Why do we still have to educate people on this godforsaken site what trigger warnings are?

They aren't a flag that survivors "can't handle" the material. They're a heads-up letting people know what the material is so readers/viewers can prepare themselves if they need to.

Do you want advance notice that a news video contains (for example) animal cruelty, or do you want to be taken by surprise when it happens? That's what a trigger warning is.

If you're out here arguing that we don't need trigger warnings because things should just be free of triggers, that's (a) impossible and (b) would mean no more babies or small children in media ever again. Why?

Well, babies are a really common trigger for people who've been through a miscarriage or otherwise going through infertility. I have friends warn me before sending me pics of their kids, or before reccing shows with pregnancy plotlines.

"But, Ana, do you still watch the show?"

Sometimes! A trigger warning gives me a heads-up about the content and I get to decide if I want to engage with the material or not. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

A trigger can be anything. That's how trauma triggers work. Triggers can be things like the perfume your attacker wore, or a necklace your parent owned.

We trigger warn for commonly known triggers, but we can't make "trigger-free" media. It's literally impossible.