Trigger Warnings on Books

Kristen Lamb had a stunningly well written blog post on Tuesday. It expressed her thoughts on a subject that's been on my mind lately: the thought of “trigger warnings” on books. I find myself ambivalent on the subject. On the one hand, I can see the reasoning behind people getting upset it, falling into the cultural facet of Empathetic Correctness. On the other hands I can see how warnings that would help people with PTSD and similar things prepare themselves for finding the scene in a book.

Huffington Post has a very interesting take on it. Their opinion is that it's not as bad as we're thinking, though it does have the potential to become a problem. A lot of what they say has to do with the fact that it would just be a few words on a syllabus warning those who have suffered past trauma that it's coming up, not that they aren't required to read the book for their classes.

The Guardian has a different point of view. They say that it's one step away from book banning. They hold forth on the fact that it's catering to a overly sensitive crowd of students who don't want to deal with the harsh realities of real life.

As I said, I can see the potential of both situations. On the one hand, I can see needing a few trigger warnings on things such as violent rape scenes, acts of domestic violence, things like that which could send someone spiraling back into a flashback of a terrible situation. But I also don't think that there needs to be trigger warnings for every little thing that might offend someone.

There's a difference between offending someone and actually triggering anxiety/fear flashbacks. The first is an act of pedantry. The second is something that can cripple someone emotionally. In dealing with the trigger warnings on books, if there is a violent rape scene I can see a warning about that in the book. It gives a person who has been raped the information it's coming and they can know what to expect, even brace themselves so they don't react as violently.

I use trigger warnings in some of my blog posts because I don't want someone having a flashback and losing control. I warn them what's in my post so they know what they're facing. This has driven some readers away. But others have come back and told me how much they appreciated the warning so they can prepare themselves for it.

There is such a thing as being too Empathetically Correct. The current trend for that is very disturbing. People aren't looking for success because they're being told everyone is the same. No one is reaching for anything because they expect to be given the same privileges as everyone else. The idea of over generalizing trigger warnings smacks of this.

Let's take a breath and do more research on it. I think everyone should get their voices in on this and let your opinion be known. If you're for it, that's great. If you're against it, that's great. Keep things civil and discuss it in the comments. Let me know what you think of all of this.

A is for Abuse (Trigger Warning)

At any given time in the United States, there are children and adults being threatened or who are experiencing some kind of abuse - physical, emotional, sexual. The statistics are there for everyone to see. You can see Domestic Violence statistics here and can look up the Child Abuse statistics here.

Victims of abuse are often too scared to come forward. Most of the time with children it is someone else who notices the victimization and reports it. Some abuse victims feel like they deserve what they're getting because they've been convinced by their abuser of their worthlessness.

Abuse is not something to be ignored. Abuse is not something that will go away with time. The interesting thing to remember though is abusers were probably abused themselves. This doesn't excuse what they're doing. Abuse is never right no matter what the situation is.

Victims of abuse can perpetuate the abuse with others. To stop the cycle of abuse something needs to be done. Abusers don't always realize what they're doing because it seems normal to them. This is what their life was like so it must be how things are done. Sometimes all it takes is someone calling them out on it to get them to seek help. Other times it just makes things worse.

If you know of someone being abused, please report it. Get them help. Don't stand by and let someone get hurt or possibly killed. Encourage them to speak up. Tell them this isn't normal and they don't deserve it. If you are a victim of abuse get away from your abuser. You aren't at fault and you need to leave. Children often don't have a voice. Be their voice. Stand up for them.

I was emotionally and physically abused as a child. No one spoke for me. I believed I was worthless and deserved what I got because of that. I'm turning 37 this year and I still have problems thinking that. My husband is amazing and tries to build me up. He talks to me, encourages me to think past that, and open my eyes to how much worth I really have.

Sometimes it works.

I can be very self destructive because of what happened to me growing up. All the way into my adulthood I was afraid of my abuser. It wasn't until I got away from them and found my own life that the fear started to lift. I've been at this for 15 years, escaping from the fear and emotional scarring of the abuse. As I said before, it's not an easy road. I'm better than I was but I still have a long way to go.