All the Ms: Lack of Trigger Warnings, Thank Goodness

I was about fifteen. I was standing in my parents' kitchen talking about something--school or drama club or something--to an adult who had asked me a question. She suddenly broke in and said, "My, you have such a large vocabulary!" 

I was completely stymied. I didn't think of my vocabulary as large--it was simply the way I talked. 

Granted, several older siblings, discussions at the dinner table, being read to for part of my life, being well-versed in the scriptures, and being a dedicated reader meant that I had a high vocabulary for my age. But I had never deliberately acquired words (I didn't have a Word of the Day calendar). It was entirely natural. 

The conversation didn't resume. 

In retrospect, I surmise that the adult woman was uncomfortable or thought she was being nice or was trying to shut me up--but the event underscored two outcomes in my life. For a long time, I would stammer even while teaching because I would get self-conscious about my "vocabulary." (I now have the habit of defining words while I talk, and I care far less what people think.) 

And second, I hated social media before social media existed. 

Exegesis or hermeneutics is the study of the study of texts. That is, rather than reading Shakespeare and trying to figure out what he meant or reading Shakespeare and discussing how he wrote, exegesis or hermeneutics would examine what people have said about Shakespeare. (Hermeneutics is mostly focused on the scriptures--but not automatically.) 

It's not a completely horrible line of study. But it seems like it has taken over...everything. The entire world has turned into the adult who rather than responding to the thing I said is commenting on my character or behavior. 

Rather than read a text, students have AI tell them what it said. Rather than respond to a point, social media imbibers label the point or argument and the point-maker. Rather than read a book, readers are warned of the book's content. 

I'm aware that people who write or like trigger warnings believe they demonstrate sensitivity for others' experiences. Unfortunately, my experience is not taken into account. 

I perceive trigger warnings as one more bullying "explanation" (lecture, chastisement, headache, hectoring) between me and the text, another way to push away direct experiences or ideas, another way to corral the unknown or uncomfortable, another way to shut down the conversation, another way to assume what I need to be told.  

I'm not one for avant-garde, edgy, "challenging" literature. But I'm entirely capable of forming my own opinions about whether I will keep reading something or not. And I can handle discomfort with language. 

One of the pleasant aspects of my current reading challenge (All the Ms) is how few trigger warnings I've encountered. Granted, I don't spend much time on the pages before the prologue or first chapter (as mentioned earlier, I'm not even reading the jacket blurbs). So I may miss such warnings. But they are often hard to miss. And I've come across very few so far. 

It's a relief. As I try out different books by M authors, I can have a real conversation with the author, not a conversation where someone holds up a hand and says, "Oh, my, I know what you need to be told. I know what you're supposed to think about others or yourself or these characters. I'm so worried about how you're going to react. No surprises--and watch out for enjoying yourself. I'll explain how you will likely react FIRST. After all, I've got a label all-prepared!"  

In sum, there's no sign at the beginning of the book stating, "You shouldn't continue unless you are THIS TALL."