ext_22578 ([identity profile] anna-bird.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] delphipsmith 2014-04-10 04:54 pm (UTC)

I'm very torn on trigger warnings. I like the courtesy of it, and I think they're about more than just warning people with bad experiences to stay away--they're also a recognition that this real-life stuff has damaged some people, rather than telling them to just suck it up and get on with their lives, or worse--not discussing it at all. I can also get the idea of wanting control, especially if you feel like you have or had none.

However, I agree that college is the wrong place for this. The process of discovery is very often a painful one! I don't know how you would expand your horizons if you were in control of your intake, especially since being self-aware and fair/honest in your self-assessment is, um, HARD for the average human being. I don't know what the right place would be. Perhaps as an auto-speech preface for jerky cat-callers? We'd all need brain implants first, I suppose...

FWIW, I use trigger warnings and ratings on my fic, but I've contemplated using the "Author chose not to use warnings" tag. Because there's no way I can guess what might trigger someone, really. Also, I find the article's "growing tendency among North American university student groups" applies to a lot of things, not just "correctness", and I'd cast it up to people feeling like college is a business, and that they're the customer, paying for their degree. Which I think is actually true, given the increased enrollment + hiring of adjuncts + elevating tuition costs + grade inflation. But anyway.

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