Wow, this got WAY too long...... U___U*

[excused_early]

OK, I guess this post's a long time coming..... 9_9
But where do I even start?
I want to basically talk about the current atmosphere of our fandom that I feel might be a bit stifling to some of us in terms of critiquing GACKT or anything related to GACKT. I feel like there's a trend in the fandom where people can't criticize anything he says or does

Comments

[amaia]

Oh, and just something about your original post I'd like to point out. You say you have triggers. I apologise in advance if you actually do, but I have the feeling you're misusing this in the same way A LOT of people in GACKT fandom are misusing it- to mean "something that makes me upset, angry or emotional".

That is not a trigger.

A trigger is something that triggers symptoms of mental illness or psychological trauma. For example, a rape survivor watching a movie that unexpectedly has a rape scene in it may have a panic attack, or flashbacks in which they vividly relive their own traumatic experience, or they may suffer feelings of severe depression and anxiety which interferes with their daily life for hours or even days after being exposed to the trigger. Another example is someone with an eating disorder feeling compelled to reduce their food intake further every time they see an ad or a magazine or a blog post about OMG LOSE WEIGHT. Or a war veteran having flashbacks every time they hear something that sounds like a gunshot.

The purpose of the word trigger is to explain that people with these kinds of traumas cannot always control their reaction to the stimulus, and encourage people to give warning in advance if they are going to post something that may trigger people. Unfortunately Ive seen a lot of people using it lately like "Trigger Warning: this video is really sad :(" or even "I'm triggered by people disagreeing with my opinion in fandom argument ( and therefore I am not responsible for my angry comments)". Of course, it's extremely unlikely that anyone has actual psychological trauma related to fandom wank, and this kind of misuse just undermines the whole thing for people who really need the system to work in order to avoid having their day ruined. Ironically, when something legitimately triggering did come up, (Jo Teigai sexually assaulting female characters) people were very BAD about using trigger warnings for it.

(Anyway, to clarify, I'm not triggered by rape, though I am very supportive of trigger warnings for those who are. I AM triggered by something that reminds me of a traumatic childhood incident, which is why I know it SUCKS and is not comparable to something that merely makes me angry or sad. Unfortunately said thing is so random I don't expect anyone to ever warn for it, so I just have to deal with the intense anxiety/OCD symptoms it provokes. Yay.)

[excused_early]

Very good point, and I actually knew that.... @_@

I think I might make a new post on this, and I'll include a link to your comment if that's OK with you (if not, let me know~). :3

[amaia]

TBH, even though I was probably one of the first to bring the idea of trigger warnings into the fandom, I'm not sure how I feel about them now. They work well in feminist spaces, but fandom is a different beast. I just feel like the only thing that has come out of it is a lot of misunderstanding and trivialising of mental illness.

I just wish people weren't so damn flippant about rape. If someone was posting a Youtube vid of, about, say animal abuse, most people would have the decency to describe the video in their post and let people know what they were going to watch. No one would spam a gif of a scene from a movie involving someone beating their kid. If you really HAD to post that stuff, you'd put a link and a description, right? But there's this attitude that rape is like sex, just ~*kinkier*~ and posting a gif of sexual abuse is omgSEXAYhappyfuntimes, instead of, you know, ABUSE that could be legitimately disturbing to look at.

Don't even get me fucking started on people who are like "omg I would totally let GACKT rape me!" or, I don't know, "I bet GACKT totally rapes YOU tonight omg so hawt". They need to step on all the legos in the world.

[amaia]

Also I just got linked to this post. Relevant much?

If you badger others to see what you see in something when they are telling you it’s not enjoyable for them, you’re being an entitled jerk. You’re showing yourself to be willing to hurt a real person over a television show. That really is a sign you’re taking things too seriously.

As fans, sometimes we need to remember that the things we like don’t define our worth as people. So there’s no need to defend them from every single criticism or pretend they are perfect. Really loving something means seeing it as it really is, not as you wish it were. You can still be a good fan while acknowledging the problematic elements of the things you love. In fact, that’s the only way to be a good fan of problematic things.

http://www.socialjusticeleague.net/2011/09/how-to-be-a-fan-of-problematic-things/