Should We ‘Cancel’ Cancel Culture?
As active users of social media, we’ve all heard of and witnessed the phenomenon of “cancel culture” — we’re no strangers to #isoverparty posts and shocking headlines condemning once-beloved celebrities.
And what’s “cancelling”, exactly? In simple terms, it’s withdrawing group support (generally on social media) from an often popular social figure who made a morally unacceptable act, boycotting their careers and reputation. The individual’s act or questionable statement is broadcasted and scrutinised by the broad public, forcing them to confront their mistake and suffer the consequences. This, too, deters others with similar influence to think twice before doing something possibly controversial.
Cancelling CAN be beneficial: it’s an effective means for those in lesser positions of power to call out their offenders (especially helpful for sexual assault victims). Before the 21st Century, the only way we could attain justice was to wait for justice institutions to carry it out, which in many cases, would turn a blind eye against the most vulnerable. Now, with the growing power of social media, any one of us can be the judge; any one of us is the jury.
It’s seeing offensive and shady behaviour from others and making the social world aware of it, so that the individual can be held accountable for their mistake.
Seems positive, no?
In reality, however, it’s more often not. While “cancelling” can be a tool to ensure powerful individuals undergo the same consequences as us, this power can be manipulated to promote an even more negative internet mindset. Being more problematic than what it tends to be, here’s a few reasons why cancel culture is toxic.
1. It Normalises Cyber-Bullying
A beauty of cancel culture is that any one of us can drop a comment on Instagram saying “CANCELLED 🤢” — we can criticise another’s actions with less chance of being criticised ourselves, being part of countless other comments. It’s the power of anonymity. But when you look at the hundreds of comments under a post online, you realise that cancelling is… essentially sending hate comments over and over to an individual.
It may seem more acceptable to send hate as these people have done something wrong. They’ve said something offensive. They’ve disrespected a group. They’ve had a problematic past that was recently exposed to the public. But hate spamis still hate, and a problem with cancel culture is that it encourages others to spread hate with the safety of anonymity and herd immunity. Mass bullying is perceived as okay if it’s in “good reason”, when ethically speaking, it’s just as harmful.
2. It Discourages Personal Development
The basis of cancelling is attempting to boycott an individual’s reputation after they perform a morally impermissible action, past or present. Now, don’t get me wrong — of course these instances should be addressed. Of course people should be held accountable for their mistakes in which they offended or hurt others.
The problematic element of cancel culture, however, is that it promotes the toxic idea of irredeemable mistakes. Once we mess up, we can’t change for the better. Our fates are just that.
Not only does this mentality attack those who make ignorant mistakes (when they can be gently educated, instead), but discourage those in the wrong to grow and improve, as there’s no point when they are deemed ‘cancelled’. It also dismisses growth over time, as many who have become more understanding and empathetic can be ostracised for remarks they’ve made in the past.
As long as our mistakes are amendable, we should be held accountable and have the opportunity to understand exactly what we need to become to move forward. Normalise growth.
3. What Do We Gain From Negativity?
Many people tend to think that being politically correct is the equivalent of being morally superior. At least, moral superiority is the new trend, with us forgetting what makes us good in the first place. Once again, there are truly some people who have made morally impermissible mistakes. But to cut down those who have the potential to grow and become better— does that not contradict what cancelling intends to do in the first place? To create a good, healthy social environment?
If we really want to be more ethical, we should allow for more empathy and forgiveness. Realistically and unfortunately, we can’t always avoid offending others. There will be sometimes when we fall into more negative patterns of behaviour, or make ignorant comments. But we shouldn’t be so afraid of speaking out, nor dodge interactions with others to avoid making mistakes.
Cancel culture can make us more hesitant and surround our social environment with fear and negativity, when we all know we need some positivity, especially in a space like social media.
The next time you see someone being ostracised for a redeemable mistake, try to hold the reposting. Maybe don’t comment something you would think is harmful out of context.
We can’t fight negativity with negativity.
Francheska has a strong interest in film, general culture, and politics, and is pursuing international relations in university.
