Monday, May 19, 2014

NYT: “Trigger Warning”

"Should students about to read “The Great Gatsby” be forewarned about “a variety of scenes that reference gory, abusive and misogynistic violence,” as one Rutgers student proposed? Would any book that addresses racism — like “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” or “Things Fall Apart” — have to be preceded by a note of caution? Do sexual images from Greek mythology need to come with a viewer-beware label?"

An excerpt from a draft guide on "trigger warnings" from Oberlin College in Ohio.

"Colleges across the country this spring have been wrestling with student requests for what are known as “trigger warnings,” explicit alerts that the material they are about to read or see in a classroom might upset them or, as some students assert, cause symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in victims of rape or in war veterans." (read more)

56 comments:

The Dude said...

Seems some people really shouldn't venture out into the big world. Stay home in a darkened room. You will be safe.

I can see them now - filing for a PTSD disability claim because they read a book. Poor delicate hothouse flowers!

I wonder how much pressure those "triggers" need before the hammer falls.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I guess going to school, for some people, is like going to the movies.

An academic rating system.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Methinks Sixty is a triggerphobe.

The Dude said...

That's trigger-phile, Lemmy. I like to know how much force is required before it breaks. And by breaks I mean allows the hammer to fall onto the round under the hammer. The one in the chamber. Consistent, not-too-heavy a pull is a good thing.

Which reminds me - I need to get out to the range again.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Doesn't the word "trigger" trigger the N word?

Maybe I shouldn't use it, should it tri**er a casual reader.

Lest we get flagged.

KCFleming said...

The goal of PTSD treatment is not to teach avoidance of triggers, but to generate greater resilience because triggers (and other stresses in life) cannot be avoided.

Nor should they. Avoidance of stress makes you weaker, not stronger. There is an interval in early PTSD where triggers are avoided, but that is not meant to become a permanent state of being, because it cannot exist with normal life.

Instead, I see this not as a compassionate response to victims, but as yet another method to control the speech and behavior of others.

KCFleming said...

I think the easier solution is not to allow girls to go to college, for they are too frail.

Unknown said...

Cue Bagoh's: sign sign everywhere a sign.

How have we managed so far? We need the liberal-mind police to protect us from the world, books and each other.

KCFleming said...

What if your trigger was the word "trigger?"



That would make you Dale Evans.

Unknown said...

At some point, we will not be able to get out of bed in the morning without a lawyer standing over us and a pile of legal documents to sign.

Thank you oh glorious liberal. We are saved!

Unknown said...

Exactly Pogo...
And what about a trigger trigger? A warning about the warning. Then another warning about the warning, warning us... Nevermind - just take your Soma.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

My trigger is Danica Patrick ;)

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I'm sympathetic to the people who would benefit from a "trigger warning" because I used to suffer a tiny little bout of depression everytime I saw an unobtainably beautiful woman, such was my sexual frustration.

Living near Penn campus was hell.

Still, I'm not sure where you'd affix the trigger warning.

KCFleming said...

Life is a trigger.

But really, when did being a pussy become the in thing?

This girl is a good example of the wussification and infantilism of today's adults. Jeez, how embarrassing.

KCFleming said...

I'm going to invest in fainting couches; I see a big comeback.

Karen of Texas said...

This is the most asinine idea I've encountered ... this morning. Give me time, though. The day is young. My trigger *would* most definitely be the stupid trigger warning. I can already feel my blood pressure going up at the sheer volume of stupid we're being forced to wade through nowadays.

Michael Haz said...

Wait. College students now have to be warned about Roy Rogers' horse?

They are such special snowflakes, aren't they?

Karen of Texas said...

I think pharmaceuticals are the way to go, Pogo. I foresee the need for copious dispensations of antianxiety meds. OMG, we've been assigned Lord of the Rings. Hobbits trigger my fear of short people! Aaayyyeeee! Must have a script for Zanax or I'll never be able to get through it.

Karen of Texas said...

Would Fifty Shades of Grey get a black box warning?

virgil xenophon said...

Pogos' investment idea is sound. I see a BIG comeback again for the sight/habit of hysterical women "taking the vapors" at the thought of the slightest of lifes' speed-bumps--"trigger warnings" indeed!

Karen of Texas said...

You have no idea what staircases do to me. A Tale of Two Cities is out...

Icepick said...

People's brains are suffering from vapors lock.

KCFleming said...

Trigger couches.
Coming to college dorms and classrooms near you.

Made by my new manufacturing group
SOFA:
Society Of Fragile Adolescents

Each fainting couch, er, trigger couch, comes with a cupholder full of Xanax and Colorado cannabis.

AllenS said...

"Pull my trigger." [points at finger]

KCFleming said...

@Karen

True.
Live better through chemistry.
That's my motto.

KCFleming said...

Damn, I gotta get to work on monetizing this thing.

Unknown said...

SOFA:
Society Of Fragile Adolescents


lol

Known Unknown said...

Here There Be Tygers

Chip Ahoy said...

Their should be a horse neighing sound originating from off screen whenever the word "trigger" is used followed with a vexed look by Cloris Leachman.

I will provide them in my mind.

ricpic said...

Wimp Nation!

edutcher said...

Clearly, they will never venture out of mom's basement.

just sit there in their onesies, drinking hot chocolate, talking about health care.

Pogo is Only Mostly Dead said...

What if your trigger was the word "trigger?"

That would make you Dale Evans.


No, she rode Buttermilk; Roy rode Trigger (and, before him, Olivia DeHavilland).

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I think the easier solution is not to allow girls to go to college, for they are too frail

and

Cue Bagoh's: sign sign everywhere a sign.

See.... I have the solution. These fragile snowflakes should have their "triggers" tattooed on their foreheads so the rest of us will not accidentally "trigger" some terrible memory or cause icky hurt feelings.

Here are some "trigger" suggestions of things in literature and in movies that might make the little darlings fold up like a wilted flower: rape, spiders, race, bad words, mean men, mean women, murder, milk (for the lactose intolerant babies), orange (I hate the color orange so a Clockwork Orange is out), birth, death, sex, life.

It also seems that we should have some fainting couches strategically placed throughout the campus. The problem is that the normal kids will just have sex on the couches which will further traumatize the fragile kids. The sounds of their "triggers" being tripped will be deafening. Oooh. Deaf. That might also trigger someone so they should have that tattooed on their forehead so we can stop yelling at them.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

On a serious note. This is yet another symptom of just how lax, lazy and intellectually stagnent our youth have become. It is also a highlighting of how very very easy our lives have become. There are no "real" challenges or dangers in life for them, so they must make some up to justify their existences.

Sometimes I really long for that sci-fi EMP event (as in Dies the Fire) that will wake these useless children up....and....weed them out,leaving the strong,intelligent and useful. Humanity will be better for it. Alas. That is just sci-fi. We will just have to bonk them on their little soft heads.

edutcher said...

You're a hard woman, DBQ.

Aridog said...

Lem said...

My trigger is Danica Patrick ;)

You too?

Aridog said...

AllenS said...

"Pull my trigger." [points at finger]

sakredkow said...

How have we managed so far? We need the liberal-mind police to protect us from the world, books and each other.

Yeah, people on the right never engage in book censorship. That doesn't happen.

sakredkow said...

“Be aware of racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism, ableism, and other issues of privilege and oppression,” the guide said. “Realize that all forms of violence are traumatic, and that your students have lives before and outside your classroom, experiences you may not expect or understand.” For example, it said, while “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe — a novel set in colonial-era Nigeria — is a “triumph of literature that everyone in the world should read,” it could “trigger readers who have experienced racism, colonialism, religious persecution, violence, suicide and more.”

Infantilism of the mind.

Michael Haz said...

After all these years I finally learn that boobs are a trigger.

I blame women. They need warning signs on their tee shirts.

edutcher said...

They need warning signs on everything.

Rabel said...

I had the trigger finger once. Left thumb. It was weird, but the Doc fixed me right up.

Known Unknown said...

I am just a finger on a trigger on a finger
Doing everything I'm told to do
Always my intention my intention your attention
Just doing everything you tell me to

Icepick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aridog said...

Rabel...so what did you Doc do about the trigger finger...I never had any idea of what caused the lock up I periodically get in my...wait for it...my left thumb. So I've never asked...just figured it was part of being an old dude.

Unknown said...

Rabel - your post about Jill A. in the other thread made my stomach hurt I laughed to hard.

KCFleming said...

@Aridog

An orthopedist will often inject the affected part of the tendon with a little steroid. That often is sufficient.

trigger finger pic

Rabel said...

Ari, I hate to admit it, but I don't remember. Probably put me on an anti-inflammatory. No shots! It never came back.

Rabel said...

Thanks, April. I didn't get any feedback so I figured it didn't work. I thought it was pretty good as those things go.

The Dude said...

I had poison ivy on my trigger finger. Bad combination.

Trooper York said...

It's funny you should mention this right before Memorial Day.

In the 1950's and 1960's one of the most popular figures in America was the soft spoken singing Cowboy star Roy Rodgers. He would often ride in parades in Southern California for holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and of course the Tournament of Roses parade. Children of all ages would smile and wave as Roy would ride by on his beloved horse Trigger.

Unfortunately there was a problem. You see Trigger was so old that he was notoriously incontinent. He would lift up his grizzled tail and drop a deuce on the parade ground at the drop of a Stetson. So they had to have a guy follow him with a shovel and bucket so that the Pasadena High School Marching Band would not be knee deep in horse apples on the way to the Rose Bowl. Whenever Trigger would constrict his diaphragm and snort Roy would know he was about to drop a load. So Roy would take off his hat and wave to the crowd.

This was the trigger warning.

Trooper York said...

Many famous Hollywood figures got their start carrying that bucket and shovel.

David Geffen. Jamie Farr. Bob Crane. Harrison Ford.

It was the pathway to greatness.

Trooper York said...

Of course that might have been a Tinseltown legend. People try to copy that path to stardom but it doesn't seem to work anymore.

So spending time picking up dog feces in a dog park in Madison Wisconsin and chronicling it on blog is not necessarily a path to stardom.

But it can serve as a hobby to those so inclined.

edutcher said...

Trooper York said...

Many famous Hollywood figures got their start carrying that bucket and shovel.

Robert Mitchum.

MamaM said...

But it can serve as a hobby to those so inclined.

So is dropping a deuce while parading around waving the TOP hat and offering advice at Lem's, a place that hasn't to date (or at least to my awareness)been mentioned with respect or linked to by the Motherblog.

Paddy O said...

"been mentioned with respect"

We have suspect character over here.

rcocean said...

College is a racket and Liberal Arts "Professors" are a joke. Its been that way for 30 years.

Just one more joke for the Joke Book:

American's Clown Colleges.