London play stopped because of men faint from abortion scene

[Batgin]

Just wanted to post about this as it has really irritated me. A london play which featured a graphic abortion scene was stopped as severel males felt faint from watching it and deemed it disgusting and not ok.

Yet how many film, tv shows, plays do women sit through, with no trigger warning, that feature dosmestic violence, abuse, strangulation, rape etc. I've lost count of the number of times I've been triggered (cPTSD from years of abuse), yet haven't caused the play to be stopped - often disassosiating until I get to the safty of the car with my husband.

I just find it disgusting that rape and violence against women is so mainstream - and mst men have no issue watching this - yet as soon as it is a graphic 'women issue' it's too much for them and they are outraged. Why aren't they outraged at rape and violence against women?

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/article/2024/jul/31/london-play-the-years-paused-after-theatregoers-felt-faint-during-abortion-scene

Well, they're delicate theatre-going souls, aren't they?

Must have been off school when the A level drama students did Medea.

Plenty of people avoid television and film which is too gruesome or violent. I know I do.

I would likely have a bad reaction to this scene in the play, if it was particularly bloodthirsty.

An award-winning play had to stop a performance earlier this week, after a male member of the audience requested medical help because he felt “faint” after watching a graphic abortion scene play out on stage.

I’ve tried very hard to be nice about this, but I’m afraid I don’t have the energy for it today. This specific story reminded me of a more general one I hear almost every day – about men fainting while their partner is in labour, men being unable to buy tampons, men finding their partner’s menstrual cups disgusting, being horrified by sex during a woman’s period, disliking the idea that women fart or poo or have any other bodily functions, and I’m just so deeply over it.

Maybe the most shocking thing about this story is that another man in the audience, rather than rolling his eyes at the fainthearted theatre goer, felt the need to volunteer his opinion of the scene. According to The Times, another ticketholder at the award-winning Almeida Theatre in Islington, north London, shouted from the circle that the scene “was a disgrace”. He added: “There was no warning.”

There was then an exchange between the actors and the audience member where they pointed out that there absolutely was a warning about the content of the play, both online, in the programme and in emails sent to ticket holders.

The warning read: “The Years contains sexual content, a graphic depiction of abortion, a coerced sexual encounter and blood.” I think even an outraged male audience member would be hard pressed to pretend that doesn’t constitute a warning.

Article continues at https://inews.co.uk/opinion/men-feeling-faint-abortion-scene-eyes-cannot-roll-harder-3200848

and https://archive.ph/oXWD4

I did eye-roll a bit, I must confess.
I'd thought it was a woman originally and thought oof, it may have been triggering. I had less compassion for a man thinking it was grim. That might be misandrist but given it's women going through the pain of menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion and menopause - all of which are visceral and bloody and emotive - men freaking out seems reactionary and misplaced and self-serving rather than showing empathy, compassion and understanding of what many of us go through or have been through.

Many people do get faint, or ill, from depictions of surgery, blood, etc. My (male) cousin can never watch surgery shows because he gets dizzy. My (female) friend turned off GpT at the first episode when they cut the guys head off - she feels television goes out of its way to push envelopes with explicit violence of all kinds.

I really don't think that implies this man at the theatre is ok with violence against women or that he likes to watch it on TV or whatever. And he's entitled to think a depiction is too gory in general and if it makes him feel ill I am sure that influences his opinion.

A little harsh op,

Yes it is unfair what women have to go through but no one faints intentionally.

It’s hot in some theatres and fainting is unpleasant for both men and women.

Given the number of men who try to coerce their gfs and partners into having a termination every year in this country, I think it should be standard viewing for all teenage boys.

If my partner had a wobble over such a scene I'd be less than sympathetic.

The Years - content warning:

Recommended for ages 15+.

Thematic triggers:

Please note this production includes:

• A graphic depiction of an abortion
• Blood
• A coerced sexual encounter
• Sexual content

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised in The Years, you could consider contacting:

• ^_https://www.abortiontalk.com/_^
• ^_https://www.archtrust.org.uk/_^
• ^_https://www.solacewomensaid.org/_^

Technical triggers:

This production includes the smoking of e-cigarettes, haze and flashing lights.

https://almeida.co.uk/your-visit/production-content-guide/

I gather the scene of sexual violence didn’t make him come over all faint, only the scene of abortion? Abortion which is often needed as a result of male sexual violence?

No sympathy.

Probably feeling guilty.

Oh well.

Presumably you wouldn't have gone to see it then. There was advance warning.
Its rude to ruin an evening for others because you booked something you outfit handle surely

Look up the theatre's response, which is that there are content warnings on the website, in the emails they send you pre-visit, and up as signage in the theatre lobby.
There's no excuse for 'not knowing' about it.

There's no excuse for 'not knowing' about it.

But maybe an indication that men who have probably quite happily paid for an abortion, never bother to think what this actually means for the women and her body.

So even read the content warning and thought "oh its just women's bodies" but when it is presented from the women's point of view, it is very different from the male affirming depictions of women's experiences as shown in films and tv.

Wouldn't it be great if in theatres, films and even at home whilst watching tv, all women present started shouting out against the exploitative way violence against women in depicted.

then they just leave if they are too delicate.
Like all those people who fainted during Titus Andronicus at The Globe.

I don't think you can blame anyone for fainting. In the wrong circumstances I've fainted watching a very mild scene but been fine with others... it often depends on physical conditions you're sitting in and it's not always predictable. It's not something you can control!

Obviously no-one has the right to blame the theatre/play for it in this case... (unless it was unbearably hot/cold etc.)

You can't really "just leave" if you're unconscious or feeling dizzy as in my experience you've fallen down within seconds.

Stop judging the fainty men, they can't help being the weaker sex.

I just saw this play with my straight laced husband. We both thought it was very good.

He reckons the blokes must have fainted due to the heat wave. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Yes there was blood and very good acting, but nothing gratuitously gross.

Would recommend.

The article says mainly males and it doesn't appear as though the first person who felt faint even blamed the play.

But why go and see it when it literally gave trigger warnings in relation to gory depictions of abortion? I avoid films with rape scenes because I know they'll be triggering. I certainly wouldn't go and see a play with a rape scene in it and then insist the play was stopped because I was triggered!

I think you are being unfair on the man/men who was unwell without knowing why the men were upset.

I am going to talk about a true life experience of spontaneous abortion. My Dh was brilliant during a miscarriage (spontaneous abortion) I had at home, including helping me collect products of conception for the hospital to analyse. I don’t think we’d have a reaction if we saw this play but all the focus was on me. I wouldn’t associate the two events and would be ok with the play and I think he wouldn’t relate the two but maybe he would? There was so much blood and me screaming and I know he felt helpless. He’s always squeamish about blood but he (outwardly) kept calm. I will ask him how he’d feel about being a ‘spectator’ of an abortion in a play. I think we’d both be fine, mainly because we went on to have more children so those memories were ‘overridden’.

It about associations. Sometimes you haven’t made the association until it confronts you head-on.

This article says why at least one of them was upset: 'another audience member is reported to have shouted from the circle that the scene “was a disgrace” and “there was no warning”.'
And the theatre in response said they 'will continue to warn audiences of the content', so they obviously believed at least one of the objections to be about
the abprtion scene.