Do we need/want any sorts of content warnings?

Question

I've writing a question revolving around the rape in Ian McEwan's Atonement.

I do not want to put "rape" in the title, as it will show up on the main page. On the other hand, I also don't want to surprise readers who didn't realize the question would heavily involve rape.

As I don't expect (or want) any topics to be off-limits, this might be a recurring issue. Do we need/want any kind of content warning for questions that deal directly with difficult or triggering topics?

Do we want any kind of guideline or community norm on this?

Answer 1

First off, tag the question properly. That won't help if I don't know what the book is about, but if I know that the topic of Atonement (or Twilight, or Le Morte d'Arthur or whatever) is something that will bother me, having it tagged properly will allow me to avoid it without having to seek out warning labels. Folks can add tags to their "ignore" list, check the "hide" box and avoid seeing questions related to those subjects in most places on the site without having to put in any further effort.

When (as in your example) the question itself concerns potentially-sensitive content, then do as Robert suggests and avoid gratuitously shocking language. You demonstrate this admirably in your title, which is both sufficiently detailed yet avoids any unnecessary or salacious details as to the nature of the assault.

...unfortunately, you kinda ruin the effect by including those same details as the first paragraph of your question:

This warning is problematic, since not only does it de-emphasize your actual question, it includes rather more specific detail than the question itself - and rather negates your attempt to keep it off the list of questions!

As you said originally, putting "rape" in the title should be easily avoidable - but more than that, unless your question is directly about events or terminology that might be upsetting to others, there's no real need to include it - so don't. Sometimes this will be difficult; sometimes it will be impossible... But with a bit of attention, it should be possible to treat them - and your readers - with a delicate touch and avoid undue discomfort.

Answer 2

I respect that people have had traumatic things happen in their lives but this is not something we should be doing.

There's no way we can guarantee that every time there's a trigger subject, even if it's only "rape", we can post a warning about it... which means that someone who is troubled by these subjects may incorrectly assume that anything that doesn't have a warning is "safe" to read... which wouldn't be the case.

Much like with actual spoilers, what someone considers a trigger is completely different than another person, so there's no way to adequately warn everyone without just writing the question. Where do we draw the line about what gets a warning - rape, racism, torture, clowns?

If someone has an issue about something in the writing, I'm sure they will just close the page and move along the second they start to have trouble with it.

Please note that, just because someone is sensitive to rape (as an example) doesn't mean that they will be triggered by all mentions of it, so by warning them about the content, they may opt not to read it and it's possible that it wouldn't have been an issue for them anyway.

Answer 3

No, please don't. If this is going to be a serious site on literature, subjects might might deal with the occasional adult theme and sometimes uncomfortable situations on occasion.

While we don't allow posts to get overly gratuitous simply for the shock value, I wouldn't want to oversee a site where folks are asked to speak in hushed whispers whenever talking about naughty bits and adult themes as a matter of policy. Let's not hack up these posts with unnecessary markup, and I'm equally against plastering warning stickers all over the site trying to suss what subjects should receive such a treatment. I wouldn't want to use such a site, and I certainly don't want to be that guy with the marker who's job is to cover up all the naughty bits before the magazine hits the newsstand.

Answer 4

Original poster can decide if they want to add "spoiler" markdowns to their posts. However, I feel they are unneeded and will detract from the quality of the question overall, especially if they are done en masse.

We are adults (or at least over 13), we can decide for ourselves what we find offensive or not. If something IS offensive we have mechanisms in place for that, flagging. As long as question well written and not just profanity laced rages, you will be okay.

I have an example from my own postings, where I was cautious because I was asking a question about offensive language and so hide those words.

Answer 5

I would propose putting in content notes at the beginning of such posts, with the actual warning spoilered out - like so:

Content Note:

Discussion of rape.

This is fairly unobtrusive, doesn't impact people who don't feel the need to check content notes, but is helpful to the people who would rather have them.

I don't think this needs to be policed in any way, but I think editing to add a content note to an existing post is fine, within reason.