Some things are so downright stupid …

… you have to wonder why anyone came up with the idea to start with.

Trigger warnings. Notices about literature, movies, plays, discussion, and etc. that might cause discomfort in the reader, watcher, listener, etc.

“Oberlin College, long the nation’s leader in the earnestly ridiculous, seeks to be the FDA of political correctness, with warnings about classroom material nearly as comprehensive as the litany of side effects included in advertisements for a new drug. The school’s Office of Equity Concerns published a document for faculty (since pulled for more work after professors complained) urging them to ‘understand triggers, avoid unnecessary triggers, and provide trigger warnings.’ It exhorts professors to ‘be aware of racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism [i.e., prejudice against the transgendered], ableism, and other issues of privilege and oppression.’”

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/378329/warning-literature-ahead-rich-lowry

“Privilege and oppression” applies if you are wealthy and white. If you are wealthy and a “person of color” … Well, in this white-oppressed world, you cannot be both a person of color and wealthy. It is not possible.

From the Oberlin guide:

• On the first day of class, ask all students for their preferred pronouns. Memorize them as you memorize names.
• If you realize you used the incorrect pronoun, apologize to the student in private and take steps to avoid repeating that mistake in the future.
• If your class is too large to memorize names and pronouns, avoid using gender-specific language whenever possible. For example, if your instinct is to call on “the guy in the purple shirt,” try instead saying, “you, in the purple shirt.”

Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/