Making Sense Of "Trigger Warnings": Stigma, Taboo, and Trauma

Correction: In this episode, we mention that Anna Calix had a miscarriage. Anna actually had a 40 week stillbirth. Miscarriage (spontaneous abortion) is a fetal demise in utero at less than 20 weeks of pregnancy, and stillbirth (fetal death) is a spontaneous fetal demise in utero at 20 weeks or more of pregnancy. The two have very different experiences medically, legally, logistically, and socially.

The relationship between content and audience is always complex, and the power of words to inspire or harm is widely debated. In this episode, we discuss the controversial yet ubiquitous "trigger warning," a specific form of content advisory suggesting that some content is so offensive or traumatic it may "trigger" you. Trigger warnings are relatively new and are seen both as a means of respecting and including your audience by allowing them to disengage from harmful content and as evidence of a decline in the ability to handle difficult content.

While content warnings and advisories have long been part of the landscape, the concept of "trigger" is contentious. It has moved from a clinical environment into a moral one, where "offensive" content is labeled as potentially triggering--even in cases where no underlying trauma exists to be triggered. One under-examined aspect of trigger warnings is the potential re-stigmatization of storytellers whose work is labeled and the reinforcement of cultural taboos. Should scenes of interracial dating or stories of single motherhood come with trigger warnings if the audience finds such content distasteful? 

Join us as we explore the emerging literature and experimental data on trigger warnings, their utility, function, and impact.

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