A note - this isn't the article I was originally looking for. There was a response to this article I recall specifically discussing colleges becoming more profit or money-minded and that it effects how it treats or protects its professors. It was a very useful perspective and I will do my best to find the article.
A lot of these conversations about these concepts seems to me to be made by people who have 1) never been triggered emotionally in a situation, public or private, 2) have never actually participated in safe space discussions. Outsider perception/view.
The discussion is primarily about how people perceive the idea of a safe space over the actual experience of it. I don't think it's very useful, it just reinforces peoples' perceptions of others without actually engaging with those peoples and concepts/experiences directly.
I can't help but think there's a little bit of a Welcome to Night Vale influence - but a (distorted? misinterpreted?) Southern Gothic trend started around 2012-2013. I saw a lot of revisiting of dark recolorings of reality in that vein crop up when that podcast came out, particularly on tumblr.
If you look up the "Southern Gothic Meme" or "____ Gothic" memes (for your city, state, concept, etc) theres some really entertaining shortform writing out there. :)
I think the upvotes are coming from an interest in this particular subject more than the source. I would like better material collected on the subject. Anyone have an alternative choice for research or discussion on this subject?
It is because woman are considered to be the adjunct, not the norm, not the average, not the expected or assumed. Its even obvious in the word itself - a prefix on the word "man", which can and is often used in place of "person" or "human", and will describe a person who is more than likely assumed to be of the masculine persuasion.
A+ on not putting "Woman" in the headline for the article, though!