Walking into Penny Arcade’s studio, I did not know what to expect. Watching a part of her show entitled Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!, I thought Penny was a comedienne I was somewhat confused when after her little monologue dancers and a singer came to the stage but nonetheless, I was walking into the studio not even close to understanding Penny or her art. Once we walked in and were seated, Penny started a conversation and from the get-go, I could tell she was very passionate about whatever it was she was talking about. Throughout her presentation, there were clips of some of her shows and she informed us that the dancers we saw were actually strippers. I was impressed by this fact and loved the genuine-ness  of Penny and her art.

As her presentation continued, she delved into talking about social issues, mainly gentrification of New York and trigger warnings. Penny explained that she ran away from home as a young girl, came to New York and lived in an area full of art and artists and culture, an area where a sandwich would not cost $12 (as the sandwich her associate, Steven, had bought that day.) She talked about her longing for this time as now New York is an expensive place to live in. She talked about the East Village being a safe haven, much like Williamsburg is now, and about how foreigners came into New York and gentrified the city. Following this discussion she talked about censorship and how the it is now so hard to make controversial statements because of trigger warnings and safe spaces.

This was one part of the presentation that I did not agree with. Penny said that at one point in time, universities and colleges used to promote free thinking and that the implementation of trigger warnings and safe spaces now stop people from doing that and also stops the dissemination of ideas. In my opinion, trigger warnings and safe spaces do not exist to shield people from controversial ideas, but rather protect people from images, videos, and other mediums which may trigger their anxiety, PTSD, depression, and/or other mental issues based on previous experiences. In a way, trigger warnings are the equivalent of strobe light warnings that movies have to implement for people who might be prone to seizures. Exposing people who are trying to move past their mental traumas to things that may remind them of those traumas is in my opinion very cruel and inhumane, especially knowing that these traumas are caused by very real mental illnesses such as depression, abuse (physical, mental, or sexual) and any other number of traumas that can take years or even decades to recover from.