Land Of The Wussies (Reporting The "Papercuts Of Oppression")
Princeton students have set up -- yes! -- a micro-aggression reporting service!
Via @AdamKissel, Katherine Timpf writes at NRO:
Princeton University students recently launched "Tiger Microaggressions," a service that takes other students' reports of microaggressions and publishes them on its Facebook page -- so that no one has to "carry the burden alone to call out " offenses against political correctness."If you witness a microaggression and would like us to put it on blast, submit your experience," encourages the page, which, by the way, also refers to microaggressions as "papercuts of oppression," which are "so small but slice deep."
...According to the operators, "microaggressions are all around us" and anything can be a microaggression because "there are no objective definitions to words and phrases."
"The perspective and lived experiences of each individual contextualizes the world around them and thus places a particular meaning in words based on their distinct subjectivity," they explain. "What counts as harmless banter to some may be emotionally triggering to others."
How lovely that college students, ripped away from their helicopter parents, are able to continue the culture of coddling even while away at an Ivy League university.
Listen, I'm sincerely sorry bad things happened to you, but I'll never let your 'triggers' act as boundaries to my expression.
If people saying what they want —whether or not they use clear language— is all it takes to bring you to some new moment of emotional distress, then you're not over it yet, whatever it is. You need to stay at home and grieve.
Nobody wants to be mean to you. And you should carry yourself in such a manner, by courage and by clarity, that it can't happen.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at December 11, 2014 10:56 PM
Exactly, Crid. Exactly.
Amy Alkon at December 11, 2014 11:04 PM
I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you need a microscope to find "aggression" directed towards you, then you've either never experienced it or are deliberately trying to be offended.
RKW at December 12, 2014 12:06 AM
Eh, dont think it warrants much discussion ... Its a fb page where people gossip about assholes
Nicolek at December 12, 2014 2:16 AM
Fun thought: hand one of these children a rifle in a situation where they must defend themselves and family. Observe idiocy.
I know an adult who grew into the idea that she should be insulated from unpleasant things, like choosing the right guy. I'm not sure where the idea comes from.
Radwaste at December 12, 2014 2:40 AM
this post is a micro aggression
tmitsss at December 12, 2014 3:39 AM
I don't blame these spoiled brats, it's the nature of a child to behave this way. Where, and maybe who, were their parents?
MarkD at December 12, 2014 4:06 AM
I just read that Facebook is considering adding an unlike button. OMG! A tool for mass micro-oppression!!
Dwatney at December 12, 2014 4:33 AM
Uh. So this is what communism looks like in the digital/social media age. Now it's even easier to inform on your neighbors. Terrific.
Sheep Mom at December 12, 2014 4:50 AM
I like to think this post is a macro-aggression.
Amy Alkon at December 12, 2014 5:40 AM
Please, please tell me this Fb page is Public.
Byronius at December 12, 2014 6:50 AM
"microaggressions are all around us"
Yes, yes they are. It's what most people call "life". In my experience it's a full-contact sport. It's a hell of a lot of fun, but there's gonna be some bruises, the occasional bloody nose, and sometimes some tears. I find that if I make my peace with that up front, I get through it with a lot more serenity and satisfaction, and fewer amends to make to others.
bkmale at December 12, 2014 8:10 AM
It's a YikYak thing, a collection of Yaks. I was unaware of YikYak until recently -- it's a service something like Twitter, but anonymous... and readers "upvote" or "downvote" the little posts the way they do on Reddit. (Twitter is to tweets as YikYak is to yaks, if that makes sense.)
Very popular on college campuses -- I spoke to a class last month and more of them used YikYak than either Facebook or Twitter.
Anyway, this seems like an incredibly masochistic project. If short, stupid, anonymous phrases are that "triggering," why would you want to see them all in one place?
Kevin at December 12, 2014 8:31 AM
Oh good God.
adambein at December 12, 2014 8:44 AM
On a related topic, have you heard that Columbia, Harvard, and Georgetown law schools are allowing students to delay final exams if they feel traumatized by the Ferguson and Garner grand jury decisions? http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-12-09/law-students-we-cant-take-exams-because-of-ferguson
As a lawyer, I'd say that if you're so traumatized by a grand jury decision that you can't cope with exams, you shouldn't become a lawyer.
Gail at December 12, 2014 8:58 AM
I think the term Pineapple Express is a micro-aggression. It's stereotyping and an insult to Pacific Island peoples. Never mind that it's bringing good things to California and we've been praying for it. I'd rather be offended.
/sarc
Canvasback at December 12, 2014 9:15 AM
Is it a micro-aggression if I roll my eyes?
kpontac at December 12, 2014 9:24 AM
For the papercuts of micro-aggression, we recommend a fine bottle of lemon juice, poured liberally.
Accompanying readings can be found in: "Words: I don' think they mean, what you think they mean..."
SwissArmyD at December 12, 2014 9:43 AM
> I'd say that if you're so traumatized
> by a grand jury decision that you
> can't cope with exams, you shouldn't
> become a lawyer.
Exactly. That's how I felt about that blithering idiot Maxwell from the Washington Post— If you sincerely hold that accusations are to be regarded as truthful without investigation, then you're not a lawyer, whether or not you have a JD... You're out of the stream of Western Civ.
> Eh, dont think it warrants much
> discussion ... Its a fb page where
> people gossip about assholes
> Posted by: Nicolek at
> December 12, 2014 2:16 AM
Sixteen words! We need to share this moment of irony.
Unless she's really telling us what we can talk about, in which case we need to mock her and call her names.
Also, let me state for the record that "(X) needs to (Y)" is one of my least-favorite verbal constructions. Ironic, right?
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at December 12, 2014 9:50 AM
"there are no objective definitions to words and phrases."
Hmm...that reminds me of someone...oh, yes:
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master - that's all."
I R A Darth Aggie at December 12, 2014 9:54 AM
I think it's cute, the way campus protest has gone from anti-war to anti-discomfort.
They'll fit right in to corporate culture, perhaps even daring to rock the boat by wearing a flashy pair of socks or carrying a non-standard cell phone.
What a thrill to see America's new leaders fearlessly taking on the crucial issues of the day! Kudos, young America! The future is yours!
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at December 12, 2014 9:55 AM
Nobody wants to be mean to you.
That's not true. Once people find out those folks are this fragile, some of them will go out of their way to needle them.
The fits of hysteria will be popcorn worthy.
I R A Darth Aggie at December 12, 2014 10:04 AM
> I think it's cute, the way campus
> protest has gone from anti-war to
> anti-discomfort.
☑ ☑ Boom!
Gog carries the blog trophy through the weekend.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at December 12, 2014 10:36 AM
This reminds me of the Ebonics issue of a few years ago. It was deemed politically correct to insist that young black high school students be allowed to substitute their own "language" for proper grammar, spelling and syntax. Thus preparing them for a life time of low wage careers.
How enlightening that we have moved on to encouraging college students to be super sensitive to daily life. Thus preparing them for a life time of limited advancement in the working world.
Jay at December 12, 2014 10:43 AM
The world cannot be expected to meet each and every individual's personal hurdle for offense. And the world won't conform to meet that standard.
Your individual perspective and lived experiences likely won't count for much out there where reality and expectations meet in a violent clash.
The world cares only about what you can do for it. And a good plumber (rude or polite) is often-times worth more than a good ethnic studies major or grievance jockey.
So, buckle up, kids. Most of you are in for a bumpy ride after college.
Conan the Grammarian at December 12, 2014 11:38 AM
> Once people find out those folks
> are this fragile, some of them
> will go out of their way to
> needle them.
It depends on how "people find out those folks are this fragile." If they're truly brittle, and they were going to fall apart anyway, then (again) they probably shouldn't be out in public we adults are talking about whatever we want.
But "trigger"-types are making a preemptive bid for manipulation, and I won't let them have it. This is when we needlers do our best work. Feminists, Christians, liberals, whatever....
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at December 12, 2014 7:34 PM
"According to the operators, "microaggressions are all around us" and anything can be a microaggression because "there are no objective definitions to words and phrases.""
And once again, Occupy-types demonstrate their allergy to the hard sciences - "hard" merely because real world systems and situations are totally unaware of their need for the world to change at their whim, so as not to be uncomfortable...
Radwaste at December 14, 2014 6:26 AM
I bet this gang consumes record amounts of drugs and homeopathic remedies.
Radwaste at December 14, 2014 6:27 AM
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