Cancelling Cancel Culture

Realizing the harmful ideologies behind the cancel culture phenomenon

Maria Simpson / Assistant Opinion Editor / The USD Vista

Within the past few years, more and  more attention is drawn to the inherent bias against minorities and unprivileged people in the United States and around the world. These are topics of great discussion and, as a result, a number of movements and trends have risen around these issues. One of the most powerful phenomena to emerge is known as cancel culture. While this idea has been around for some time, within the last year this practice of ostracizing anyone who speaks or acts in an inappropriate or offensive manner has grown to extreme levels. It is not uncommon to hear stories in the news or online about celebrities, as innocent as some of them may seem, being suddenly hated on for something they said or did. 

The general idea behind cancel culture is actually helpful. Holding others accountable for harmful behaviors helps to create a safer and more respectful environment for everyone, beginning at an individual level. And of course, some of the results of cancel culture are completely deserved. Individuals, especially those in leadership positions, should be called out for engaging in offensive behaviors and hurting others, for example in sexual assault allegations. People in such authority positions are placed there to foster a greater community and when their own beliefs and morals are not in line with basic human rights and decency, they should be called out and removed from those leadership roles. 

However, it is the micromanaging level that cancel culture developed into that is the real issue. The trend became so overbearing and toxic that it is a constant fear in not only celebrities and leaders’ minds, but regular people. Technology and social media make it incredibly easy to catch any slip-up that someone makes, however trivial it may be. And it is the small mistakes that make people the true victims of cancel culture.

Cancel culture is quick to catch any offensive remark or action that someone may make and blow it up until they are  shut out entirely. The sad reality is that many of these people mean absolutely no harm by their actions. Learning what things are and are not appropriate to say, wear, or do is a difficult path to navigate. Many simple sayings and practices that a privileged individual may do without a second thought are hurtful to someone of another race, gender, religion, etc. 

Earlier this summer, 18-year-old singer Olivia Rodrigo came under fire for using African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), commonly referred to as a “blaccent.” While a non-black person using this speech could certainly be viewed as offensive, all of the phrases that Rodrigo used are common pop culture sayings on social media, especially among Gen-Z, so it is easy to imagine how she picked it up without a second thought. Rather than anyone explaining to the teen artist why this habit is inappropriate, she was heavily criticized and received hate from many fans.    

It is important that when someone takes part in any harmful action, they are educated about why their speech or actions were inappropriate. That is how we as a society grow to become more inclusive and welcoming of all people. Oftentimes, people make mistakes because their actions used to be widely accepted by society. But shunning people for one small mistake, or even several, is not the path to progress. 

Not only does cancel culture hinder individual growth, it also distracts individuals from the real problems that they should be focusing on. Cancel culture turns eyes away from the big issues and instead, creates bickering over whoever or whatever was just cancelled. What truly matters is not that someone made a crude comment or offensive mistake. What matters is that we live in a world where people think it is okay to make those kinds of comments and mistakes in the first place.

Nobody is perfect. That is the bottom line. We all make mistakes and we all have tendencies to overlook things that, to some of us, may not seem like a big deal, but to others it could be incredibly hurtful. If you make a mistake, educate yourself on why what you did was inappropriate, apologize for your actions, and carry that new knowledge with you to help others learn from your mistakes. Cancel culture prohibits second chances and growth, and instead creates a fearful and hateful environment. We must move away from this fear-mongering method and instead ask the difficult questions so that we can all become more loving and inclusive together.