You guys, considering how actions impact others is just too much

Judith Shulevitz wrote a piece in the New York Times about how across universities everywhere we’re taking people’s concerns about triggering too seriously. I guess we’re just being too protective. Shulevitz sees it as being in college, but still being under some kind of protective blanket. Her real problem seems to be “safe spaces” which she likens to real world trigger warnings. For her trigger warnings on the syllabus is some kind of personal affront to higher education.

Like many before her Shulevitz doesn’t really know what she’s talking about. She seems to think a warning on the top of a syllabus or a safe space for students to go when a debate on sexual assault is occurring on campus somehow means there will be no discussion. That’s not the case; instead it informs people what they are getting themselves into. She says, “But the notion that ticklish conversations must be scrubbed clean of controversy has a way of leaking out and spreading. Once you designate some spaces as safe, you imply that the rest are unsafe. It follows that they should be made safer.” What the what?

This is one of those false arguments. One does not lead to the other anymore than any slippery slope arguments. Being aware of what a discussion is about doesn’t mean no one is going to have the discussion. But I’m straight up saying things can be made safer and that the places that aren’t designated safe spaces aren’t safe. That’s why we have a rape epidemic on campuses. I also think we can make things safer by addressing why rape occurs and how to prevent it. This is logic, things are unsafe, one in five women are sexually assaulted. Hell, I’d argue safe spaces aren’t always safe, see that male feminist on the west coast who was sexually coercing and assaulting women?

This isn’t about hurting people’s feelings which is what Shulevitz and one of her sources Adam Shapiro assert. But these are people who don’t understand trauma. Trauma from sexual assault or homophobic violence (the examples in the piece) can lead to PTSD, which means you can have a physical reaction to a trigger. For example, a simple action might make someone feel as though they are under attack essentially triggering a panic attack. That is the point of trigger warnings. However, Shulevitz sees this as hyper sensitive and “self-infantalizing”, which leaves the students unprepared for life. I think creating a ruling class of over educated un-empathetic bastards is more harmful, but hey I’m overly sensitive, ask anyone.

Taking into account how someone could react doesn’t mean you can’t say something. You just have to own it upfront. So people write victim-blaming pieces will be accountable and can’t just shrug their shoulders and say people are too sensitive. Responsibility and accountability. No one is being censored by some magical censor fairy.