A Citizens Voice Research Manuscript (Cancel Culture) Victor Uche 2021SP-SPCH-1311-32B02 Professor Teresa Fewell May 5, 2021 In 2021 it seems like everyone is getting “canceled” but does that even mean anything anymore. Cancel Culture is defined as a modern form of ostracism in which someone is exiled out of social or professional circles and platforms. Cancel Culture rose to prominence in 2017 and over the years has continued to grow and evolve. Cancel Culture has been responsible for holding thousands of people and even celebrities accountable for their actions, but as time goes on that no longer seems to be the case. Over the years cancel culture has stopped being about holding people accountable for their actions and has slowly become about criticizing people with differing opinions from oneself. Cancel culture has simply become toxic and as someone who uses social media very often, I feel it is my responsibility to address the issues I have begun to notice. Although cancel culture started as a way to hold individuals accountable that is no longer the case and I will explain how it has quickly become ineffective, created a toxic online environment, and overall become very harmful for society. After reading this I hope you are able to recognize the damage cancel culture has done to our society. In the past cancel culture was a great way to bring attention to different social and political issues such as Sexism, Racism, abuse, and other forms of discrimination, but that is no longer the case. Although there are still some positive applications of cancel culture, they have simply overshadowed by the overwhelming cons associated with cancel culture. One of those major cons being that cancel culture is no longer taken seriously and is seen by many as a joke. Cancel Culture has become so bad that people no longer take it seriously and when they hear of someone being canceled, they simply brush it to the side. While researching this topic I found more memes about Cancel Culture than I did true information and that just goes to show that cancel culture is not being taken seriously. The second con about cancel culture is that people actively wrongly accuse others in hopes of getting them canceled. Cancel culture has created such a toxic environment that people are actively making up lies in an effort to accuse others. This makes it very difficult to determine the legitimacy behind someone being canceled and is part of the reason many choose not to take cancel culture seriously. Another problem with cancel culture is that it has caused society to become very sensitive. Many people are having their lives and careers ruined because of dated incidents and questionable humor that was acceptable at the time. Our society has become much more sensitive and as a result, people are getting “canceled” for jokes and comments they made years before. Cancel culture has led to millions all over the world being scared to state their opinions because they fear the hate, they may receive for it. Cancel Culture had turned the internet into a minefield people must tread carefully through in order not to offend anyone. Now that I have addressed the many cons of cancel culture, I will explain to you why cancel culture as a system is simply ineffective. I admit that there have been some cases such as that of R-Kelly where cancel culture has been effective, but those cases are very rare. In most cases when someone is “canceled” they usually do not suffer too much because the cancel culture system is flawed. That brings me to my main argument which is that cancel culture is a flawed and ineffective system because it is dictated by society and is not permanent. One of the biggest downfalls to cancel culture is that its effectiveness relies heavily on our society having a shared opinion and that rarely ever happens. For cancel culture to be effective society as a whole must decide that the actions of an individual were so despicable that they must suffer the consequences of their actions and make amends. If this does not happen then cancel culture is not effective and the person being canceled will not feel the effects. Cancel culture’s reliance on society makes it much too unpredictable to be effective. Another major thing that makes cancel culture ineffective is that the effects of cancel culture are not permanent. There have been many instances where individuals such as Doja Cat, and Kevin heart were “canceled” but faced temporary backlash. It seemed as though after a week or 2 everyone had forgotten what these individuals did to get “canceled” and they were back to living their lives. Cancel culture's inability to incite permanent change is one of the major reasons it is ineffective. If it only takes a couple of weeks for a person to recover from being canceled, then what is the purpose of canceling them in the first place? One of the reasons cancel cultured is viewed as a joke is because it never fosters any change and in the grand scheme of things ends up being pointless. If people like Doja cat are still able to perform at the Grammys after being “canceled” it proves that cancel culture is ineffective and unable to carry out its main goal. Too many people have been let off the hook after being canceled and it has rendered cancel culture completely ineffective. After analyzed the cons and ineffectiveness of cancel culture, I will now answer the question that has likely been lingering in your mind. The question is, can cancel culture be redeemed, and to that my answer is no. Although I recognize all the good cancel culture can do I think it has too much of a negative connotation to ever be effective. No matter how much good cancel culture can do its negative aspects are too great to overcome. There is the argument that if cancel culture can simply be restructured it can be much more effective, but I do not think that will work. Because cancel culture was developed by society the only way it can be restructured is if we as a society decide to restructure it and that is not likely to happen. Individuals who express their disliking of cancel culture are almost always viewed as “enemies of progress” and incapable of handling the truth. No matter how you attempt to approach it changing cancel culture is a task that no one can succeed at. The most effective way to deal with canceled culture would be to move on from it and develop a less toxic way of holding each other accountable. I think it is important to have a system where we as a society hold each other responsible for our words and actions, but I do not feel cancel culture is the system to accomplish this. We need to create a new system in which people are held responsible for their actions without being ridiculed and bad mothed for no reason. I understand that things like racism and sexism are inexcusable, but we need to keep in mind that everyone makes mistakes, and no one is perfect. Rather than attempt to ruin someone’s life because of something they did in the past we should try to hold those people accountable and make sure that they understand what they did was wrong. If we want to truly hold people accountable for their actions and bring attention to major issues in our society, we must abandon cancel culture and form a new system based on understanding rather than criticism. I have laid out my argument on cancel culture and I hope you can understand where I am coming from. Like many of you I initially saw the premise of cancel culture as productive and a step in the right direction, but when put into practice I realized that was all wrong. Rather than encourage development cancel culture has ruined the lives and reputations of millions of people over dated incidents and questionable humor. I want to make it clear that I do not dislike the idea of cancel culture, but rather I dislike how cancel culture is handled. I feel rather than calling out a person and just hating on them people should provide evidence and explanation on why a person’s actions were wrong. By explaining to someone why their actions were wrong they can understand the error of their ways and are more likely to feel sincerely sorry for what they did. On the other hand, the most hating on someone for their mistakes can accomplish is an insincere apology that means nothing. Cancel Culture simply fosters an unhealthy environment in which people are expected to be perfect and punished whenever they slip up. We are all human beings who make mistakes so we should not be scared to make mistakes or punished when we do eventually make them. Mistakes are a part of life and when they occur, we simply need to learn from them and move on. If we want to create a healthy society, we should not be participating in a system in cancel culture that emphasizes perfection and punishes individuals for making mistakes. I recognize the good cancel culture has done in the past, but I feel it is time to move on and try something new. Cancel culture has been broken for a while and if we continue to engage in it our society will never be able to recover. When numerous powerful people like Elon Musk are lobbying for the end of cancel culture it must be for a good reason, and it is time that we listen to their advice and put cancel culture to rest. Citation Kato, B. (2021, March 10). What is cancel culture? Everything to know about the toxic online trend. New York Post. https://nypost.com/article/what-is-cancel-culture-breakingdown-the-toxic-online-trend/ Impelli, M. (2021, March 2). Cancel culture viewed as threat to freedom by 64 percent of Americans. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/cancel-culture-viewed-threatfreedom-64-percent-americans-1573180 N/A, N. A. (2021, February 16). Is Cancel Culture (or "Callout Culture") Good for Society? ProCon.org. https://www.procon.org/headlines/is-cancel-culture-or-calloutculture-good-for-society/ Silverton, L. (2021, March 5). All The Reasons Why Cancel Culture Is So Toxic For Our Mental Health. British Vogue. https://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/article/cancel-culturetoxic-for-mental-health
