I read another website called Dear Coquette and the other day she had a post about Trigger Warnings on classic literature, and since I have read a lot of classic literature and had no idea what these trigger warnings were, I was curious. I had to read through the comments before I figured out that it's warnings on books about content that might offend or traumatize the reader.
. . . ?
I have a mixed opinion about this. On one side, I think people need to stop being such pansy asses and get over it. It's just a book, it can't hurt you, and if you start reading something that you just can't handle for whatever reason, then stop.
On the other hand, I can see where people would want to know what they are getting into before buying a book and then getting home and have it filled with graphic sex or violence and being like, "well this isn't what I wanted at all". Movies have ratings like PG or R so that people know what to expect and don't go to, or send their kids off to watch a movie that is really inappropriate.
But, having said that, a rating is one thing, having a list of words used in the book that might offend someone is just silly. WARNING! This book contains the words: bastard and bitchy.
I haven't actually seen the warnings, so I'm not sure how they are used, but I hope this doesn't stem off into some sort of censorship. And going back and putting warnings on classic literature just seems pointless. I can imagine that there is a warning on Heart of Darkness for example or Robinson Crusoe. The next thing we'll see is people who want to clean up these old books and remove all words that are questionable. Or banning them from libraries and schools, because they have a bad word.
*sigh* Bring on the age of over protection, bubble kids and helicopter parents.
. . . ?
I have a mixed opinion about this. On one side, I think people need to stop being such pansy asses and get over it. It's just a book, it can't hurt you, and if you start reading something that you just can't handle for whatever reason, then stop.
On the other hand, I can see where people would want to know what they are getting into before buying a book and then getting home and have it filled with graphic sex or violence and being like, "well this isn't what I wanted at all". Movies have ratings like PG or R so that people know what to expect and don't go to, or send their kids off to watch a movie that is really inappropriate.
But, having said that, a rating is one thing, having a list of words used in the book that might offend someone is just silly. WARNING! This book contains the words: bastard and bitchy.
I haven't actually seen the warnings, so I'm not sure how they are used, but I hope this doesn't stem off into some sort of censorship. And going back and putting warnings on classic literature just seems pointless. I can imagine that there is a warning on Heart of Darkness for example or Robinson Crusoe. The next thing we'll see is people who want to clean up these old books and remove all words that are questionable. Or banning them from libraries and schools, because they have a bad word.
*sigh* Bring on the age of over protection, bubble kids and helicopter parents.
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