh” type of post. Gee thanks, fuck you very much, asshole. (And no, it didn’t change my mind on the death penalty, but it did make me momentarily have the urge to be able to inflict a PTSD-style memory.)

But yeah, please, “use your words.” Describe what you’re linking to or about to discuss by noting that it is graphic or violent or intense or goes into great detail. “TRIGGER WARNING” is so OMGZ and infantilizing.

4

Relevant blog rant from a few years ago.

I got into this with a friend of mine at the time who defended the trigger warnings as a useful tool in the battle against PTSD, while I attacked them for all the reasons listed here and in the linked blog. In the course of the argument, I was saying something like, “You don’t see trigger warnings for any other sorts of traumatic things,” when I paused and decided to do some googling. “Trigger warning suicide,” “trigger warning pedophilia,” and “trigger warning war” all return lots of hits; I’d just never seen them because nobody ever sent me links to suicide blogs for the purposes of RO.

I started thinking, why is the vitriol against trigger warnings primarily directed against feminist blogs? Why don’t trigger warning for suicide annoy me as much as trigger warnings for sexual assault? I think the answer is that feminist blogs already annoy me; in short, I’m not a unbiased observer, and I decided to bow out of the argument.

5

[Trigger warning bullshit]

6

I note in the linked html about “Trigger Warnings” it includes ‘Anything that might inspire intrusive thoughts in people with OCD’, which covers about 90% of the observed universe and a bunch of stuff that isn’t real at all.

And anyone who says the Onion isn’t funny is wrong by definition.

Regards,
Shodan

7

HEAR, HEAR!

My problem with ‘‘Trigger Warnings’’ isn’t just that they are infantilizing, but that ‘‘avoiding your triggers’’ is really bad trauma recovery advice. I see it recommended by a lot of sexual abuse/rape recovery websites and so-called ‘‘experts’’ and it infuriates me.

I have what used to be severe PTSD and in my research I have discovered that the trauma response is a classic stimulus-behavior dysfunction where the brain confuses similar-seeming stimuli with the traumatic event itself. It is basically that same ‘‘avoiding my triggers’’ behavior that creates PTSD symptoms in the first place. Trying to resist or avoid unpleasant thoughts just makes them more likely to pop up at totally random and inconvenient times, and reinforces the anxiety one has around those situations. The ONLY way to effectively treat PTSD is through exposure to said triggers, over and over and over, until the victim realizes they aren’t dangerous and they no longer serve as triggers. This can be done through hard-core formalized prolonged exposure therapy (as I did) or just general processing and dealing with all those feelings and anxieties. It’s not popular because it’s not fun, but it works.

Don’t trust anyone who tells you to avoid your triggers in order to feel more at peace. Don’t trust anyone that thinks sheltering you from unpleasant feelings is compassionate. This is a case where tough love really is the best course of action.

ETA: Read that honking huge list of things we’re supposed to put warnings for. ''Slimy things""?!! Really?

8

(emphasis added)
That was beautifully put, and made me laugh! Yeah, as someone with OCD, when I read that on the list, I snorted.

olivesmarch4th, that’s a really interesting point. Maybe it’s part of why I’m so annoyed by this today - this week I told my therapist I was considering blocking all news out of my life so I wouldn’t be exposed to horrors that inspire lots of compulsive rumination, but she was like, eeeeehhhhhhh, maybe not the best idea. Her take was it’s better to balance exposure to some nasty stuff with avoiding delving into it to the point of masochism.

(Just to be clear, I would never expect, say, a joke meme with Charles Ramsey to be labeled and bubble-wrapped and flagged “Trigger Warning!” just because I had a week where I couldn’t handle thinking about that case. I just tried not to read about it.)

9

Well, there’s a fine line between ‘‘remaining balanced’’ and pointless rumination. On the flip side of the ‘‘avoidance’’ symptom of PTSD is obsession, and it’s just as troublesome. Something about that case really got to me, too. I’ve heard similar stories without necessarily any emotional fallout, but this one… just struck me differently, I guess. I haven’t avoided the subject altogether but I have been careful not to get too involved as well. It’s a tough balance to strike.

I actually find I am happier when I limit my news intake - not eliminate altogether, but the over-saturation of bad news tends to make me either angry or depressed so I try to take it in small doses. I have begun to do the same with political discussions also. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. The problem is when you put the burden on other people - on external circumstances - to keep your emotional shit together. To me, that is what ‘‘trigger warning’’ does. It’s a hard reality, but the world does not owe me any favors just because I had a fucked up childhood. I should be able to click on a link without it ruining my day, and if it does ruin my day, that means I need to get my house in order, not that everyone else should run around taping pads to the corners of tables so I can feel ‘‘safe.’’

10

I don’t think I’ve ever labeled something with ‘trigger warning’ and I probably won’t start because I’m not really into reading about stuff that would contain triggery things but I would say that, at least for me, if you ever see taping up corners in a metaphorical way, it’s not because I feel burdened to do so, but because it has struck me as an appropriate thing to do and I wouldn’t feel any more put out than if you had asked me to pass the salt at the dinner table. If someone tells me they don’t want coddling, I won’t coddle them, but I wouldn’t expect someone with a foot in a cast to go on a 3 hour hike with me either.

11

Honestly I more often see trigger warnings on websites ( glorifying things like rape, self cutting, brutal images of death or mutilation) as more of a CYA than any actual concern for those who may be negatively affected. It’s like they are saying “I told you so” so you can’t chastise them for posting insensitive or reprehensible content

12

Pass the salt?

PASS THE SALT???

You fucking MONSTER! Don’t you know I was beaten as a child for passing the salt incorrectly? Thanks to you I’ll be spending the day hiding under my desk. Bastard.

13

I’ve seen them used for threads about things like pictures of spiders as well as the issues listed above. It’s a symptom of our overly-padded culture, where every special snowflake should never ever be exposed to something that might harm their fragile ego.

14

You are not alone. And I bet we’re the same age.

15

I don’t see what’s so onerous about having to read a couple words, and if it helps someone Ii think it’s worth it. I don’t think there needs to be trigger warnings everywhere, but if a blog is a “safe space” for people who may have been traumatized, then I think it’s a good idea.

I don’t have PTSD but recently my brother committed suicide by gun. I have been avoiding stories about suicide and gun violence, because they are hard for me to read. I appreciate the trigger warnings; oftentimes violence shows up in articles where I wasn’t expecting it. Now, sometimes it shows up without trigger warnings, and I can handle that. Recently a show I watch featured footage of a public shooting, and it gave me a full blown panic attack. It wasn’t fun, and it ruined my night (usually my favorite night of the week, since this is my favorite show) but I survived just fine. And I don’t expect that a show should have trigger warnings. But, it really did trigger me, and it really was awful. To the extent trigger warnings mitigate that for people, it’s a good thing.

Also, I agree with Olives that avoiding things that upset you isn’t healthy long term. But at the same time, I don’t think it’s up to me to say how someone else needs to manage their trauma. I don’t know how recently it occurred, or if something in their life just dredged up a lot of garbage, or if they are having just a monstrous day.

I guess I feel like, in places where survivors of abuse/rape/etc. may gather it doesn’t hurt, and certainly the minor annoyance of seeing the words doesn’t compare to the actual suffering a victim might have. It sometimes goes overboard, but I think going a bit overboard in an effort to keep from hurting another isn’t a bad fault to have. I don’t want the whole world wrapped in shrinkwrap. i don’t want trigger warnings on every site and story. But they don’t bother me (and in fact, lately I’ve used them) on sites that serve an audience that appreciates them.

16

Help me out here. Does this mean that if I see what is being labeled as a ‘trigger’, it will make want to beat, rape, maim, kill, etc…?

17

Don’t you already anyway? I mean, maybe just a little?

18

No.

It’s meant for (let’s say) victims of rape or abuse. If there was a a story about, oh, I don’t know, those kidnapped girls in Cleveland, and in the story it talked about the rapes they endured (or especially if it described their abuse in a graphic way), and a feminist blog that has a lot of readers who have been victims of rape and abuse wanted to link to that story for some reason, they might, beside the link, write TRIGGER WARNING: Graphic descriptions of rape and abuse. Then, if you as a victim, felt like today you couldn’t handle reading that, you wouldn’t click the link. It’s just to tell people who may have suffered trauma that the link may be difficult to read.

The issue is that it can be overused, and in some feminist* spaces there’s hardly ever a link without a TRIGGER WARNING next to it. And sometimes the triggers they list seem awfully silly. And if you read a lot of those blogs it can start to drive you nuts.

*I know other places have them too, but I never see them anywhere else, so…

ETA: I should have said, trigger in this case refers to triggering PTSD

19

snicker

Pretty much. When I was just going into first grade about half my class saw a kid run in front of the bus and get smeared on the pavement, and we didn’t have all these shrinks rush to school and help us cope, we went to class.

And on a mail list I hang out in we have a woman who went to MIT and became an Air Force officer back in the 60s, she is a serious man hater at this point in time - no matter what, men are pretty much to blame for her lack of scintillating career, her craptastic jobs … ugh.

20

Perhaps this is naive and I certainly don’t intend to victim blame, but why would you keep reading such a post once you realized it was referring to something that could trigger your PTSD?

For example, while I don’t have PTSD, I have a lot of anxiety problems about alcohol due to the fact that my dad died from alcoholism. If I realize something I’m reading is likely to ‘trigger’ me, I simply stop reading it.

I guess that’s what I don’t understand in these cases. It’s as if someone doesn’t say TRIGGER WARNING, the people affected won’t realize what they’re reading until after they finish, at which point they are doomed to suffer some negative effect.

edit: Of course, sometimes one sentence or 10 second video clip is all it takes.
But more often I see people complaining about something that is paragraphs of graphic detail or a full scene in a movie. I just don’t get that.