Trigger Warning: Students Want Trigger Warnings About Class Material

[benjipwns]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/us/warning-the-literary-canon-could-make-students-squirm.html?_r=0

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?

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.

The warnings, which have their ideological roots in feminist thought, have gained the most traction at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where the student government formally called for them. But there have been similar requests from students at Oberlin College, Rutgers University, the University of Michigan, George Washington University and other schools.

The debate has left many academics fuming, saying that professors should be trusted to use common sense and that being provocative is part of their mandate. Trigger warnings, they say, suggest a certain fragility of mind that higher learning is meant to challenge, not embrace. The warnings have been widely debated in intellectual circles and largely criticized in opinion magazines, newspaper editorials and academic email lists.

Bailey Loverin, a sophomore at Santa Barbara, said the idea for campuswide trigger warnings came to her in February after a professor showed a graphic film depicting rape. She said that she herself had been a victim of sexual abuse, and that although she had not felt threatened by the film, she had approached the professor to suggest that students should have been warned.

Ms. Loverin draws a distinction between alerting students to material that might truly tap into memories of trauma — such as war and torture, since many students at Santa Barbara are veterans — and slapping warning labels on famous literary works, as other advocates of trigger warnings have proposed.

“We’re not talking about someone turning away from something they don’t want to see,” Ms. Loverin said in a recent interview. “People suddenly feel a very real threat to their safety — even if it is perceived. They are stuck in a classroom where they can’t get out, or if they do try to leave, it is suddenly going to be very public.”

The most vociferous criticism has focused on trigger warnings for materials that have an established place on syllabuses across the country. Among the suggestions for books that would benefit from trigger warnings are Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” (contains anti-Semitism) and Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” (addresses suicide).

On college campuses, proponents say similar language should be used in class syllabuses or before lectures. The issue arose at Wellesley College this year after the school installed a lifelike statue of a man in his underwear, and hundreds of students signed a petition to have it removed. Writing in The Huffington Post, one Wellesley student called it a “potentially triggering sculpture,” and petition signers cited “concerns that it has triggered memories of sexual assault amongst some students.”

Here at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in March there was a confrontation when a group of anti-abortion protesters held up graphic pictures of aborted fetuses and a pregnant professor of feminist studies tried to destroy the posters, saying they triggered a sense of fear in her. After she was arrested on vandalism, battery and robbery charges, more than 1,000 students signed a petition of support for her, saying the university should impose greater restrictions on potentially trigger-inducing content. (So far, the faculty senate has promised to address the concerns raised by the petition and the student government but has not made any policy changes.)

“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.”

[Phoenix Dark]

the jimmies that will be rustled here

[Himu]

My triggers: pregnant women, women's clothing sections, babies.

[Phoenix Dark]

An obvious way to address this would be to make viewing the triggers optional. The vast majority of people would therefore just not look at the trigger, while those who have problems with triggers would be able to glance at them and see if any relate to their psychological issues.

Like a "Trigger Warnings are on page 3. If you do not wish to view them, skip that page."

[Himu]

While I have my own triggers, I don't understand the "trigger warning" culture.

[Eel O'Brian]

I think my biggest trigger is the complete and utter pussification of society

[nudemacusers]

i support whatever mad thing college qt's are into

[benjipwns]

While I have my own triggers, I don't understand the "trigger warning" culture.

It's one of those things that has [trigger warning: statistical concept] validity because of [trigger warning: western centralism] common courtesy but some people [trigger warning: class trauma] exploit to actually make everything all about them and [trigger warning: emotional hostility] demand special status over others.

[Madrun Badrun]

'Trigger Warnings' will just become a trigger.  This is just silly.   

[nachobro]

microaggression? wtf is that? motherfuckers will take any excuse to be butthurt over something. 

[benjipwns]

microaggression? wtf is that? motherfuckers will take any excuse to be butthurt over something. 

http://www.microaggressions.com/

maybe the greatest site ever

[nachobro]

My dad jokes with my younger sister that he remembers selling Girl Scout Cookies when he was a Girl Scout. She laughs, understanding the fact that since he’s a boy means that he could not have been a Girl Scout. Thanks, Dad. I’m a boy and a formal Girl Scout.

  

[nudemacusers]

that site is triggering a microaggression in my pants

[Phoenix Dark]

microaggression? wtf is that? motherfuckers will take any excuse to be butthurt over something. 

http://www.microaggressions.com/

maybe the greatest site ever

Burn that site to the ground, no trigger.

[nudemacusers]

wait i mean macroaggression

[nachobro]

i think i understand microaggression now. it's like when the taco bell dude doesn't put enough hot sauce into the bag because i'm a jew.

[Mr. Gundam]

I know I'm making light of some serious things have happened to people, but I would like to take this opportunity to say "Thanks, helicopter parents."

[nudemacusers]

Was biking through town when two women yelled “Konichiwa!” at me…

I’m Vietnamese. And I was born in California.

(Also, where’s the female solidarity?)



24, female-bodied, in a relationship – so Facebook shows me ads with babies, wedding dresses, and engagement rings. Change gender on Facebook to male – suddenly I get ads pertaining to things I actually care about.

can't get enough of this site.

[Himu]

So is this another thing we can blame generation x/baby boomers for?

[Phoenix Dark]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/racial-microagressions-you-hear-on-a-daily-basis

some of these do hit me in the feels


Phoenix Dark is so brave:

(Image removed from quote.)

nicca looks like he sleeps with his head in a spark plug

[nudemacusers]

I get 'what are you' all the time tho

esch put a trigger warning on that link

[Himu]

Nah. Lots of late 80s and early 90s babies eat this shit up.

This is l'essence de tumblr

I'm talking about genx/baby boomers as their parents

[nachobro]

nvm i'm distinguished mentally-challenged 

still this site is hilarious

[Mr. Gundam]

Nah. Lots of late 80s and early 90s babies eat this shit up.

This is l'essence de tumblr

I'm talking about genx/baby boomers as their parents

Yep.

The helicopter parenting I deal with at work is insane. My wife has started encountering the effects of it with some of her younger employees now.

[nudemacusers]

i thought there was a black coalition meeting about overt blerds 

[Mr. Gundam]

we can always blame the Baby Boomers for everything

Taking the country down on multiple fronts.

[benjipwns]

I’m a student teacher at a high school in a relatively liberal Midwestern town.  We had a substitute teacher for a few days in a row and as she was leaving, asked me if I had a “special someone” in my life.  I replied that I was engaged and she asked about my fiance: “What does HE do?”  I am a lesbian, engaged to my partner. Cornered, forced to come out to a stranger, like I needed to provide an explanation as to HOW I could possibly be engaged to a woman, annoyed at the assumption that I’m straight

Being called “hearing impared,” instead of deaf or hard of hearing.

The term “hearing impaired” seems silly to be upset over, but when used over and over to describe you, you begin to believe that you are indeed broken instead of just different. I fight against the use of this word everyday.

My daughter is a college freshman three states away from home. She’s having some depression so went to college counseling office this week at my insistence. The counselor asked if she belonged to any clubs and she mentioned the gay-straight alliance. He replied by asking “Are you having trouble adjusting because you’ve been rejected by your fellow lesbians?” For the record, she thinks she may be asexual but said nothing to him to warrant his assumption.

Today, I ordered some food and was asked how spicy I’d like it. I replied that I’d like it to be very spicy, and immediately, the man taking my order winked suggestively and asked me if I “liked things hot” all the time. I was in restaurant with my friends. I’m a 16 year old girl. I felt uncomfortable and appalled that, as a girl, even my food preferences had to be sexualized.

In gym class, we we arbitrarily split into teams for flag football, but divided so that there were even numbers of girls on each team. Our teacher explained to us that any touchdown in which a girl was involved would receive double points. This was in a middle class suburban high school.

I have an older sister, who likes to work out at the gym everyday. On the other side, I usually go no more than twice a week. However, my parents insist on me doing tasks such as carrying heavy bags or furniture when we move.

The worst thing is that my sister also sees it as something natural: men must do the hard job. I’m a 18 year old man, and she’s a 21 year old woman. Made me sad and confused. Why do genitals need to determine our roles?

I am walking around JCPenney when I see they have a dedicated section of t-shirts with game motifs on it for a decent price. I rush over to grab some, but they are all too big for me. Why? Because the shirts are only in men’s sizes, and no videogame shirts are available for women.

Today, my grandmother told me about her landlord’s autistic child who is learning to utilize an iPad. She told me that he was learning to speak using the iPad and described it as him “becoming more normal.”  It made me feel ostracized, hurt, and angry.  I have Aspergers syndrome.

sooooooo goooood

[nachobro]

I wish I could bring my dog out to eat with me!

Teenage girl and mother to me at a Chinese restaurant; I’m a 23 year old male with a service dog.

 

[Himu]

Nah. Lots of late 80s and early 90s babies eat this shit up.

This is l'essence de tumblr

I'm talking about genx/baby boomers as their parents

Yep.

The helicopter parenting I deal with at work is insane. My wife has started encountering the effects of it with some of her younger employees now.

Give me examples of both helicopter parents you deal with and what your wife deals with.

[Phoenix Dark]

I had never heard of "helicopter parents" until Gundam mentioned here a few months ago.

[nudemacusers]

i don't get what is offensive about 'where did your kid get his skin/hair color from'. people ask me that all the time. however they usually get a little weird when i say i married a whitey and that my son is an aryan posterchild 

[Kara]

If I go to the GAF thread about this, how many people maligning "political correctness gone amok" will literally flip the fuck out if you discuss the factual contents of a piece of worthless pop culture without spoiler tags and / or SPOILERS in the head of threads?

I bet it's close to 1:1.

[Phoenix Dark]

Wanna read the greatest Baby Boomer ether ever written? (Image removed from quote.)

http://www.esquire.com/features/worst-generation-0400


(Image removed from quote.)

drop the ball on raising your kids, be severely in debt, sick, racist or prejudice, etc all while shitting on the people who will be taking care of you for the next two decades brehs

[Your Stalker]

I logged into Facebook and saw the memes sprawling all over my feed equating the Boston bombings to terrorists, Muslims, and immigrants. I messaged them and engaged in dialogue validating their frustration but expressing how offended I felt and how perpetuating Islamaphobia only results in more violence, especially towards people who look “Middle Eastern”. One person took it down and apologized… another talked with me for a while and ended by saying “don’t get so offended.”

“You shouldn’t have gone alone!”

In response to me telling a close male friend of mine a bad experience I had with sexual harassment during a doctors appointment.

[Madrun Badrun]

Where I live the words: lesbian, gay, and bisexual are used to insult people. Or like, teenagers use them, like, for serious bullying. And i hate how it really feels insulting to be called bisexual because for crying out loud, i /am/ bisexual.

[benjipwns]

I admit that I have some minor simmering rage when someone in real life says something similar to "have a dialogue about" or "engage in a dialogue" because I've already become numb to "discussion" and "conversation" being used so much.

To be fair though, it does much better for setting up the snarky comeback of "you mean have a monologue" than the latter ones did.

[Phoenix Dark]

Where I live the words: lesbian, gay, and bisexual are used to insult people. Or like, teenagers use them, like, for serious bullying. And i hate how it really feels insulting to be called bisexual because for crying out loud, i /am/ bisexual.

Isn't that microaggression by insinuating that there is such a thing as non-serious bullying?

[benjipwns]

It's microaggressions all the way down.

[Madrun Badrun]

My black friends: You aren’t really black though, you act like a white girl.
My white friends: You aren’t really white though, you’re like dark.
All of them telling me I have to be one, I can’t be both. I’m just me though. Makes me feel like I can only be a certain race if I look and act a certain way.

Wow, you can fill out account info fast Himu. 

[Madrun Badrun]

Where I live the words: lesbian, gay, and bisexual are used to insult people. Or like, teenagers use them, like, for serious bullying. And i hate how it really feels insulting to be called bisexual because for crying out loud, i /am/ bisexual.

Isn't that microaggression by insinuating that there is such a thing as non-serious bullying?

Ya I totally went minimally agro when I read that.

[nudemacusers]

can we talk about meta-aggressions

[benjipwns]

Ha, NYT covered these on campus too:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/22/us/as-diversity-increases-slights-get-subtler-but-still-sting.html

On a Facebook page called “Brown University Micro/Aggressions” a “dark-skinned black person” describes feeling alienated from conversations about racism on campus. A digital photo project run by a Fordham University student about “racial microaggressions” features minority students holding up signs with comments like “You’re really pretty ... for a dark-skin girl.” The “St. Olaf Microaggressions” blog includes a letter asking David R. Anderson, the college’s president, to address “all of the incidents and microaggressions that go unreported on a daily basis.”

...

The recent surge in popularity for the term can be attributed, in part, to an academic article Derald W. Sue, a psychology professor at Columbia University, published in 2007 in which he broke down microaggressions into microassaults, microinsults and microinvalidations. Dr. Sue, who has literally written the book on the subject, called “Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation,” attributed the increased use of the term to the rapidly changing demographics in which minorities are expected to outnumber whites in the United States by 2042. “As more and more of us are around, we talk to each other and we know we’re not crazy,” Dr. Sue said. Once, he said, minorities kept silent about perceived slights. “I feel like people of color are less inclined to do that now,” he said.

...

Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Harvard professor and author, said the public airing of racial microaggressions should not be limited to minorities, but should be open to whites as well. “That’s the only way that you can produce a multicultural, ethnically diverse environment,” he said.

“We’re talking about people in close contact who are experiencing the painful intersections of intimacy,” he said. “The next part of that is communication, and this is a new form of communication.”

[Your Stalker]

One day my boss comes up to me and out of the blue says

My boss: “”[last name] , hey [last name] is that your husband’s name?
Me: No I didn’t take my husband’s last name.
Boss: …
Me: I’m a feminist, that’s why
Boss: I could not stand it if my wife thought she could keep her own name. She has my name. We are going to have to work on this, you will take your husband’s name by the end of the year.

“We all know that Filipinos aren’t really real Asians. I mean look, they have Spanish last names, and they are pretty dark, and they don’t look that Asian! Can’t we call them something else? It’d make it easier.”

“Oh you actually are pretty! We should go somewhere!”

- My mother  to me after my friend plastered my face with make up, slapped a straight waist length wig on my head, and put me in a mini-dress “just for funsies.” I am a plus-size black female with natural hair who generally chooses to dress gender neutral. It made me feel like some sort of backwoods bizarro show, like I only have worth if I am pretty, and that I normally am worthless because I don’t naturally look pretty. I was confused, angry, upset and hurt.

[nudemacusers]

checking my invalidation privilege at the door

[Madrun Badrun]

Wait, Filipinos are 'Asians'? 

[Phoenix Dark]

Ha, NYT covered these on campus too:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/22/us/as-diversity-increases-slights-get-subtler-but-still-sting.html

On a Facebook page called “Brown University Micro/Aggressions” a “dark-skinned black person” describes feeling alienated from conversations about racism on campus. A digital photo project run by a Fordham University student about “racial microaggressions” features minority students holding up signs with comments like “You’re really pretty ... for a dark-skin girl.” The “St. Olaf Microaggressions” blog includes a letter asking David R. Anderson, the college’s president, to address “all of the incidents and microaggressions that go unreported on a daily basis.”

...

The recent surge in popularity for the term can be attributed, in part, to an academic article Derald W. Sue, a psychology professor at Columbia University, published in 2007 in which he broke down microaggressions into microassaults, microinsults and microinvalidations. Dr. Sue, who has literally written the book on the subject, called “Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation,” attributed the increased use of the term to the rapidly changing demographics in which minorities are expected to outnumber whites in the United States by 2042. “As more and more of us are around, we talk to each other and we know we’re not crazy,” Dr. Sue said. Once, he said, minorities kept silent about perceived slights. “I feel like people of color are less inclined to do that now,” he said.

...

Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Harvard professor and author, said the public airing of racial microaggressions should not be limited to minorities, but should be open to whites as well. “That’s the only way that you can produce a multicultural, ethnically diverse environment,” he said.

“We’re talking about people in close contact who are experiencing the painful intersections of intimacy,” he said. “The next part of that is communication, and this is a new form of communication.”

Somewhere, someone is working on a way to monopolize this. An unregulated microaggression free market

[Madrun Badrun]

what's 'wetback' in Chinese? 

[nudemacusers]

firing up bitcoin to speculate on microinvalidations futures, will hedge with a call on microassaults

[Great Rumbler]

...

...

...

...

[Madrun Badrun]

What do feminist bloggers who get hit on in super markets and creepy midgets have in common?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

micro sexual assaults

[close]

[Your Stalker]

I worked in a pet store and a mother and her young daughter come in one day. The little girl is very young, probably less than five years old, but extremely inquisitive and interested in all the reptiles and fish we have. Her mother apologizes for all the questions and I say it’s no problem. Then I remark that little girl should be a scientist someday, seeing as she’s so curious. The mother then acts like I suggested she be a serial killer. “No no! I don’t want that!.” I ask why and she says “It’s too hard!” I think I’ll take the regret for not saying anything more to my grave, but I was so shocked I couldn’t think.

[Joe Molotov]

can we talk about meta-aggressions

I don't know, can we?

[nudemacusers]

can we talk about meta-aggressions

I don't know, can we?

please adjust your acidic tone or i cannot engage in a dialogue regarding this issue

[Phoenix Dark]

I feel like The Business is reading this thread with a jaw clenched tight, like a vise.

He probably had to take a walk.

[Your Stalker]

is there something i dont know about the business

[benjipwns]

Forgot the tumblr is updated more: http://microaggressions.tumblr.com/

While on vacation in Florida, my parents, brother, and I are eating lunch at a nice restaurant. Completely out of nowhere my brother says “Why do you wear such low-cut tops? Are you advertising? Because I don’t think anyone is gonna buy.” I was shocked and taken aback and became very upset. But not only did my parents not reprimand my brother, they yelled at me for being upset and ruining the day.

While whale watching on a touristy boat in Maine, we were having trouble getting close to a whale who kept diving farther away from us. I was standing at the very front of the boat and overheard this exchange between two strangers::

Man #1:: The whale keeps diving away from us and getting farther out. (laughs) It probably thinks we want to mate with it.

Man #2:: It's definitely a female whale, then. It's like, "Get away from me, please, get away from me!"

(They both laugh and Man #2 continues to say things such as, ""Get away from me! Stop coming close!"" in a high pitched, feminine voice)

I am a 20-year-old sexual assault survivor. I felt shocked, worthless, depressed.

I am shopping for a new phone. The salespeople, all men, don’t seem to understand that I’ve done my research and know specifically what I want. When I finally list off why I have a specific choice, one comments, “You’re not shopping for a phone, you’re shopping for a husband!” I regret not telling him that I found the comment inappropriate.

I work for a company that sells magazines door to door. Before going to a military base, I was told to remove my low-cut top and put something on that covered my entire chest to “respect the men that serve our country and dress more conservative like their wives do.” I didn’t realize my clothes have to be “respectful” for men. I felt like I was being slut-shamed and viewed as an object by my employers.

Also, handy print-out to carry with you to properly identify all the ones you face daily: http://www.iamsafezone.com/resources/Ally_Handouts_Microaggressions_Table.pdf

[Phoenix Dark]

is there something i dont know about the business

Yes. Subscribe to my mailing list and I'll explain his plan to eliminate the second amendment.

[Madrun Badrun]

can we talk about meta-aggressions

I don't know, can we?

please adjust your acidic tone or i cannot engage in a dialogue regarding this issue

I take issue with the word 'issue' which I feel is micoaggressive and implies semi-unequal divisiveness between freeminds trying to engage in freedebate. 

[benjipwns]

I take issue with the word 'issue' which I feel is micoaggressive and implies semi-unequal divisiveness between freeminds trying to engage in freedebate.

I feel that the concept of "freeminds" is not inclusive towards members of the Borg Collective.

And "freedebate" is not inclusive towards Herbet Marcuse.

[nudemacusers]

please accept my apology, i am still learning to overcome my cistendencies to other and microinvalidate. i will strive to use less destructive phrasing