The Continuum of Triggers

          “Hurt itself becomes framed as censoring: as requiring the removal of some offending thing.” While I remain undecided on the argument of trigger warnings, I strongly believe that a reasonable issue with them is who they are truly in place for: those who wish to keep themselves at arms reach from “an emotional breakdown.” One thing that Ahmed points out when she speaks of the women that were upset about their experiences with triggering topics is the fact that neither of them wanted the removal of the materials, just that they needed to be dealt with in a respectful manner.  I believe that this quote, and also what we spoke about today in our small groups, is relevant in the context of the “angry black woman” that Audre Lorde speaks of in her article, “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism.” In this sense, the survivor is labeled as the hyper-emotional woman, and the trigger warning is in place for those around her to avoid her feelings of traumatization. Whether we are speaking in the context of a Sociology course on Colonialism, or an English course on the effects of sexual assault, there will always be someone who is portrayed as the “bad guy” (most often a white males), who really do not like to be made to feel guilty about their ancestors or others within a society that share their race/gender. This sense of guilt has no room in a place of discussion, as Lorde states “I have no creative use for guilt, yours or my own. Guilt is only another way of avoiding informed action.”

            Guilt however, is not only reason that certain individuals may feel apprehensive about not adding trigger warnings in class discussions, because lets be honest, who wants to witness yet another emotional breakdown of a woman. When it is a known fact that the majority of survivors of sexual assault are women, the wrongful assumption can be made that women will not be able to handle triggering topics in a classroom. What we talked about today, however, is that these trigger warnings add to the hierarchy of victims, again classifying what the appropriate response to instances of trauma should be, medicalizing the issue. This listing of triggers, therefore, excludes anything out of the “ordinary.”As Duggan points out in her Blog, “the only PTSD-like symptom [she] developed during [her] journey through childhood was the propensity to have a panic attack when [she] heard a barking dog. It is very very difficult to avoid the sound of barking dogs.”

We currently live in a society where everyone is offended by everything; yet, being offended by something is seen as an overreaction, where the individual is “taking it too personally.” This itself is problematic, due to the fact that there is no happy medium on the topic of trigger warnings. If everything is offensive, then we are in great need of trigger warnings. But if we need to toughen up, then why have them at all? When we only focus on the two extremities on the continuum of trigger warnings, the middle ground of allowing individuals the sensitivity that they need to deal with their trauma, while also allowing for a discussion on a controversial topic, is completely ignored.