Triggers
Originally posted at Uncreated Conscience.
Oh look, an ice storm! On my fire escape! Pretty, but OH-SO-INCONVENIENT.
Dear winter: I am so over you it’s not even funny. In addition to the 50+ inches of snow you’ve dumped on the city this year, last night you saw fit to send us an ice storm. Which is gorgeous, by the way. Bravo, it’s one of the prettiest sights I’ve ever seen. But however pretty it might be, it is also incredibly inconvenient, especially as I don’t have a pair of skates to strap to my feet so I can glide my way to the subway station. I made my TV debut this morning by taking a header in the background of some reporter’s weather segment. Still, despite the slipping and sliding, it is kind of fun to crack the film of ice on top of snow like the glaze of a crème brûlée.
When I finally made it to my desk this morning, I saw that the internets was stirring itself into a frenzy over Bitch Magazine‘s inclusion and subsequent removal of a few books from their 100 Young Adult Books For The Feminist Reader. Mentioned in particular was Margo Lanagan’s TENDER MORSELS, the content of which includes incest, rape, and horrific violence. A reader said the book was triggering and asked that it be removed from the list.
Other people have said better than me why the inclusion and then removal of a few select books based on one reader’s comments is troubling (because heaven knows there are a ton of other books on that list with triggering content), but it made me think about “triggers” in general, especially as I had an experience myself last night.
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