Red vs Blue takes on Trigger Warnings

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I don't know how you can "take on" such a bullshit concept like trigger warnings. Content warnings have existed for a long time, and generally grown up people can deride what a piece of media will or can include if it says, for example, "sexual content" on the cover. Trigger warnings are a concept made up by pussies on Tumblr who can't take on reality as it is, and instead retreat to their hugboxes and bawl whenever something comes knocking on their door. Merely the implication that images on the internet can "trigger" people when they've had no past experiences that would actually set that reaction off is enough for me to start using some seriously foul language.

If I ever met someone who genuinely believed trigger warnings to be necessary, and wasn't a rape victim, a war survivor or something of that calibre, I'd point them to this scene from Wreck-it Ralph


and then ask them "Is this the kind of reaction words on the internet can make you have?"

 

[Risingblade]

So what's wrong with adding trigger warnings for stuff like rape and domestic abuse?

 

[Muspelheim]

As usual, Xs and Anti-Xs prove that they are exactly the same.

It's the same getting upset and joining in some sort of vague struggle for its own sake, and the same cheap ego-wank. Last summer was all "War" this and "Fight" that, and it haven't gotten much less pathetic since.

Do what I do. Buy a newspaper and whine at it every morning. It diffuses a lot of excess whine and no one else have to put up with it.

 

[WhiteNachos]

I suppose I meant they aren't "active users", but I have no way of actually knowing that. I imagine if they hate it that much they wouldn't subject themselves to it, but then the Great Internet Culture War of 2015 happened and I don't know what to believe anymore.

Here's the problem: Tumblr is huge. Really huge. It's a large community with a lot of facets and a fair share of overlap, but not necessarily on all points. People like to complain about "Tumblr feminists," but I suspect it's because they're actively looking for them. The site is not overwhelmingly feminist/SJW/PC/whatever, but it gets the rep because people have a fetish for it.

Not that I'm knocking fetishes. Aside from when my girlfriend links me to a Tumblr post, about the only time I actually end up on the site is when doing Google image searches for porn. I mean, I hope you can see what I'm trying to connect here.

Do you remember when that guy did a study on major gaming publications for words like "sexism," "diversity" and feminism? He came back with a .4% total mention rate. Less than half a percent. People are outraged that feminism is taking over gaming, but what they're reacting to is less than half of one percent.

So they looked at all the words in an article, claimed that it's less than half of a percent therefore it's not a problem? Do you not see the issue with this methodology? A lot of articles on websites are just "someone announced a game" and nothing more. That's the whole article. Do you honestly expect feminism to be brought up in the latest sequel announcement or in the review of the latest dark souls game?

Not to mention this tells us nothing about the side the publication takes when the issue gets brought up. If they don't bring up gender issues that often but take the side of the morally outraged feminists every time they do, what does that say about them?

They're not really mad that it's taking over. They're mad the conversation exists at all.

Well usually the conversation is just a whine about why there aren't more women protagonists/E3 presenters, followed by accusations of sexism and misogyny to anyone who makes games with female protagonists, or it's a whine that there are games that pander to male sexuality (followed by more accusations of sexism and misogyny at the people who make those games).

Man it sure is fun to simplify people isn't it.

While I couldn't guess at the overall ratios on Tumblr, I imagine it's actually a similar thing.

There's predominantly porn on Tumblr if that's all you look for. Similarly, if you're looking for Tumblr feminists to rage at....

People with a passing understanding of tumblr know it's got a bit of everything, but out of all the free blogging platforms they seem to attract more hardcore feminists per capita than wordpress or whatever. I don't use tumblr for anything other than porn but I've heard people who follow fan tumblrs say it creeps up from time to time on their dashboard.

 

[WhiteNachos]

So what's wrong with adding trigger warnings for stuff like rape and domestic abuse?

First thing off the top of my head is: you spoil things, or at least ruin the surprise.

Also why does it have to be trigger warning? Wouldn't the current M/R/Ao/Whatever system work well?

 

[kitsunefather]

Personally, I agree with Donut; it's a nice thing to do if you want to, but it shouldn't be a requirement.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Anyway, So does anyone believe the people complaining about trigger warnings on behalf of people suffering from PSTD actually suffer from PSTD?

Some of them do, some of them do not, like more or less any complaint against something affecting part of society.

 

[kitsunefather]

Personally, I agree with Donut; it's a nice thing to do if you want to, but it shouldn't be a requirement.

The thing is I have literally never watched anything that contained a trigger warning. Not once. I mean beyond "contains content that some viewers may find offensive", "intended for mature audiences only". I spend most of my time consuming media and I've never seen it. It seems to me the people getting worked up about the concept of trigger warnings are way louder and more thin skinned than the people asking for them. I really don't think trigger warnings will ever become a requirement.

That's not unfair. I've seen them here and there, while doing internet daisy-chaining, but by and large they are fairly easy to ignore when they exist. The issue people are having is, on blog sites (like Tumblr), there are people getting aggressive about the enforcing of them, to a degree that's becoming a bit silly.

That said, there are several discussions going on about including them in academic material and class syllabi. I'll refer you to the AAUP, USNews, and the Guardian. So, there's something to be said for a more public discussion on the topic and its actual need.

 

[lacktheknack]

His/Her statements in the Incest thread.

Hey.

You.

Don't cross threads. It's incredibly impolite and drags shit and drama to places it shouldn't be.

Thanks.

OT: Eh, a trigger warning is essentially the same as a content warning, which we already use. I don't see the issue.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

Also, what's with the idea that being on tumblr means you care about social justice, as opposed to pictures of cats or weird porn anyway?

It's just the stigma for the site, I'd imagine.

Kinda like how the chans are all rabid animals, Reddit is full of idiots and thieves, Youtube's comments are nothing but bile, and the Escapist is full of pretentious twats.

It just becomes a "thing" that the internet at large accepts about a particular site/user group.

YEAH! LET'S BURN DOWN TUMBLR!

NO! MY HENTA- I mean cat blogs. Cat blogs. Right.

Yeeeeah.

Ahem.

As for the subject: RvB <3

So what's wrong with adding trigger warnings for stuff like rape and domestic abuse?

Absolutely nothing.

Content warnings have been with us for a long time. They let people have a basic idea as to what awaits them in whatever media they're consuming. All well and good.

The problem I have with "Trigger Warnings" is that the people screaming for them are usually doing so in the name of outrage, rather than for any diagnosed psychological condition. It's seldom 'asked' for and is, instead, 'demanded' regardless of whatever the content creator might have to say on the subject.

For the folks with actual conditions? Yeah, I feel for them. Triggering trauma isn't exactly a fun thing, as I've seen with some former military friends (just recently, what with the 4th and all) so to see people flinging around the term for something that just makes them feel uncomfortable?

Makes me sick.

 

[Redd the Sock]

snip

Actually I work in the field of care for the developmentally disabled. Granted I'm in the fiance department, but I had to learn a lot about triggers and behaviors to keep the job. The hard part is that it's a population wherein people can be triggered by anything and you can't always diagnose what, and they can't always understand why or even that the behavior they have is wrong and harmful (excuses that don't apply to people with PTSD and really don't apply to those whose PSTD is self diagnosed). Since anything from the wrong words to the color you a shirt can set them off, Things are done with the end goal of either trying to stop the triggering, or to provide alternative outlets for it than punching a hole in the wall.

Getting to that point does require a lot of work and effort from both parties, but getting successes also means looking at things that can hinder or undo your work, and more often than not, it's when behaviors have negative impact on the life of the triggered that make people feel the need to succeed at not being triggers or having behaviors. Hence I find trigger warnings do more harm than good in the real world as in letting someone avoid a trigger, it also removes the consequences of being triggered, providing less incentive to learn to cope. Worst case scenario it breeds a mindset of not needing to learn to cope because everyone around them will take extra care not to make them, and the issue just sits there undealt with to set them off again when factors are outside their control and they just expect to not be caught off guard. It isn't healing. It's the psychological equivalent of the joke: it hurts when I do this -> Then don't do that.

I don't mean to be an ogre, but I prefer short term pain that comes with long term gain. I don't limit this to mental health. Overlook an alcoholic's actions and they will keep drinking. Do for the disabled and they won't think they have to learn to do for themselves. Do someone's homework for them and they'll never learn themselves.

 

[cleric of the order]

I'm with grif on this.
In cases of ptsd people can be triggered by more then just fucking topic matter yeah, like sensory stimuli.
Even if that is not the case, it does not solve the problem, merely glosses it over the problem at the inconvenience of others.
AND for the people without ptsd or self diagnosed with it, let me refer you to the encyclopedia dramatia page on offense and remember, offense is taken, not given.