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like i really worry that our culture is commodifying trauma? a band i really like, led by a young woman about my age, they released a song in early 2015 that was quite clearly about sexual assault. and it was a great song, and it earned a very deserved warm reception, but interviewers would persistently ask the lead singer if it was “a personal account,” and she would always say that it was an observation on rape culture and leave it at that. and then about a year later she released a personal essay saying that, yes, it was about her own experience of sexual assault, and then there was another wave of secondary clickbait-y thinkpieces congratulating her for being so brave and so open.

so we have a great song addressing sexual assault, which can more than stand on its own as a piece of art. and we have a young woman who, after a year of getting the same question from reporters, says, “i was raped; the song is about me.” and then we have another wave of reporters coming in to write identical stories repeating her words, calling her brave, and collecting ad revenue.

and that’s what i mean: for every act of personal disclosure of trauma, there is this weird media apparatus that feeds on publicizing that trauma and collecting fat stacks of ad money. publications are taking what might be an empowering process for some people and they’re incentivizing and monetizing public trauma disclosure. it’s deeply fucked up.

OP, have you read this article by Sarah Ditum? Relevant excerpt:

Idk what the point is of this post but I feel like not many people outside of the northwest know how bad it is rn cus it's bad. The moment I find donation links I'll link them to this post but I haven't found any yet. And if you're in the northwest rn, please be safe.

Edit: here's a link to a California wildfire relief fund

i am allowed to be angry with people when they hurt me, even if they are sensitive and cant cope well with being told they did something wrong. their sensitivity does not mean i have to bottle up my feelings & their lack of coping skills does not make me expressing my anger abusive.

& then women and minorities will be like. hey we feel alienated and abused