Cancel culture

Cancel culture (or call-out culture) is a modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles - either online on social media, in the real world, or both. Those who are subject to this ostracism are said to be "canceled."[1] Merriam-Webster notes that to cancel, as used in this context, means "to stop giving support to that person"[2] while Dictionary.com, in its pop-culture dictionary, defines cancel culture as "withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive."[3] The expression "cancel culture" has mostly negative connotations and is commonly used in debates on free speech and censorship.

The notion of cancel culture is a variant on the term call-out culture and constitutes a form of boycott involving an individual (usually a celebrity) who is deemed to have acted or spoken in a questionable or controversial manner.[2][4][5][6][7]

For those at the receiving end of cancel culture, the consequence can lead to loss of reputation and income that can be hard to recover from.[8]

Academic analysis

According to the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, call-out culture arises from what he calls safetyism on college campuses.[9] According to Keith Hampton, professor of media studies at Michigan State University, the practice contributes to the polarization of American society, but it does not lead to changes in opinion.[10] Some students are afraid to express unpopular ideas for fear of being called out on social media[11] and may avoid asking questions as a result.[12] Call-out culture's prevalence makes marginalized groups feel "even more hesitant to speak out for what they feel is right."[13] Cultural studies scholar Frances Lee states that call-out culture leads to self-policing of "wrong, oppressive, or inappropriate" opinions.[14][15] According to Lisa Nakamura, University of Michigan professor of media studies, cancelling someone is a form of "cultural boycott" and that cancel culture is the “ultimate expression of agency” which is "born of a desire for control [as] people have limited power over what is presented to them on social media" and a need for ‘accountability which is not centralized’.[7][16][17]

Some academics proposed alternatives and improvements to cancel culture. Critical multiculturalism[18] professor Anita Bright proposed "calling in" rather than "calling out" in order to bring forward the former's idea of accountability but in a more "humane, humble, and bridge-building" light.[19] Clinical Counsellor Anna Richards, who specializes in conflict mediation, says that "learning to analyze our own motivations when offering criticism" helps call-out culture work productively.[20]

Reactions

The expression "cancel culture" has mostly negative connotations and is commonly used in debates on free speech and censorship.[21][22]

Former US President Barack Obama warned against social media call-out culture saying "People who do really good stuff have flaws. People who you are fighting may love their kids and, you know, share certain things with you."[23] Former US President Donald Trump criticized cancel culture in a speech in July 2020, comparing it to totalitarianism and claiming that it is a political weapon used to punish and shame dissenters by driving them from their jobs and demanding submission.[24]

Open letter
Main article: A Letter on Justice and Open Debate

Dalvin Brown, writing in USA Today, has described an open letter signed by 153 public figures and published in Harper's Magazine as marking a "high point" in the debate on the topic.[21] The letter set out arguments against "an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty."[25][26][27]

A response letter organized by lecturer Arionne Nettles, "A More Specific Letter on Justice and Open Debate," was signed by over 160 people in academia and media and criticized the Harper's letter as a plea to end cancel culture by successful professionals with large platforms but to exclude others who have been "cancelled for generations."[28][29]

American public opinion

A poll of American registered voters conducted by Morning Consult in July 2020 showed that cancel culture, defined as "the practice of withdrawing support for (or canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive," was common: 40% of respondents said they had withdrawn support from public figures and companies, including on social media, because they had done or said something considered objectionable or offensive, 8% having engaged in this often. Behavior differed according to age, with a majority (55%) of voters 18 to 34 years old saying they have taken part in cancel culture, while only about a third (32%) of voters over 65 said they had joined a social media pile-on.[30] Attitude towards the practice was mixed, with 44% of respondents saying they disapproved of cancel culture, 32% who approved, and 24% who did not know or had no opinion. Furthermore, 46% believed cancel culture had gone too far, with only 10% thinking it had not gone far enough. However, a majority (53%) believed that people should expect social consequences for expressing unpopular opinions in public, especially those that may be construed as deeply offensive to other people.[31]

Criticism of the concept

Some journalists question the validity of cancel culture as an actual phenomenon.[32][33] Connor Garel, writing for Vice, states that cancel culture "rarely has any tangible or meaningful effect on the lives and comfortability of the cancelled."[34]

Historian C. J. Coventry argues that the term has been incorrectly applied, and that it more accurately reflects the propensity of people to hide historical instances of injustice:

While I agree that the line between debate and suppression is one that occasionally gets crossed by the so-called left wing, it is almost invariably true that the real cancel culture is perpetrated by those who have embraced the term. If you look through Australian history, as well as European and American history, you will find countless examples of people speaking out against injustice and being persecuted in return. I can think of a number of people in our own time who are being persecuted by supposedly democratic governments for revealing uncomfortable information.[35]

Another historian, David Olusoga, similarly argued:

The great myth about cancel culture, however, is that it exists only on the left. For the past 40 years, rightwing newspapers have ceaselessly fought to delegitimise and ultimately cancel our national broadcaster [the BBC], motivated by financial as well as political ambitions.[36]

Pam Palmater writes in Maclean's magazine that cancel culture differs from accountability in her article about the public backlash surrounding Canadian politicians who vacationed during COVID-19, despite pandemic rules not to.[37]

Examples

Nick Buckley, founder and CEO of the charity Mancunian Way, was petitioned against and ultimately fired for criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement, before being reinstated five weeks later.[38]

Olivia Pierson, a right wing New Zealand blogger and author, claimed that she was the victim of "cancel culture" after the retailer Mighty Ape delisted her book Western Values Defended: A Primer in response to her tweet mocking the newly appointed Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta's facial tattoos. Fellow blogger Cameron Slater claimed that Mighty Ape was being hypocritical for stocking books published by Oswald Mosley and Joseph Goebbels.[39]

The American animated television series South Park mocked cancel culture with its own "#CancelSouthPark" campaign in promotion of the show's twenty-second season.[40][41][42][43] In the season's third episode, "The Problem with a Poo", there are references to the documentary The Problem with Apu, the cancellation of Roseanne after controversial tweets by the show's eponymous actress, and the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.[44][45] Both the Dixie Chicks and Bill Maher have said they are victims of cancel culture.[46][47]

In 2019, cancel culture featured as a primary theme in the stand-up comedy shows Sticks & Stones by Dave Chappelle[48] and Paper Tiger by Bill Burr.[49]

See also

References
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  2. "What It Means to Get 'Canceled'". www.merriam-webster.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  3. "What Does Cancel Culture Mean?". dictionary.com. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  4. Sills, Sophie; Pickens, Chelsea; Beach, Karishma; Jones, Lloyd; Calder-Dawe, Octavia; Benton-Greig, Paulette; Gavey, Nicola (March 23, 2016). "Rape culture and social media: young critics and a feminist counterpublic". Feminist Media Studies. 16 (6): 935–951. doi:10.1080/14680777.2015.1137962. S2CID 147023782.
  5. Munro, Ealasaid (August 23, 2013). "Feminism: A Fourth Wave?". Political Insight. 4 (2): 22–25. doi:10.1111/2041-9066.12021. S2CID 142990260. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  6. Yar, Sanam; Bromwich, Jonah Engel (October 31, 2019). "Tales From the Teenage Cancel Culture". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 1, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  7. Bromwich, Jonah Engel (June 28, 2018). "Everyone Is Canceled". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
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  9. Haidt, Jonathan, and Greg Lukianoff. 2018. The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. New York City: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-0-73522489-6. OCLC 1007552624. (For safetyism, see pp. 30, 158, 235, 268, 329)
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  26. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 18, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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