Recently Bitch Magazine posted a list of 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader that started a whole heap of controversy when they then turned around and removed a few books out of fear that they would be “triggers” for some readers. Other authors asked that their books be removed as well in protest… it was a whole big thing.
As a response to this kerfuffle, Amy S. has started a new blog, The YA Subscription (“more than just a few issues” — heh), in which she reads from the Bitch list and addresses problems of intersectionality with these texts. As Amy defines it, intersectionality is “the place where different critical/social justice perspectives intersect. It asserts that nothing- gender, race, sexuality, disability, whatever- exists in a vacuum, and privilege in any of those categories can influence the way others are perceived and enacted.”
If you’re interested in delving into YA and children’s books as the critically meaty texts they can be, this is a fascinating blog with some really smart commenters/readers! For example, here’s her review of A WRINKLE IN TIME.
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Martini-Corona — One of the problems with the internets, of course, is that we don’t know the person we’re talking to, and we can’t see them to gauge their reactions. Some people use this as an excuse to be asses, and some go too far in the other direction. Political correctness was a noble impulse at first, and then it went overboard into silly territory, and now we are left with some silly but mostly a better sense of how our words affect other people. This is the same thing, I think. It’ll hopefully settle out.
I’m curious to hear more about what you mean about rape being a “mysterious, murky EVIL,” though. Do you mean that trigger warnings reinforce the idea that women are delicate flowers who faint at the mere mention of a painful subject? Because I do worry about that perception sometimes. Or were you thinking something else?
Meg — Bearing in mind, of course, that this is all just my opinion…
No one worth listening to is suggesting that we should eliminate any possible triggers from all literature. But one of the lovely things about our modern society, I think, is the desire to avoid causing people damage whenever possible. We warn the audience before a theater performance if there will be bright flashing lights in case that might trigger seizure or migraine, and decent teachers don’t just hand Huck Finn to a roomful of students and say, “Go read this” without any support and context.
To go back to the original dust-up, Bitch Magazine never said no one should be allowed to read the possibly triggery books — they were not, in other words, trying to censor the books themselves. They removed a couple of books with very graphic rape/incest scenarios from a list of recommended reading for women, at least some percentage of whom can be expected to be triggered by those scenes. (I read TENDER MORSELS and was upset enough myself to quit reading; if I’d had a relevant traumatic incident in my past, I can see how I might have wanted some warning.)
I can’t speak for anyone else, but what I personally was unimpressed with was that the editors of Bitch hadn’t done enough research in the first place to have firm convictions about the books they selected. There are plenty of reviews that discuss these issues, if you don’t have time to read every book yourself. Make a decision beforehand if you will let graphic rape scenes (for instance) prevent you from including a book on the list — there are plenty of lists from which excluding such books would be more than appropriate. Do the research, add warnings to some books if you feel that would be helpful to your audience, and then stick by your work. Their response to a couple of people’s complaints was reactionary, in a way that is understandable (nobody wants to hurt anyone!) but unprofessional. I hope if I’m ever faced with a book challenge as a librarian that I’ll be confident enough in my knowledge of the material and audience to have a firmer response.
Meg,
There’s a big difference between a discussion of what “trigger” means — which you asked for help understanding — and a discussion of whether books should be pulled off lists because they might be triggery. Please don’t mix up those two things.
[I'm taking this off-topic, I think, but...] I’m with Megmuck on this one (and I was just complaining about this to Mr. Martini-Coronapants yesterday evening). I’ve been coming across “trigger warnings” in posts more and more frequently lately — and frequently the only “triggering” content is allusion to the idea of rape. This seems like overkill. Would we say “trigger warning” to any old article on a U.S. history blog about the Vietnam war? No, because there is an understanding that unless you’re describing acts of violence in war in an extremely graphic manner, those Vietnam vets or Vietnamese war victims who come across the article will be able to navigate themselves away from danger. The exception would be if your blog/site is specifically targeted to trauma victims — in which case, it’s probably good practice to be hyper aware. But to assume that the majority of readers of ANY vaguely feminist site are that sensitive is, I think, overkill. While it is a nice gesture to a very limited number of readers, for the majority I think it just implicitly reinforces the idea that rape is this mysterious, murky EVIL that ladies should avoid thinking about.
But I thought provoking strong responses–even disabling ones–was supposed to be *part*of literature. Or perhaps I simply spent too much time in college with people who studied Greek catharsis and post-WWII German literature like “Berlin Alexanderplatz.”
It all sounds like yet another excuse for censorship to me. People have always wanted to expunge dangerous books; it’s just that the definition of “dangerous” is now “triggering.” Same impulse, different reasoning.
Rebecca — Thank you! I was just about to say that I was not the best person to answer further questions on this subject. Not that I want to put the responsibility on you for being the “best” person, of course, but you’ve spent more time dealing with this issue in a lit-crit way than I have. So I really appreciate your weighing in!
@megmuck:
Sam’s right that “trigger” is definitely not code for not liking a book. The upset it causes is more than plain upsetness. Something is a trigger if a person has an emotional reaction to it — anxiety, panic, fear, despair — strong enough that it interferes with their life functioning for a few hours or longer; and also, it’s only a trigger if it connects back to an experience they’ve had. Sam’s right that it doesn’t have to be *them* that experienced the initial trauma or event — you can be triggered about a friend dying, a friend being murdered, etc — but you do need to have been traumatized or emotionally connected to the initial event.
Also, triggering doesn’t happen at the initial trauma/event. For example, the day after a terrorist attack takes place, lots of people will be having very big emotional reactions, many of which will interfere with life functioning, but I wouldn’t use the word “triggered” for them unless it’s also tapping into a previous life experience.
So:
1) strong enough negative response that it interferes with functioning for at least a few hours.
2) connecting back to something you’ve been through in the past (which includes your own experience of loved ones being hurt)
3) any topic of trauma, not necessarily a common type.
As for what it takes for someone to be triggered — it’s indivivual to the day, to the extent of healing, to the reader. Threats of a thing that doesn’t get carried through can be enough to trigger someone, for sure.
This definition comes to you from me thinking about it. It’s not official or anything. People might disagree.
Thomas — I had not! That’s pretty excellent.
Meg — that’s a good question. It’s not code for “I don’t like this book” (or at least, I hope people aren’t using that way, since it does have a useful meaning). Based on how people tend to use it, I think of it as anything that could upset someone with any sort of trauma or issue in their life. It doesn’t have to be victimization, even — if someone close to you recently died, say, fictional death can be a trigger.
Which is exactly why it’s so impossible to make any list of books trigger-free. Many (most?) worthy books for teens and older will have triggers for somebody. You give a plot summary, you mention that there’s a graphic scene of this or that, and then you leave people to make their own decisions. To do otherwise, I think, is a pretty ridiculous slippery slope. (Unless, of course, your stated purpose is to provide a list of feminist books free of rape triggers, for instance.)
Speaking of A Wrinkle in Time, I assume you’ve seen the 90 second re-enactment?
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/01/90-second_wrinkle_in_time.html
So, what exactly is a “trigger”? Everyone seems to use that word, but I haven’t found a good definition in the articles you linked to. Is it a traumatic scene? Does someone have to get hurt, or just threatened? Does it have to be a common sort of victimization (rape), or can it be more rare (torture)?
Or is it just a code for “I don’t like this book.”?