Everything is trigger warnings, and that's not bad.

[seanan_mcguire]

A few months ago now, I made a trip to my local Half-Price Books and found one of my favorite re-reads in a shiny new paperback. Oh, the joy of finding an out-of-print book for a reasonable cost! Oh, the glee of having a fresh copy for the loaner shelf! (I passionately adore a bunch of 1980s science fiction that isn't widely available, and often

Comments

[ext_3009759]

Ah, there it is. This is what I've been trying to explain to my friends when they whine about trigger warnings. You put it perfectly into words.

Whether or not I'm "up" for a story that includes a particular topic depends on a lot of factors. Sometimes I can actually handle when the dog dies, because it's been the kind of day that an emotional cry isn't going to ruin or make worse. Other days, the dog dying can mess me up for the better part of a week. Sleepless nights, days where I have to endlessly tell myself to focus on other things. I'm asking for the information to make that call for myself.

[dragonsally]

You've said that perfectly alexcansmile and Seanan. I'm a little tempted to ask who the author was, because I don't want to support someone who is so dismissive to their readers. On the other hand I don't want to know, because it might ruin my love of their books. Of course I've just realized I could go to your twitter feed and find out...but I might just stay in a state of ignorance.

Yes, people should be kinder.

[sylphon]

I think I remember that exchange, the author ended up replying something about should have added a :-) so maybe they were only partially serious. Still though, I agree, she expresses the issue perfectly!

[seanan_mcguire]

I found that somewhat...suspect, given that it was worded like back pedaling. But I could be wrong!

[catsittingstill]

I'd be tempted to ask that jerk which idea in the book he flattered himself was dangerous.

I'd ask you who it was but you'd be too classy to tell me so we'll take that as read. It is a pity this happened. It's always rough when people you admired as a kid turn out to have feet of clay.

[seanan_mcguire]

It's got to be tough, though. I was just saying, I am so grateful I wasn't publishing in the 1980s, because things were so different then. The things we look at today as problematic were just background noise, and everyone both absorbed and regurgitated them.

[nipernaadiagain]

Oh, so you mean there was something dated in this book and the author was worried that she would get (once again?) badmouthed for it.

Did she explain? Was her book something people would often say: "I loved it as a teen, but find it creepy for this or that reason now!"

(I see other people commenting call this author a he - do they know something I do not know or is it just usual in your journal to call people of not known gender a he? I ask, because in my language there is no gender in personal pronouns. I myself just mostly read female authors, so an author is a she for me when I am not sure)

[seanan_mcguire]

No. There was nothing specifically dated in this book.

The people calling the author a "he" witnessed the Twitter exchange. I waited several months before writing this post, because I wanted it to be general, rather than "mean author did a thing," but it was a male author. I have found, on the whole, that male authors are more dismissive of requests for trigger warnings, and some of them have started giving them in a preemptive yet non-specific way ("trigger warning--book contains words").

[woofiegrrl]

I wonder if any other countries offer ratings for books. I wasn't able to find anything with a very cursory search, but there might well be a system elsewhere.

[seanan_mcguire]

It would be difficult, I think. I don't mind things being contextual, as long as they're not intentionally concealed.

[slantiness]

It sounds like he was joking and trying to fluff up his own ego a little (by suggesting that the ideas his book contains are "dangerous", oooh) but he should have just said "Warning: This book contains dangerous ideas!" and then he could have left the whole "tw" battle totally out of it.

[seanan_mcguire]

Ayup. The idea that trigger warnings are for the coddled and the easily offended is actually a big problem, because the more we joke about it, the harder it becomes for people who legitimately need trigger warnings to get them.

[learnsslowly]

Although perhaps people who demand trigger warnings for individual things, such as mention of food to which they have allergies, should perhaps shoulder some of the responsibility for that. Some things, such as rape, graphic acts of violence, physical and emotional abuse between family members, might be easily expected to be triggering and should be warned against, but I'm not going to expect people to warn for characters with certain physical characteristics, who use certain phrases, wear certain clothes etc. just because they remind me of things that only 2 other people - and the perpetrator - know about. I'm speaking as someone who lives with the perpetual intrusion of thoughts that I should harm myself rather seriously. The most minor thing can increase the frequency of those thoughts, in real life, as in books, but I'm not expecting anyone else to manage that for me. (except possibly my GP.) I know my mere existence is offensive to some people, too

[seanan_mcguire]

I gave the example of trigger warnings for food as "sometimes people take things too far." Anything, good or bad, can be taken to an unreasonable extreme; being pro-trigger warnings does not mean I'm saying "there should be a six-page pamphlet with every book, listing every little thing that could hurt somebody's feelings."

[epiphyta]

In a discussion a couple of accounts over on the "Rape your way to Twue Wuv!" trope, I brought this up: I'm not going to tell another adult what they should be creating. I would just appreciate a heads-up, so that if I'm reading for work or school, I have time to put some appropriate self-care measures in place. If I'm reading for enjoyment, I can decide that something else might be a better choice, depending on my emotional state.

In my extended family/friends group and my job, I have dealt with the aftermath of assault, rape, incest, domestic violence, suicide (attempted and completed), and child abuse which ended in the child's death. I am not fucking fragile. What I am is mindful of my own good mental health, and on a planet with 150 million+ books and climbing the field's got to be narrowed somehow.