Writing The Rise of Victimhood Culture required a lot of engagement with the latest news coming out of campuses and corporations regarding claims of victimization, calls for protection against an ever-wider array of alleged harms, and arguments about who is most victimized (and thus most deserving of protection) or most privileged (and thus a legitimate target for contempt).

For the sake of my mental health, among other things, I’ve since gone back to only passively learning about things like the argument that “kill all men” is a call for justice but “where are you from?” is an act of aggression.

Still, every now and again I do a quick Google News search just to see if the water is still boiling. And sure enough, this culture that some early reviewers of our work thought was just a passing fad or irrelevant fringe is reliably plastered across recent headlines.

Since it’s been a while since I’ve reported on victimhood at the victimhood report, consider these recent examples:

• The University of Buffalo’s Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention will make combatting microaggressions the central theme of its annual conference, which includes a keynote speech on the topic from a psychologist at the University of North Texas.
• The National Science Foundation has awarded $248,744 to three Iowa State researchers to study “Microaggressions in Engineering Programs.” The project is led by an engineering professor who says “The contribution of this grant is bringing an intersectionality perspective to the concept of microaggressions where we consider the interconnected nature of race and gender.”
• In NYU’s student newspaper, a Korean-American columnist describes as species of aggression such things as incompetent attempts to be friendly by those who great her with “ni hao!” or “konichiwa!” (Chinese and Japanese greetings, rather than the Korean “anyong haseyo?”), or having people ask if she understands English idioms (which seems like a well-intentioned effort to communicate clearly and recognize that not everyone shares the same cultural background). She says she only recently learned to classify such uncomfortable experiences as being the target of microaggressions.

(But a Westerner living in East Asia was doing that six years ago, as seen in this old Japan Times piece.)

• The University of Utah has begun a campaign to raise awareness of microaggressions: “Starting this semester, students and faculty can see posters all around campus with photos of people from all types of backgrounds with microaggression statements on them. School officials said their goal is to raise awareness about the long term impacts that microaggressions can have on others.” I wonder if they’ll address the impact of having a Broadway musical make fun of your religion?
• Teen Vogue continues its campaign against cultural appropriation, the new modern sin that occurs when white people adopt another culture and sully it with their dirty privilege.
• Fraternity members wearing grass skirts for a charity fundraiser are also guilty of this cultural offense.
• Sometimes it seems like every demographic on campus is to have their own “safe space.” But recall that it is only for recognized victim groups: UMD pulls flyer for ‘safe space’ for white students following student response

One final note: As much as we’ve written about safe spaces as illustrating victimhood culture’s emphasis on vulnerability and dependence on authority, I must admit that people at the LGBTQ safe space of an Orlando Jewish Community Center are risking physical injury to learn a form of self-reliance: LGBTQ Safe Space Krav Maga Class.