I just watched a clip on X from the Irish parliament whereby a representative was saying that all laws restrict freedoms and their latest proposed hate speech law is no different- limiting freedom of speech where it 'makes others unsafe and ruins their lives'.
The bit I struggle with it the space between what we think members of society should be able to tolerate and what oversteps this (if anything).
I really enjoyed 'The Coddling of the American Mind'( excluding the first chapter which was a cringe fest). It highlighted how fragility was being reinforced or even created by provision of 'safe spaces' on US college campuses, rather than support and guidance (even CBT) being provided to help people recognise that they are not actually unsafe.
Going back to that Irish politician, I would have liked her to expand on what she had in mind when talking about ruined and unsafe lives. How much of this was due to the thoughts and feeling of the 'victims' and how much was due to material threat? Existential threat has a material impact on health and well-being, but how much of this harm should be mitigated by controls imposed on others versus supports put in place for individuals in relation to their existential crises? I have no doubt that if it did, the first thing we'd hear from TRAs is that this is victim blaming.
I see victim blaming happening to WaGs around keeping safe (e.g what to wear and when not to go out) and it infuriates me. This leads me to be sensitive to victim blaming in general, so simply telling people not to get upset by these views isn't something I subscribe to as a blanket approach.
Having said that, I wouldn't want people arrested for saying WaGs shouldn't wear short skirts or go out unchaperoned after dark!
However, my identity and sense of who I am isn't based upon people saying that wearing short skirts and going out in the dark is what sone people are born to do and therefore suggesting otherwise is hateful.