Why do people censor stupid things?

I prefer them. I was sexually molested when I was a child so if there’s anything that i stumble upon that talks about that kind of trauma, I would really appreciate it if there was a trigger warning beforehand so I know I don’t have to read it and remember the shit that happened to me when I was a kid.

But I know people will put trigger warnings when they want to or not. It’s the internet, not everyone is going to be happy.

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I very rarely attach anything to my past, like that, so there’s a disconnect for me about others. Like, is it always like that or can you turn it off? type thing.

That being said, I did read one of @MiniMoxx 's that was close to my personal history, and I did comment about the correlation, and never left my past for it. I can’t even say it was cathartic. I had to slow down my reading and think a lot.

And it’s definitely a threshold thing. It was well handled, although hella disturbing. I will put aside a read that is disgusting, separate from difficulty of material.

But I never saw a need for a warning before every moment in that. And all that shows is the difference in where we are at and how we respond to it.

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I prefer trigger warnings.
I was sexually assaulted a lot in my past, and reading an in depth topic or book or something can seriously trigger my depression and PTSD. I read a book once (on wattpad actually) that had no warnings, no mention and they did a full on explicit scene. I read one line before I realised what was happening. It triggered nightmares and I didnt sleep for a week, needed my husband to stay home from work so he could parent because I was so bone-tired and having flashbacks so traumatic it was dangerous.
I read a book this week for a book club, not realising what was in it, read a blow by blow account of sexual abuse and luckily I’m all right this week but it really could’ve screwed me up. I skipped over the part when I realised what was going on.
so yeah, trigger warnings for things like that, or general subjects that are obviously sensitive are good.
Might seem snowflake and politically ridiculous to some people who don’t have genuine triggers, but trust me, they can, and do, help. It doesn’t need to be major, just trigger warning: xyz in this scene

When people c*nsor words like that, to me it seems pointless, unless it’s social media where saying a swear or whatever can get you banned or deleted etc.

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A warning is better than 733t if you’re caring about people. All the intent is still there without any relief. The only purpose that misspelling serves is getting past algorithmic censorship, not care for others situations. That’s not a care for shoving subjects at people.

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Would you still be triggered by s3x4l ab!se?

I really don’t give a damn how people write it. :woman_shrugging:t4:

And I wouldn’t be “triggered” if it was correctly written either. As long as someone was kind enough to warn others what’s in the content they posted, then I’ll continue on with my day without reading the content.

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I get it. People love to hate her. It’s actually kind of sickening all the hate and attention that revolves around her. People are weird.

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I’ve been following this thread but I finally thought I’d hop in. :sweat_smile:

Honestly, I never really understood it? Like trigger warnings, yeah. But just your general conversations on the internet? Not really.

I’ve been through some things as a child that were traumatic and I’ll never be able to forget it, but I’ve actually never had a problem reading about victims and survivors in the same boats in books. As long as it’s not graphic, I can handle it. I know it happens and it happens often. And in a twisted way, it’s nice when I can relate to characters that way. I know what its like.

The male MC in my trilogy was written that way. I wrote about my own experience on him, and I don’t go into graphic detail, just what he felt and the general idea of what happened. It’s important for this topic to get out there. Kids aren’t warned enough about the dangers of family members abusing them.

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I see this on Twitter a lot. People and bots search for keywords to target people.

It’s possible that it affects SEO too.
Or maybe people have grown to be so afraid of being called out that they don’t want to risk saying “words” publicly.

Makes you wonder what’s next on the taboo list. We’ll run out of words completely soon.

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Oh yeah and people censor things like food and stuff because people have issues which I get that, but food is a lifestyle and everywhere so you can’t just censor it because someone will get offended smh

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If you are triggered by looking at food, you have bigger problems to worry about.

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We’re going to have to break out the hieroglyphs just to have “free speech”.

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As a victim of all sorts of abuse and traumas, childhood and otherwise, I don’t care for trigger warnings. I don’t want them or need them, but I understand that some other people might. Everyone has their own limits. Personally, I’m more affected by intent than content.

I do think it’s gone too far in some cases. Ignoring things that exist and happen won’t make them go away. It’s like if you’re standing in a dark room and there’s a monster in the corner. Would you rather leave the lights off and not see it, or turn them on and see it even if it scares you?

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I’m specifically talking about weird stuff like “chldhood abse”

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That’s why I was pointing out that the goal was “normalization”. Not that there’s a standard, but there’s all sorts of things that started with reintegrating soldiers back into society, that extended to all sorts of trauma over time. There distinctly doesn’t seem to be any use for working on improvement in it’s use, now. (Individuals do what they want and people learn to cope with or without aid. Not knocking that.) Just the intent has seemed to change a great deal.

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You know what the worst form of censorship is? When there’s literally no reason to censor it and it still gets done because “but what if it offends someone! :scream:Lookin at you American education

Then there’s writing. The weirdest thing is when people complain about how offensive something is and “how could you write this and show it to the children!” sort of thing when your target audience is adults.

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I have seen people try to ban Winnie the Pooh because “talking animals are an affront to God!”. That actually happened.

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Religious reasons began deteriorating through the 80s and 90s. Most reasons for banning have little to do with religion unless in small towns, now. And then it’s usually a Karen type, so you can fend them off, in many cases.

The generation of the Silent Majority is mostly dead.

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I feel like I can lend a hand in this.

I used to be very ‘no-censor’ opinion-minded mainly because I didn’t see the need to filter negative words. I guess I always felt like words in general were important, and that their use in our language is what shapes our understanding. If we filter words, or put them under sheltered umbrellas, then we were taking away from the harshness of whatever it is we’re discussing (abuse, in this case) and instead “talking/not talking” about them. I mean, if you’re not able to state a harsh truth, then what’s the point in saying anything?

At that time, why I had trauma, I was coping with it really well and none of my triggers were ever brought up in discussion, so I had nothing to worry about. Then… some actually horrendous traumatic shit happened to me, repeatedly, over the course of three years and soon I was diagnosed with C-PTSD… leaving me with some more triggers, these one’s not so uncommon.

This isn’t to say I disagree with my past self. Words are important and by filtering them, we take away from their harshness and the ability to discuss a situation with complete clarity. However, I do understand the need for trigger warnings, which are really super simple.

Before someone begins a discussion, a simple “TW: ABUSE” can really help a lot of people who don’t know what the discussions about, and who may be triggered easily. And let me tell you, telling people you need a trigger warning, or telling people that a certain joke you used to laugh at triggers you now, is embarrassing. Shameful, even. Because, on one hand, you can’t expect people to constantly numb their words for your benefit, why on the other, these things really are having a massive impact on you and your mental health. People jokes about the word ‘trigger’ but it’s a real, and scary, thin.

I don’t agree with censoring every word having to do with it, a simple warning at the beginning is more than enough, and really, at the end of the day, it does nothing for or to the person to place it there, but for someone dealing with trauma, it can mean a lot.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t be taking your mental health into your own hands. If you’re aware of your triggers, and aware that certain discussions would/could be detrimental to your mental health, then it’s your responsibility to filter them out of your life and to avoid topics. Like, one of my big triggers is self-deletion. I don’t expect the world to stop talking about it, or for people to stop spreading awareness. But I’m also aware that it’s mentioned in most movies and TV shows. So, really, the only way for me to avoid being triggered is to watch children’s movies and shows… and that works for me. I avoid what hurts me, and I don’t get hurt. My mental health is better for it.

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Kinda want to add that, sometimes, it feels like people who overly censor words are attempting to garner–idk–white knight points? “Oh! Look how socially aware you are! What a kind, gentle, soul, they’re the king/queen!” Which… is stupid.

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