thuvia ptarth (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thuviaptarth) wrote2010-06-30 11:34 pm
thuviaptarth) wrote2010-06-30 11:34 pm
VVC links
I've been following discussion about the new Vividcon Background and Procedures. I'm really pleased with the response to concerns raised last year and this year; it makes me happy that people in my fannish communities are proactive about making fandom a better place for themselves and for others. I am sad that some people see the critiques as attacks or requests for perfection; I tend to think of them as ways to make good things better, or at least accessible to more people.
Personally I am psyched about the Newbie Dinner on Thursday, despite being an oldbie, because I am an oldbie who is scared of people and never meets half the people she has heard are coming even though it is a tiny con.
There are some discussions about warnings going on, to which I have nothing new to contribute and yet about which I wish to express myself anyway. Fortunately, I have this blog thing to be repetitive on.
Nothing new
Last year's discussions about warnings in fanfiction changed my mind about warnings. I am firmly opposed to censorship. I don't have triggers myself. Generally I prefer to avoid vid warnings. I am almost certain that my position on my premiering vid will be "Choose not to warn." And I am in favor of implementing warnings for common PTSD and physical triggers, preferably as a separate list rather than included on the vid or in the vidshow itself.
As I understand it, this is what is being requested:
Vidders to label premiering vids with one or more of the following:
Common physical triggers for migraine or epilepsy [eta - This set of triggers has been edited from the original based on feedback]
No warnings apply
The thing is, I am opposed to requiring warnings for "offensive content." That's something I consider a free expression issue. I am in favor of warnings for "triggers," which is more of a disability and accessibility issue. I don't feel that my artistic freedom of expression is best served by my incapacitating people with flashbacks or inducing a migraine.
I was going to talk about nonrequired warnings in last year's program that I was grateful for, and things I wished I'd been warned for, but on reflection they're irrelevant. Things may have upset or disturbed or squicked me; they didn't trigger me. (Except for the vid in Non-Attending Premieres with strobing dissolves and that did have a warning on it -- I just didn't think it applied to me, because I don't get migraines. Non-migraine headaches: also unpleasant! And also my responsibility, for ignoring the warning.)
Asking for trigger warnings is asking for more than my culture generally provides. The thing is, I kind of think my culture in general sucks in its treatment of trauma, assault, sexual assault, and disability. My culture in general pretends these traumas are not common and that disability is irrelevant. I don't think either of these things are true. I am always hoping my fannish subculture will do the mainstream one better.
Since premieres have already been submitted and uploaded, I don't think it makes sense to ask the concom to collect warning information for 2010. If we did a post or a Google form to collect information from people who were willing to volunteer warnings, though, I would be happy to collate the information; not responding would be a de facto "Choose not to warn"/"Caveat viewer."
I have modified/updated what I'd like to see in a warnings policy.
Personally I am psyched about the Newbie Dinner on Thursday, despite being an oldbie, because I am an oldbie who is scared of people and never meets half the people she has heard are coming even though it is a tiny con.
There are some discussions about warnings going on, to which I have nothing new to contribute and yet about which I wish to express myself anyway. Fortunately, I have this blog thing to be repetitive on.
Nothing new
Last year's discussions about warnings in fanfiction changed my mind about warnings. I am firmly opposed to censorship. I don't have triggers myself. Generally I prefer to avoid vid warnings. I am almost certain that my position on my premiering vid will be "Choose not to warn." And I am in favor of implementing warnings for common PTSD and physical triggers, preferably as a separate list rather than included on the vid or in the vidshow itself.
As I understand it, this is what is being requested:
Vidders to label premiering vids with one or more of the following:
- Choose not to warn
- Common PTSD triggers
- Explicit violence (assault, self-harm, suicide, gore, explicit medical procedures)
- Sexual violence (rape, sexual assault, noncon, dubcon)
- Sounds of gunshots
- Explicit violence (assault, self-harm, suicide, gore, explicit medical procedures)
- Bright flash
- Strobe lighting
- Quick flashing microcuts
- First-person "shaky" cam
- Abrupt changes in sound volume
The thing is, I am opposed to requiring warnings for "offensive content." That's something I consider a free expression issue. I am in favor of warnings for "triggers," which is more of a disability and accessibility issue. I don't feel that my artistic freedom of expression is best served by my incapacitating people with flashbacks or inducing a migraine.
I was going to talk about nonrequired warnings in last year's program that I was grateful for, and things I wished I'd been warned for, but on reflection they're irrelevant. Things may have upset or disturbed or squicked me; they didn't trigger me. (Except for the vid in Non-Attending Premieres with strobing dissolves and that did have a warning on it -- I just didn't think it applied to me, because I don't get migraines. Non-migraine headaches: also unpleasant! And also my responsibility, for ignoring the warning.)
Asking for trigger warnings is asking for more than my culture generally provides. The thing is, I kind of think my culture in general sucks in its treatment of trauma, assault, sexual assault, and disability. My culture in general pretends these traumas are not common and that disability is irrelevant. I don't think either of these things are true. I am always hoping my fannish subculture will do the mainstream one better.
Since premieres have already been submitted and uploaded, I don't think it makes sense to ask the concom to collect warning information for 2010. If we did a post or a Google form to collect information from people who were willing to volunteer warnings, though, I would be happy to collate the information; not responding would be a de facto "Choose not to warn"/"Caveat viewer."
I have modified/updated what I'd like to see in a warnings policy.
Migraine triggers
I wouldn't actually be able to attend vid shows because my triggers are so common and severe, but if the final policy ends up being split into sections, and one section specifically addresses elipepsy/migraine triggers, I would strongly encourage the concomm to reiterate that all shows are available on videotape during the course of the con in that particular section. Even better if the shows are available on discs that play on computers, since I have my system set up so the volume/brightness/screen resolution is optimal for my comfort at those times when I feel up to watching a vid or two, which is not a thing that can be guaranteed with the hotel television sets.
Re: Migraine triggers