Trigger Warnings Work For Me So Suck It, New Study Finds

Originally published on Not Sorry Feminism.

[TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT, RAPE CULTURE, TRAUMA]

If you’re confused right now, that headline and this article is a direct response to the Pacific Standard article that showed up in my inbox this morning.

Trigger Warnings Do Not Work, New Study Finds

I don’t remember how or why I ended up subscribing to the Pacific Standard weekly newsletter, but I thought they were a pretty good publication, so I let it slide. Not anymore. UNSUBSCRIBE.

I would love to go over this study in detail, but unfortunately, it’s behind a fucking paywall. However, this one line buried in this incredibly irresponsible article with the irresponsible headline tells me all I need to know.

“It’s worth noting that the study participants did not include people with diagnosed psychological ailments such as post-traumatic stress disorder.”

So you’re telling me that they stuck a bunch of neurotypicals in front of a screen, showed them disturbing content, and they were disturbed? Groundbreaking!

This study and the reporting on it, which is shitty across the board although the New York Times’ headline is at least better, represent a complete misunderstanding…