Name Removed 2
Name Removed
Dr. Jessica Conrad
English 1102
16 June. 2023
The Illusion of Safety: A Rhetorical Analysis of Roxane Gays’ Essay about Content Warnings
Content warning, trigger warning, this program may contain scenes that may make viewers feel uncomfortable. These are all familiar terms that people have heard at some point in time. Yet do these content warnings work? According to Roxane’s Gay “The Illusion of Safety/The Safety of Illusion” they do not. This bold claim by the author that the content warnings that are placed nearly everywhere in society have no effect is quite the argument. But why does she make this claim? Ms. Gay goes over several points to prove that the methods in which are used to protect society from harmful content generally do not work. She makes this first point by stating that humans are naturally curious and that no matter the warning human beings will always find a way to access harmful content. At first glance this statement might sound as if it is lacking in empathy for providing content warning for others, but it is logically true. The famous saying “curiosity killed the cat” is what comes to mind when reading over Ms. Gays’ essay about content warning. There is plenty of evidence to Ms. Gays’ claim that people will still look at taboo content even with warnings on it. In fact, trying to cover up content and censor it will only make it more appealing. Take the Streisand effect for example. The Streisand effect is what occurs when information is covered up and heavily censored to the point where it receives greater public attention than originally intended. So, when Ms. Gay talks about the foolishness of content warnings and trigger warnings and how they don’t work she isn’t just being some mean person who is disregarding the feelings of others. Ms. Gay is making this claim based off personal experience along with what is general knowledge. But what does science have to say about Ms. Gays’ claim that content warnings don’t seem to work as intended? Well science would agree with her statements about content warnings. According to a study done in 2019 by the Association for Psychological Science. Trigger warnings do little to stop psychological harm from occurring to people who view such content even with warnings on them. Now this isn’t to say that content warnings are completely useless. It’s just pointing out how they’re not as effective as others would like them to be. The most thought-provoking part of this essay isn’t found in the essay itself. But instead found in the title of the essay. The title being “The Illusion of Safety/The Safety of Illusion”. This title doesn’t hesitate to dive headfirst into the idea that society has constructed a net of safeness by censoring words and content alike. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Ms. Gay is calling out society for making the vulnerable feel safe under the illusion that they’re being protected. Instead, this essay and title can be seen as a call to action to those that are vulnerable not to fall for the illusion of safety with added trigger warnings.
Another strong point that of Ms. Gays’ essay is the unnecessary censorship writers go through from the general public urging them to use content warnings in order to not bring up painful memories for others viewing the content. It is important that authors have a sense of freedom in writing without the fear of offending. While there is nothing wrong with being considerate of others struggles, this essay does a good job at asking the question how soft is too soft? As pointed out in the essay by Ms. Gay herself everything has the potential to be a trigger inducing event. So, the notion that writers, and seemingly just writers should have to censor themselves is absurd. Another strong point of the essay deals with the strength in overcoming and not letting trauma dictate life. While a good portion of the essay warns about the dangers in censoring writers the best portion talks about healing from trauma. One of the main themes in this essay is about trauma. While Ms. Gay isn’t the only one to write about how trigger warnings serve no greater purpose, she does offer a refreshing point of view to the traumatized. While most people who decry trigger warnings seemingly do so in an unsympathetic way Ms. Gay goes about it in an empowering way. Ms. Gay emphasizes the importance in healing through the trauma and learning how to face one’s own personal demons. Often many people who go through traumatic situations are left with extreme bouts of PTSD. Many times, these people go through life shaped by their trauma and sadly never grow through it. This essay, however, gives a voice and incites a call to overcome that trauma by not letting past traumas become crippling and dictate how life is lived. It can be argued that this essay gives a voice back to those who have had it taken away from them through all sorts of violent ways.
In the end this essay has done quite a good job at asking society to examine the ways in which censorship is done. It’s a perfect balance between life experience and overall empathy towards others who have gone through traumatizing events. It challenges those who read it to take a deeper look at just how much censorship has grown in the past few years, and it calls for those who have gone through traumatic events to become stronger in the face of that trauma. It can also act as a warning that even though efforts are being made to “protect” people from harmful content that it is not wise to fall into the illusion of safety.
Work Cited
Gaye, Roxane. “The Illusion of Safety/The Safety of Illusion”. Bad Feminist: Essays. HarperCollins, 2014. 147-153
Association for Psychological Science. “Trigger warnings do little to reduce people's distress, research shows.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 March 2019.
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