I decided to write this post after reading one on the same topic over on Cuddlebuggery.
With television shows and movies it is very easy for someone to look up if there is any upsetting content. Often this information comes in the form of a parent's guide to make sure their kids are watching appropriate things, but it's still a really useful resource for people with triggers and without. Unfortunately, the Internet provides no such resource for books.
Trigger warnings can help people make a decision weather or not to read a book, or even set it aside for when they are feeling more prepared, by making them aware of potentially distressing content. At the very least they are a form of emotional preparation.
For me, the mental health of others is prioritised over spoilers, and from now on I will mention any potential triggering content at the start of reviews to the best of my ability.
This is not about the censorship of literature. A warning is just that - a warning.
This Guardian article sums up this discussion pretty nicely. And, of course, if I forget to mention something significant at the start of a review that you have picked up on, I'd appreciate if you briefly mention it in the comments section of the review.
You are welcome to discuss in the comments below.
I have been trying to place trigger warnings in my reviews for a while now, and I am always worried if I forget to put them in there, or forget to include a certain warning. I don't consider trigger warnings to be spoilers, because they don't include which characters that the warning relates to, and like you said: the mental health of readers who might be affected by the content is far more important to me than something that might be considered a slight spoiler.
ReplyDeleteI hope more people choose to include trigger warnings in reviews, because it's really quite important!
I agree. It doesn't take too long to do and the benefits outweigh whatever issues people have with trigger warnings (some people have very silly reasoning against them). I hope that soon they'll become a more common thing, at least in the book blogging world.
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