Feminists of Reddit; What gendered issue sounds like Tumblrism at first, but actually makes a lot of sense when explained properly?

Honestly, trigger warnings are usually absurd. Besides mostly universal things like hardcore gore or violence/rape, triggers are usually very subjective and affect a very small amount of people. They're not easy to anticipate and are not the speakers responsibility to account for.

I'll give you a very personal example. I have a legit trigger that literally gives me a physical reaction. I used to get panic attacks and even after 20+ years of exposure, I still freeze up, get flushed, or an adrenaline rush sometimes when the subject or word pops up. My eyes still drift to words that look like my trigger half way down a paragraph I haven't even read yet. This issue has affected my whole life and still does today, I can just manage it better due to decades of exposure.

Circumcision. Just writing the damn word gives me a lot of emotions and I try to avoid the subject of genital mutilation in general. I can't explain what a fucked up thing it really is and how negatively it's impacted my life and many others'. I was fucking mutilated against my will, my genitals at that, and it's a damn joke to most. It makes me livid. Makes me depressed. It makes me think about it for the entire day every time it's brought up. I'm sure to regret mentioning circumcision because of the emotional state it'll put me in the rest of today. Plus all the assholes who will pester me about how awesome it is to have your genitals mutilated without consent for days to come.

Anyway, all that said, do you think it's appropriate for me to expect trigger warnings every time any form of genital mutilation is brought up? I still avoid all posts about it but the trigger warning comes from my first exposure to it, then I decide if I want to walk away. No one's expected to preemptively warm me of some unknown trigger I may or may not have.

TL;DR: for the most part, triggers are personal and nobody else's responsibility to warn you about. Stop being such a little sensitive snowflake and realize most people don't share your trigger. It's your own responsibility. You start feeling triggered? That's your warning, get out.

/r/AskReddit Thread Parent