Disclaimer: This post was written in August of 2020 during the UK’s first national lockdown.
It’s virtually impossible nowadays to scroll through the news or social media without seeing that yet another public figure is "facing backlash", issuing an apology, or having their tv show or brand deal axed as a result of problematic behaviour. These days, if you tweet something potentially controversial or express an opinion that contradicts the socially accepted stance, you may risk being fired, harassed, collectively shunned, or worse.
What exactly is “cancel culture”? It’s difficult to offer a precise definition because this vague, catch-all term can encompass vastly different scenarios. Generally speaking, “cancelling” (in this context) refers to a mass movement (often online) that aims to reject and to publicly oppose the views or actions of a person or company. This may involve refusing to give the person or corporation time or attention, boycotting their products, or, in severe cases, attempting to end a person’s career.
This cultural phenomenon of relentlessly calling people out for alleged wrongdoing has been happening for some time now. However, 2019 was the year when “cancel culture” really reached its high point. In fact, it became such a contentious issue that Barack Obama spoke about the matter at the Obama Foundation summit in October of 2019.
You’re probably aware of various celebrities that have been “cancelled” - Taylor Swift, Kanye West, Logan Paul, Ellen DeGeneres, Shane Dawson, Kevin Spacey, James Charles, Vanessa Hudgens, R. Kelly…the list goes on. With the nation stuck at home during lockdown, the internet became the primary way of connecting with the outside world. As a result, keyboard warriors around the globe took to virtual battlegrounds to engage in heated verbal sparring. As the battle cry of “cancel them!” rang out louder than ever, the rights and wrongs of “cancelling” were once again brought to the forefront of cultural conversation.
Cancel culture isn’t all bad. It holds people accountable for their actions in a way that wasn’t possible before, meaning that racist, sexist, and bigoted behaviour is less likely to go unchallenged. Social media is a great way of ensuring that public outcries gain momentum at a rapid rate. If hundreds of thousands of people are talking about a social issue, it quickly becomes too big to go unnoticed or unaddressed by those in power. Moreover, platforms like Facebook and Twitter give marginalised people a voice, and it’s through reading posts about different cultures and life experiences that we develop empathy.
Historically, cancel culture has proved itself to be an effective tool in combatting social issues like sexism and racism. For example, the #MeToo movement played a vital role in ensuring that charges were pressed against Harvey Weinstein. In addition, cancel culture can have a powerful impact on consumer consumption and the brands we support. When it emerged earlier this year that workers in a factory in Leicester that were making clothes for Boohoo were being paid just £3.50 an hour – well below the UK minimum wage – there was a huge public outcry. As a result, content creators were a lot more likely to be challenged by their respective audiences if they partnered with fast fashion companies for sponsorships.
That being said, cancel culture has many pitfalls. Part of the problem is that Twitter (the platform most used for “cancelling” someone or something) – with its 280-character limit – is not the ideal medium for making lengthy, nuanced arguments. Therefore, valid criticism is often expressed in unconstructive ways. The intolerant, knee-jerk (and often disproportionate) reaction of “cancelling” frequently shuts down the potential for open debate and compromise, instead ensuring that both parties become even more entrenched in their own ways of thinking.
The biggest problem I have with cancel culture is that it promotes a toxic attitude towards failure. Often people online seem to forget that everyone makes mistakes. Just because someone has a blue tick next to their name doesn’t make them immune from making poor decisions. No-one is perfect and everyone will slip up at some point in their lives. Public figures are human beings too so we owe them the same courtesy that we owe to our friends and family.
Throughout life, we will come across many people whose opinions differ from our own – at school, at home, in the workplace, in the street… if, in person, you yelled at someone every time you disagreed with them, that would get you absolutely nowhere. The same is applicable online.
Now imagine for a second what it would be like if we lived in a world where everyone had the “cancel-culture” mentality. We wouldn’t last five seconds! What if our parents had “cancelled” us every time we threw a temper tantrum as a toddler, or whenever we turned the walls of our houses into “modern art” using Crayolas as children? The point I’m trying to make is that it is crucial that we grant both ourselves and others second, third, and fourth tries (or even more) throughout life. We have to allow individuals to make mistakes so that they can learn.
Finally, I’d like to finish by referring to some helpful comments made by the columnist Tanya Sweeney. In her article for The Irish Times on cancel culture (https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/cancel-culture-is-poisonous-and-frightening-it-needs-to-be-cancelled-1.4297220), she establishes a valuable distinction between activism and what she calls “meaningless online performance.” She states that activism means “giving people who need it a platform to share their lived experiences, in a way that’s safe and comfortable for them” and “encouraging people to think about certain issues in a different way.” She stresses that activism doesn’t mean “getting into a scrap with someone who doesn’t agree with every note of your thesis” and “publicly humiliating people for stupid things they said years ago.”
So, the next time someone says something you disagree with (be it in person or online), be willing to converse with them, to listen, to compromise, and ensure you do your research before jumping to any conclusions. Lastly, as Obama said at Elijah Cummings’ funeral, remember that “there is nothing weak about kindness and compassion.”
By Becky Golding
Image courtesy of Prateek Katyal via Pexels
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