Sara and Melissa Talk About...Trigger Warnings

We've been running a column series to get more personal with our readers. We are now into our seventh year!

This month, we are talking about trigger warnings, especially as they pertain to books, but this is also relevant for movies and TV shows. 

We're always open to topic suggestions, so please don't hesitate to share those in the comments. We'd also love to know if you can relate to anything we've said or hear your own thoughts on the topic. So don't be shy. 😊 We look forward to getting to know you as much as we're letting you get to know us. You can find our previous columns here, in case you missed them.

Melissa Amster:

A while ago, when I was recommending books to a friend, she told me to avoid recommending books that had certain situations in them, such as a character's husband dying. I was mindful of this and was careful to recommend books that wouldn't upset her. Over time, I've seen letters in the beginning of books that share trigger warnings. While I personally avoid them so as to not become anxious over what will happen, I know that they are helpful to people who need them. I have another friend who gave me a list of triggers and I'm always keeping them in mind when recommending books to her. It's no skin off my back to be sensitive about them. I just hate that some books contain these triggers because I know she'd love them otherwise! 

You may have noticed that I include trigger warnings in my Bookstagram posts and book reviews, as needed. I always put them at the very end, almost like spoilers, so that people have the option to check for them if they want or to avoid them if they don't want to see what they are. I don't see any harm in taking this extra step if it will make someone's life easier. No one should have to read a book that's going to cause them distress or anxiety. While I get more anxious knowing something bad is going to happen, I understand the need for some people to know in advance and prepare themselves. 

I recently asked about trigger warnings in a fan group for one of my favorite TV shows. Even though it is a sitcom, there was an episode that talked about a triggering topic. I basically just asked if the episode should have had a warning at the beginning or not and some people got triggered by the concept of trigger warnings. Like they were just all angry about other people needing this small advisory for self-protection. It actually astounded me to see such responses. Some people were like "I don't need them, so why should anyone else?"  Other people appreciated me putting the question out there, as they prefer trigger warnings and have had experiences with the topic presented in the episode. 

The reason I don't want them for myself is because of a TV show I watched a while back, where they announced at the beginning that someone was going to die in the episode. I was so anxious the entire episode because I had no idea what was going to actually happen, or when. Even though the death was awful and happened to a character I really liked, I would have preferred to be surprised instead of anticipating it in each scene. There are times I wouldn't mind a quick trigger warning in order to avoid watching an episode altogether (I may have stuck with a show if I knew I could avoid a certain episode), but I know I can't have it both ways. 

Sometimes I end up seeing the trigger warning in a book, but that doesn't stop me from reading it if it's not something that will trigger me personally. And other times, I'm reading a book and get blindsided by something and it's emotional for me, but I also appreciate that the book made me feel something and I use that information as trigger warnings for people to check if they feel they need to. I recently read a book that was really good but I knew it would be triggering for a friend who recently had a baby. She appreciated the warning so she could prepare herself, as she really wanted to read the book.

In any case, I think trigger warnings are necessary for books, as long as they are in a place where people have the option to check for them vs. right in our face. 

Sara Steven:

For most of my childhood and younger adult life, there were no trigger warnings in the books I read. From what I’ve seen online, it looks as though it had become more mainstream to include warnings in publications since the late 2000s, way past my Stephen King-era days and my V.C. Andrews childhood. 

I know this isn’t a book, but our topic for this month made me think of the movie Sixteen Candles. Melissa and I have commiserated on the fact of forgetting just how crude that movie could be. Sixteen Candles had originally received a PG rating, because back in the eighties, a lot more was considered acceptable by society’s standards. I didn’t remember the nudity that is fifteen minutes or so into the movie. I wanted to share the movie with my oldest child, who was a tween at the time, thinking we could have a laugh over some “old” film I watched when I was young. When the shower scene presented itself on my husband’s extremely large rear-projection television screen, I jumped off the couch and attempted to cover the nudity with my body and arms, but it was no use. To this day, it’s an added cringe-worthy moment that has been added to our family’s cringe-worthy awkward funny memories roster.

I bring this up because it only further solidifies just how wild the eighties, nineties and early 2000s could be. It was a different time, and now we’re given the upfront knowledge of knowing whether a book (or movie/television show) might contain sensitive topics that could potentially cause stress to the reader, or viewer. I can’t recall a book I’ve read that has elicited that sort of reaction for me, but I can appreciate the need for that kind of heads up in general. 

I’ve read that some people would prefer the trigger warning be placed in the back of the book vs. the front, for those who don’t want to have some of the content spoiled, but for me, if I see a trigger warning issued at the front of the book, I read it, then move on. While working on my post, I asked my fifteen-year-old what his thoughts are regarding trigger warnings in books, and he said that while they don’t affect him much, he thinks it’s important we have them. He said that some of his friends have benefited from having those kinds of warnings, too.

Having read other opinions online, one person said it’s “polite” to have trigger warnings, and I like that description. It’s a polite thing to do for readers, who can then choose to see the warning and continue reading the book, or continue with caution, or maybe not read it at all, based on their comfort level. It gives the reader a choice, and I think that’s a good thing. 

What are your thoughts on trigger warnings?

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