Literacy level is right! I like your analogy. And I'm 100% sure that must have happened at some time somewhere. Good point about warnings; I'm not sure how some people function in society either. Maybe they never read? It's never possible to warn for everything anyway. I had a kerfuffle on kirkspock some time back. This woman pitched a fit because someone who had posted a story rec hadn't warned for something in the story. She was just b*tsh*t crazy about it (as if people posting story recs have any obligation at all to post warnings). She then went on about how the author hadn't properly warned for her story. She didn't say what she found that was so disturbing. I read the story in question and got to one point and said "A Ha! That's it". It turned out, no it wasn't, and the part that freaked her out so much was another section that I didn't pay any attention to. When I realized *that* was what she was talking about I thought it was far less disturbing than the other part that I'd focused on. It's just not possible to warn for everything.
Yeah, that's the thing. What one person considers disturbing doesn't even affect another person.
I don't mind warning for obvious triggers like rape and incest, etc., but you can't warn for every possible thing. Zines rarely warned at all, and you were paying for them!
I'm not sure if it's an outgrowth of our culture that tries to protect people from everything now. Years ago you didn't wear helmets while bike-riding, for instance. It's a good protective measure, but somehow kids did survive their childhoods without them. I guess it's like college-age students today needing 'safe spaces' on campus.
Exactly. Zines, if they warned for anything, warned for the basics - major character death and rape. Books and movies certainly don't warn for anything. Re the bike helmets, kids did get killed in the bad old days so sensible safety measures make sense to me. But there's a lot OTT there as well. A related issue: parental responsibility. Back when I was about 3 years old (I have lots of memories going back that far), my mother didn't know I knew how to open the back door AND how to open the back yard gate latch. So when she took a nap one afternoon I let myself out of the house and the yard and went across the busy street, which was right next to a train crossing, and to a Dairy Queen. The Dairy Queen had something I dearly wanted and my parents wouldn't let me have: a whistle in the shape of an ice cream cone. (Cannot imagine why any parent would not want to give their toddler a whistle.) The last part I remember is when they wouldn't give me the whistle. (Can't imagine why. :-) The first thing my mother knew is when a strange man knocked on her door and asked, "is this your child?" These days she would have been arrested for child neglect. Yes, the safe spaces. Another complicated subject. Necessary in some instances, yes; in another, abusive of one marginalized group by another in at least one circumstance I'm aware of. Re college campuses, the world is not going to protect anyone once they leave that bubble. But a safe refuge is a good thing, a place where you can be yourself. The trick is understanding how much of the outside world just doesn't care, and be prepared to face that with strength. Complicated issues.
Good point about warnings; I'm not sure how some people function in society either. Maybe they never read?
It's never possible to warn for everything anyway. I had a kerfuffle on kirkspock some time back. This woman pitched a fit because someone who had posted a story rec hadn't warned for something in the story. She was just b*tsh*t crazy about it (as if people posting story recs have any obligation at all to post warnings). She then went on about how the author hadn't properly warned for her story. She didn't say what she found that was so disturbing. I read the story in question and got to one point and said "A Ha! That's it". It turned out, no it wasn't, and the part that freaked her out so much was another section that I didn't pay any attention to. When I realized *that* was what she was talking about I thought it was far less disturbing than the other part that I'd focused on.
It's just not possible to warn for everything.
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I don't mind warning for obvious triggers like rape and incest, etc., but you can't warn for every possible thing. Zines rarely warned at all, and you were paying for them!
I'm not sure if it's an outgrowth of our culture that tries to protect people from everything now. Years ago you didn't wear helmets while bike-riding, for instance. It's a good protective measure, but somehow kids did survive their childhoods without them. I guess it's like college-age students today needing 'safe spaces' on campus.
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Re the bike helmets, kids did get killed in the bad old days so sensible safety measures make sense to me. But there's a lot OTT there as well.
A related issue: parental responsibility. Back when I was about 3 years old (I have lots of memories going back that far), my mother didn't know I knew how to open the back door AND how to open the back yard gate latch. So when she took a nap one afternoon I let myself out of the house and the yard and went across the busy street, which was right next to a train crossing, and to a Dairy Queen. The Dairy Queen had something I dearly wanted and my parents wouldn't let me have: a whistle in the shape of an ice cream cone. (Cannot imagine why any parent would not want to give their toddler a whistle.) The last part I remember is when they wouldn't give me the whistle. (Can't imagine why. :-) The first thing my mother knew is when a strange man knocked on her door and asked, "is this your child?"
These days she would have been arrested for child neglect.
Yes, the safe spaces. Another complicated subject. Necessary in some instances, yes; in another, abusive of one marginalized group by another in at least one circumstance I'm aware of.
Re college campuses, the world is not going to protect anyone once they leave that bubble. But a safe refuge is a good thing, a place where you can be yourself. The trick is understanding how much of the outside world just doesn't care, and be prepared to face that with strength. Complicated issues.
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