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The hard part of helping survivors recover comes months later

vox.com

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Re: The hard part of helping survivors recover comes months later

#11

Post by pavlov »

benbs wrote: post #3

"All of 5-foot-2 and dressed like a sexy librarian — snug blouse and pencil skirt — Maria usually counseled homeless patients at Bellevue Hospital, the institution famous (and infamous) for treating New York City's poorest and sickest." I do not understand why the author made this characterization. It seems to undermine their point.

My mind always creates an image of a person I'm reading about. If there are no physical characteristics, it actually makes reading harder. Fiction writers generally know how to paint this picture (except for the very bad ones), but in journalism it's not a given.

So I'm glad that long-form non-fiction authors expend a few words on this. Height + "sexy librarian" is certainly not the most elegant formulation, but it's enough to avoid the frustrating blankness of an unbuilt narrative actor.

Re: The hard part of helping survivors recover comes months later

#12

Post by x1798DE »

curtis wrote: post #10
LeoPanthera wrote: post #9

My second protest about posting clickbait titles. Please don't.

I don't really like the title either, but in this case it is the actual title from the source. Despite my reservations about the title, I think it was worth a read, and I upvoted it. Also, I'm not sure what a better title should be, and I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect the submitter to think up a better one when submitting. In fact changing the title from the source is kind of frowned upon on this site.

> In fact changing the title from the source is kind of frowned upon on this site.

I think it's perfectly acceptable to change clickbait headlines to simple factual ones. In this case something like, "First hand account of a case worker in the Salvation Army disaster recovery center following 9/11". Or even just the existing headline without the "The worst part was 6 months later".

Re: The hard part of helping survivors recover comes months later

#13

Post by brudgers »

benbs wrote: post #3

"All of 5-foot-2 and dressed like a sexy librarian — snug blouse and pencil skirt — Maria usually counseled homeless patients at Bellevue Hospital, the institution famous (and infamous) for treating New York City's poorest and sickest." I do not understand why the author made this characterization. It seems to undermine their point.

I suspect that the author characterized the therapist's physical description in that particular way because it was relevant to the opening scene: the man's come on line was to define his 'PTSD' as 'post traumatic sex disorder'.

The therapist's physical appearance and gender add explanatory context for her ability to predict the man's inappropriate behavior. And suggest why she was the target of the man's inappropriate behavior in the first place.

Re: The hard part of helping survivors recover comes months later

#14

Post by curtis »

x1798DE wrote: post #12
curtis wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really like the title either, but in this case it is the actual title from the source. Despite my reservations about the title, I think it was worth a read, and I upvoted it. Also, I'm not sure what a better title should be, and I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect the submitter to think up a better one when submitting. In fact changing the title from the source is kind of frowned upon on this site.

> In fact changing the title from the source is kind of frowned upon on this site. I think it's perfectly acceptable to change clickbait headlines to simple factual ones. In this case something like, "First hand account of a case worker in the Salvation Army disaster recovery center following 9/11". Or even just the existing headline without the "The worst part was 6 months later".

I pretty frequently edit headlines when I submit links. In fact I think it would have been better if this submitter had in fact done so. I just think it's unreasonable in general to expect submitters to do this. It takes time and most submissions will never make it anywhere near the front page. If it does make it to the front page, and the title is egregious in some way, one of the mods may re-title it anyway.

Re: The hard part of helping survivors recover comes months later

#15

Post by tamana »

ars wrote: post #6
benbs wrote: post #3

"All of 5-foot-2 and dressed like a sexy librarian — snug blouse and pencil skirt — Maria usually counseled homeless patients at Bellevue Hospital, the institution famous (and infamous) for treating New York City's poorest and sickest." I do not understand why the author made this characterization. It seems to undermine their point.

I read it as contrasting between how she looks and what she actually is/does . Or in other words don't judge people by appearances - which is exactly the same message about the guy with the sign. He appears as jolly and inappropriate, but actually is anything but. It's basically the message of the entire essay - how people look is not how they are.

It also projects the author's obnoxious sexism onto the subject.

Re: The hard part of helping survivors recover comes months later

#16

Post by bendbro »

tamana wrote: post #15
ars wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read it as contrasting between how she looks and what she actually is/does . Or in other words don't judge people by appearances - which is exactly the same message about the guy with the sign. He appears as jolly and inappropriate, but actually is anything but. It's basically the message of the entire essay - how people look is not how they are.

It also projects the author's obnoxious sexism onto the subject.

Perhaps you're a little too invested to see the experience the mechanism properly?

Re: The hard part of helping survivors recover comes months later

#17

Post by brickmort »

itbeho wrote: post #5
benbs wrote: post #3

"All of 5-foot-2 and dressed like a sexy librarian — snug blouse and pencil skirt — Maria usually counseled homeless patients at Bellevue Hospital, the institution famous (and infamous) for treating New York City's poorest and sickest." I do not understand why the author made this characterization. It seems to undermine their point.

That "sexy librarian" line jumped out at me as well. There seems to be an over arching quality of smugness to the author's writing style that doesn't really fit with the subject matter as a whole for me.

such is the content at vox.com

Re: The hard part of helping survivors recover comes months later

#18

Post by ArkyBeagle »

benbs wrote: post #3

"All of 5-foot-2 and dressed like a sexy librarian — snug blouse and pencil skirt — Maria usually counseled homeless patients at Bellevue Hospital, the institution famous (and infamous) for treating New York City's poorest and sickest." I do not understand why the author made this characterization. It seems to undermine their point.

Her point. The author is a woman. That gives it s totally different resonance. It's a bit shallow, but I understand it.

Re: The hard part of helping survivors recover comes months later

#19

Post by PhasmaFelis »

SilasX wrote: post #7
benbs wrote: post #3

"All of 5-foot-2 and dressed like a sexy librarian — snug blouse and pencil skirt — Maria usually counseled homeless patients at Bellevue Hospital, the institution famous (and infamous) for treating New York City's poorest and sickest." I do not understand why the author made this characterization. It seems to undermine their point.

Most long-form journalism wastes ink on useless, distracting information like this; that passage is only unique in that the junk doesn't usually veer so far into lecherous territory.

This kind of detail is the entire point of long-form journalism. It's not intended to be merely a quick, dry presentation of the facts. It's fine if that doesn't interest you, but don't complain that a dog sucks because it won't meow.

Re: The hard part of helping survivors recover comes months later

#20

Post by SilasX »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #19
SilasX wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most long-form journalism wastes ink on useless, distracting information like this; that passage is only unique in that the junk doesn't usually veer so far into lecherous territory.

This kind of detail is the entire point of long-form journalism. It's not intended to be merely a quick, dry presentation of the facts. It's fine if that doesn't interest you, but don't complain that a dog sucks because it won't meow.

I can accept that some people prefer the style of long-form journalism.

I just don't see how this detail adds to the story except to clue me in on the author's fetishes.

What "entire point" necessitates learning that someone's outfit is consistent with sexy-librarian roleplay, and is that purpose best satisfied by long-form journalism?

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