People are using trigger warnings for everything and it's getting so frustrating. It's as if the internal logic of a trigger and how it works has been completely forgotten by the social justice community. So here's three tips for triggers and how they are used and experienced.
1. Trigger warnings exist to prevent people from unintentionally being placed in a negative and emotional space-
Basically trigger warnings exist so that people who have experience with certain topics are protected from unintentionally being forced to discuss them when they don't want to. If a movie is incredibly troubling and sad, it doesn't necessarily need a trigger warning. In fact, it should just be acknowledged for its heavy content. Even if someone puts a Trigger warning for a movie, that doesn't necessarily mean you should not watch it. If you've never had experience with that particular trigger, perhaps it would be good for you to watch it. The point is that Trigger Warnings protect people with prior knowledge of the topic, not everyone indiscriminately.
2. To be Triggered you need some sort of experience with the topic at hand-
You can't be triggered by nothing. Something within the content itself needs to resonate (or challenge) with your lived experiences causing a stronger than expected emotional response. For example, there was a mock eviction campaign done in my school. The mock eviction was meant to show the horrible mass evictions that occur in Palestine due to illegal Israeli settlements. These mock evictions were spread through the residence halls, leaving many students feeling what they described as "triggered". However, this confused me. You see the University of Michigan has one of the most affluent student populations in the country, leading me to believe that an eviction notice wouldn't be something many of them would have experience with. If anything the notion of someone being kicked out of their home could upset them, sure, but that's not being triggered. Nothing about their lived experiences are being activated or "triggered" to make them have a far stronger emotional response than other people would. One can argue that the mere use of the Israel-Palestine context could have triggered some of these students (i.e. Jewish students feel this is anti Semitic slander), but the point is that the eviction notices themselves were not triggering.
That being said oppression tends to function in a particular way and I can see how the oppression of one group can look very similar to the oppression of another group. Again prior lived experiences still needs to be activated. So as a Puerto Rican who grew up in New York City, the movie Fruitvale Station resonated with me even though the protagonist was black. Just as stop and frisk targets Blacks, it also targets Latinos as well, making the protagonist's lived experience something I could see happening to me.
3. You can't TW everything-
At what point do we stop putting Trigger Warnings? If I mention clowns in this post should I put a Trigger Warning for clowns to protect people with coulrophobia (the fear of clowns)? My friend always told me "the world doesn't come with trigger warnings." And while I do think things like Sexual Assault, Poverty, and Racism should sometimes be given a Trigger Warning, I also think that articles whose subject matter are heavy and grizzly from the beginning should just be acknowledged as such and should have no trigger warning attached (i.e. do not watch fruitvale station if you are a minority from the inner city who doesn't want to be thrown into emotional distress). The point is that serious discussions have an implicit trigger warning. Sure certain topics can still affect you in a far more damaging way, but that should be evident from the outset of the article. If it isn't, then a trigger warning may be something to consider.
In closing, Trigger Warnings definitely have a place in blogging and writing, but please think before you hastily tag a Trigger Warning on an article and also please don't use the term triggered lightly.
Also, watch Fruitvale Station! Or don't. Honestly it's your call
1. Trigger warnings exist to prevent people from unintentionally being placed in a negative and emotional space-
Basically trigger warnings exist so that people who have experience with certain topics are protected from unintentionally being forced to discuss them when they don't want to. If a movie is incredibly troubling and sad, it doesn't necessarily need a trigger warning. In fact, it should just be acknowledged for its heavy content. Even if someone puts a Trigger warning for a movie, that doesn't necessarily mean you should not watch it. If you've never had experience with that particular trigger, perhaps it would be good for you to watch it. The point is that Trigger Warnings protect people with prior knowledge of the topic, not everyone indiscriminately.
2. To be Triggered you need some sort of experience with the topic at hand-
You can't be triggered by nothing. Something within the content itself needs to resonate (or challenge) with your lived experiences causing a stronger than expected emotional response. For example, there was a mock eviction campaign done in my school. The mock eviction was meant to show the horrible mass evictions that occur in Palestine due to illegal Israeli settlements. These mock evictions were spread through the residence halls, leaving many students feeling what they described as "triggered". However, this confused me. You see the University of Michigan has one of the most affluent student populations in the country, leading me to believe that an eviction notice wouldn't be something many of them would have experience with. If anything the notion of someone being kicked out of their home could upset them, sure, but that's not being triggered. Nothing about their lived experiences are being activated or "triggered" to make them have a far stronger emotional response than other people would. One can argue that the mere use of the Israel-Palestine context could have triggered some of these students (i.e. Jewish students feel this is anti Semitic slander), but the point is that the eviction notices themselves were not triggering.
That being said oppression tends to function in a particular way and I can see how the oppression of one group can look very similar to the oppression of another group. Again prior lived experiences still needs to be activated. So as a Puerto Rican who grew up in New York City, the movie Fruitvale Station resonated with me even though the protagonist was black. Just as stop and frisk targets Blacks, it also targets Latinos as well, making the protagonist's lived experience something I could see happening to me.
3. You can't TW everything-
At what point do we stop putting Trigger Warnings? If I mention clowns in this post should I put a Trigger Warning for clowns to protect people with coulrophobia (the fear of clowns)? My friend always told me "the world doesn't come with trigger warnings." And while I do think things like Sexual Assault, Poverty, and Racism should sometimes be given a Trigger Warning, I also think that articles whose subject matter are heavy and grizzly from the beginning should just be acknowledged as such and should have no trigger warning attached (i.e. do not watch fruitvale station if you are a minority from the inner city who doesn't want to be thrown into emotional distress). The point is that serious discussions have an implicit trigger warning. Sure certain topics can still affect you in a far more damaging way, but that should be evident from the outset of the article. If it isn't, then a trigger warning may be something to consider.
In closing, Trigger Warnings definitely have a place in blogging and writing, but please think before you hastily tag a Trigger Warning on an article and also please don't use the term triggered lightly.
Also, watch Fruitvale Station! Or don't. Honestly it's your call
