Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Feminist Website Bans Use of "Trigger Warnings" Citing "Trigger" as "Triggering"

Everyday Feminism, which "has quickly become one of the most popular feminist digital media sites in the world" according to its website, has banned "trigger warnings" as the warnings themselves could be triggering.

In an article published Sunday, Everyday Feminism set out to explain what the word "triggering" means. The title of the piece is "Not Sure What People Mean By ‘Triggering?’ This Article Is Your One-Stop 101" and was written by Gillian Brown.

At the beginning of the article, however, there is a multiple-paragraph warning about its content. It begins (emphasis theirs): "Editors Note: Like this phenomenal article, Everyday Feminism definitely believes in giving people a heads up about material that might provoke our reader’s trauma. However, we use the phrase “content warning” instead of “trigger warning,” as the word “trigger” relies on and evokes violent weaponry imagery."

It continues, "This could be re-traumatizing for folks who have suffered military, police, and other forms of violence. So, while warnings are so necessary and the points in this article are right on, we strongly encourage the term “content warning” instead of "trigger warning.""

Not feeling like that warning was enough, the article then warns again, "Content Warning: This article discusses triggering in detail and mentions common topics of triggering (sexual assault, anxiety, health anxiety, depression, death, non-specific fears and phobias)."
The article then goes on to explain that "triggering occurs when any certain something (a “trigger”) causes a negative emotional response." What could be a trigger? "Anything. Absolutely anything," the article explains.

Sometimes they can remind the person of sexual assault or a traumatic event. Sometimes it's something that has not happened to the person who is "triggered" or has nothing to do with them.

"I am often triggered when I see books by Terry Pratchett," the author writes.

18 comments:

  1. Well,that's a real shame...here I was all set to submit an article to them about Roy Rogers' horse

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  2. I can't read it, I have to go feed my lagoon triggerfish.

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  3. Next week.. "Content Warning" language is declared to be triggering due to its close relationship with actual trigger warnings and is to be replaced with a small picture of a kitten

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    1. Give me a sunshine warning before mentioning kittens, shitlord!

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    2. That's problematic for me.
      -Tarzan

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  4. We really must stop using words altogether, as they often create distress amongst the victims of our paternalistic, militaristic, heteronormative rape culture. From now on we will communicate with jazz hands, the limited vocabulary of which will be set by a panel of racially diverse feminist professors.

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    1. No because jazz hands trigger those of abuse due to the fast violent motions

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  5. Next thing you know some will want to replace pen.. with cl..

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  6. this is hysterical. at this point it should just say "content warning: ask your mommy to hold your hand while you read this."

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  7. Impressive. Soon we will not be capable I'd spreading and will have to communicate via grunts. Thanks social justice

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  8. How do people take feminism seriously?

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  9. What if unnatural hair color was considered triggering?

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  10. The stupid! It burns!!!!! (Seriously, this has nothing to do with feminism)

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  11. The were a few cases in the middle ages of young women getting themselves walled up in cells attached to churches, to keep themselves from the world's corrupting influence.

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  12. "I am often triggered when I see books by Terry Pratchett," the author writes.
    your inability to go to a bookstore without collapsing in terror is not my problem, nor is it anyone else's. i'm not going to warn anyone about a god damned thing. ever. why? because feeling bad is not the worst thing that can happen to someone. in fact, it's a universal fact of life for all human beings. if something so silly and stupid as the cover of a silly british author's book can make you collapse into a quivering puddle of terror, perhaps existence just isn't something you enjoy. perhaps you'd be happier if you simply didn't exist any more

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  13. The feminist projection of women as fragile victims has reached a level of psychotic absurdity. Commonly called 'Fainting Couch Feminism' this Infantilizing of woman is degrading and misogynistic.

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