As you know, Mother’s Day is this Sunday. A few weeks ago, there was quite a bit of controversy over the fact that several corporations were sending emails to customers giving them the opportunity to opt out of receiving promotional emails related to Mother’s Day.
People took to Twitter to show screenshots of emails from various companies that offered them the option to avoid receiving promotional material related to Mother’s Day. In their email communications, these companies acknowledged that Mother’s Day can be “a sensitive topic” for certain individuals.
Today, I received a similar email asking me if I wanted to opt out of Father’s Day emails.
Hi Matt, We understand Father’s Day can be a difficult holiday for a variety of reasons. If you’d prefer skipping this year’s Father’s Day-related emails, we totally get it.
A link was provided, and I was assured that I’d still get other emails with the usual deals and such that I typically ignore or never see because they’re otherwise lost in the sea of promotional emails I get from endless vendors.
While some have mocked companies for this preemptive effort to avoid triggering people over a “Hallmark Holiday,” others praised it because the holidays can be difficult for people who have experienced loss.
I get it. Some people will find Mother’s Day and Father Day difficult if they’ve recently lost a parent, suffered a miscarriage, or they themselves can’t have children. But, is it really less “triggering” to intentionally opt-out of these emails than it is to simply ignore them?
I know some on the right have criticized these companies for offering this option, but the problem isn’t the companies, it’s the prevailing snowflake attitude that insists that the masses must tip-toe around everyone’s sensitive issues.
Everyone has something that’s difficult for them. I once knew someone who was having difficulty getting pregnant and took issue with parents sharing pictures of their young children on social media. In her view, everyone else had to be sensitive to her plight.
I’m sorry. That’s just not how the world works.
These days, even novels are coming with so-called “trigger warnings” to alert readers of potentially “sensitive issues” that appear in the book’s pages. I’m sorry, but if you can’t read a fictional story without assurance that certain issues or scenarios aren’t depicted in its pages, then you need therapy, not a “trigger warning.”
While these email opt-outs and “trigger warnings” may be well-intentioned, it’s important to consider the broader implications, namely, the potential for censorship of topics that “some” may find “difficult.” Today, people are being warned about sensitive issues. Are we really that far away from Mother’s Day and Father’s Day promotions being banned all together? Will books featuring the loss of a parent or a child be unpublishable because some people can’t handle such issues?
Stranger things have happened.
By insulating ourselves from things that are potentially challenging or uncomfortable, we sacrifice our chance to handle life, which will always throw challenges our way. We can’t avoid death, sadness, or tragedy in our lives, but we can allow ourselves the opportunity to be strong and function in society despite those things. If we’re constantly trying to protect people from dealing with their pain, it can pave the way for a culture of censorship, where ideas and perspectives deemed uncomfortable or controversial are suppressed, ultimately impeding intellectual growth, emotional maturity, and critical thinking.
