I know the title sounds scary but don’t panic. Let me explain everything to you.
In my first blog, I want to touch upon a matter which concerns me the most — cancel culture. We all have heard about it but what exactly does it stand for?
‘Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. Cancel culture is generally discussed as being performed on social media in the form of group shaming’. Ideally, this concept is designed for peaceful and rapid advancement of the human kind. Nevertheless, it has transformed into a toxic trend and here’s why.
It leaves no room for people to learn, grow and improve.
It is a common understanding that mistakes are learning experiences. However, cancel culture does not correspond to the above.
As an example, we can delve into the case of Matt Damon’s cancellation. The actor confessed in an interview with the Sunday Times of London that he has been using the ‘f-slur’ for homosexuals before his daughter would make him quit. Although the problem seems to be over already (with him publicly addressing his support for the LGBTQ+ community), society does not appear to support him anymore.
Sometimes it’s simply wrong
Yes, sometimes it is just a rumour and/or a lack of information. Some of you might be familiar with the drama between Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Long story short Kardashian accused Swift for lying. This resulted with Swift being bullied and harassed online by thousands of people. It was only four years later, when public found out that Taylor was actually innocent.
It deprives people of having own opinions
I first got disturbed by cancel culture in 2020. I remember spending a lot of time on social media during the first lockdown and being surprised by the amount of public judgement I witnessed on a daily basis. Every now and then I would come across with hate posts. Later on, I got blocked by one of my Instagram followers for disagreeing with their personal opinion. That was a point when I started to develop a fear of sharing my own thoughts and doubting whether my opinions are valid or not.
The truth is that cancel culture affects our psychology. It generates a strong insecurity of social sharing in us. We tend to overthink and assume that our ideas are not worthy of expressing.
What’s next?
The trend has gone too far. Cancel culture became a normalised and discreet way for people to judge and shame others. We should stop calling out each other and instead try to understand and respect one another.
I would like to wrap up this blog with Billie Eilish’s short movie called NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY. The young artist poetically speaks out about her own experiences and points out to the almost paradoxical aspects of shaming taking place on social media.
P.S. Make sure to pay attention to the lyrics as you’re watching.
I wholeheartedly agree with you! Cancel culture puts too much pressure on individuals. I feel like people are not allowed to make mistakes of say something stupid, and learn from their actions anymore. I believe that pretty much anyone is ‘cancellable’ if the people that dislike you search thoroughly enough. There are even articles being written about important historical figures like Mother Teresa or Gandhi, because even these people are not perfect and allegedly have done or said some questionable things in their lives. I think it is a good thing individuals are being held accountable for their actions or words, but we must not forget that people can learn and grow from their actions, at least that is what I believe.
I fully agree with you and Luka! Noticing and acknowledging mistakes or abuse is very important. However, cancel culture knows no moderation, and anyone can become a villain. Especially radical part is that it is not always equal and one can be called out for the reason that another wouldn’t.
Cancel culture is harsh to the extent that we are scared to formulate our opinions, and truly discuss controversial matters. That makes me sad, as not every mistake should be unforgivable. On the other hand, the internet (where cancel culture is most prominent) is very wide, and not much time needs to pass to make people forget about the mistakes of others ( what again can be positive and negative)