Daily Affirmations for a Campus Warrior (ROUND 2)
Let's workshop this poem that challenges readers to reconsider the implications of prioritizing emotional comfort over the pursuit of truth and resilience, especially in a campus environment.
Daily Affirmations for a Campus Warrior for Margaret Atwood Anything can be a trigger I stand up for myself and have a right to be recognized I have been victimized and the world needs to adapt to me I acknowledge my self-worth in making absolutistic demands! Thought should be policed—suppressed—for anything jarring My virtue, as a victim, gives me absolute moral license Worthy, I am entitled to shout down what is alien to me Worthy, I deserve to be heard and be confirmed as a human Worthy, I do not need permission to feel safe I am not a cry bully: vilification is the best way to express dislike Let ruin befall whatever triggers me; safety excuses inhumanity All minds, not just American minds, deserve coddling I am allowed to censor art and people if it makes me feel better My story matters: I am a survivor and my trauma is valid Yes, even teens get to dictate what even doctors can say! Yes, even redacted you-know words are traumatizing! Comfort over engagement—comfort über alles Truth should never interfere with justice! Free range in speech means free range in trauma Peanut butter jars that say “separation is natural” are racist My trauma is trauma; it is perfectly fine to be a “snowflake” I am not alone in being abused; I do not have to “go with the flow” Faking injury for power means I lack power, which is an injury Positive self-affirmations are not narcissistic I am enough: I do not deserve to be criticized or challenged School should shelter me from harm, not build my resilience to it For the anosmic, newscasters need to tell us what they smell like! Revision will not satisfy everyone: burning is the only way I will not let intent untrigger me! It is okay to emphasize my victimization: it is sacred to me As a victim, I am oppressed and blameless—and thereby owed Ban problematic “art” before examination; it only gives us pain Being a victim means I deserve sympathy and power “Where are you from?” is an attack “Hello,” is not an ice-breaker, it is a peace-breaker To be uncomfortable is to be persecuted Being a victim entitles me to make demands Alien opinions are hate speech and hate speech is real violence I do not hope, I demand, that you harmonize with me! All aggression should be illegal: burn Twain (and all problematics) Power and status to the victims: they deserve it I am depressed because I have been and continue to be abused It is an offense if someone I am attracted to does not talk to me It is an offense if someone I am not attracted to talks to me Jokes do not help handle trauma: trauma is not a joking matter No context in which a harm is spoken ever excuses the speaker Downplay of my trauma threatens my narrative as victim Statistics that do not support what I believe are immoral Tantrums give me control, the power to get my way Discomfort does not “enrich” my life—it rapes me My trauma is not faked as some manipulative ploy for power There is no good in people who disagree with me Even exoticness is no guard against cancellation I deserve to feel good at all times, even while learning I will do whatever it takes to avoid being offended I take pleasure in cancelling sources of trauma I love myself too much to accept being challenged The more easily I am offended the more I respect myself I deserve a trophy and I deserve to be sheltered I trust myself and I demand a safe space, not a “brave” space Being able to tell me what I do not want to hear is antiliberty I am too big of a gift to the world to tolerate triggers My fragility, my hurt, does not embarrass me, it entitles me My disgust gives me special rights: Zyklon-B elicitors of disgust! I give up the habit of self-criticism (and schadenfreude is okay) Being offended gives me special rights I am worth not being abused in the name of diversity I am worth not being abused in the name of free speech I am worth not being abused in the name of comedy I am worth not being abused in the name of education I am worth not being abused in the name of American ideals I will not tolerate exposure to the hurt of so-called “great art” Meltdowns are okay to get what I want: they mean I deserve it I decide what I learn and I deserve to be safe at all times I am arbiter of what is offensive and so what is worthy of death Colleges are places where anything upsetting is to be censored Speech I hate is hate speech; what I find inconvenient is racist Even the “off-duty” speech of professors needs to be monitored Suffering kills blessings; it does not teach us to count them I wake to sleep; I am worth too much to witness anything jarring Make the crucifix illegal: it is more brutalizing than nipples Academic freedom is no excuse to brutalize students The usual triggers are not the only triggers worthy of censorship Controversial topics are not allowed in my space A mention of a mention of a traumatic subject is traumatizing Your advantages and talents are your attacks upon me I am too much of a gift to be exposed to different perspectives It is reasonable for me to be upset by x even if no one else is No one else but me gets to decide what truly harms me My phobias are to be respected even if they are unusual One discomfort is one too many—and worthy of revenge! It is not my choice that, and it does not matter why, I am sensitive The victim’s perspective is the only perspective I am entitled to be sheltered, especially in spaces I pay to enter Triggers are involuntary and deeply subjective One trigger is not more worthy of respect than another I deserve never to be blindsided: I am a protected category Meritocracy is oppressive and so needs to be cancelled! Intentions never matter when it comes to being offended Jokes are microaggressions and represent real beliefs of the joker Fire people for what they said even in literal past lives Who wants to grow if it means sticking your neck out? Even ancient texts have a duty to reflect our values today! The answer to bad speech is not better speech Triggering equals raping; raping calls for instant cancellation Emotional fragility is to be indulged, not “worked on”
*This poem is unpublished
For photo credit see: theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2016/mar/10/student-protests-are-young-people-too-sensitive-these-days