a collection of my essays, from 2022 to 2024
On Cancel Culture and Being "Woke" -- Where is it taking us?
essay information
entered into 2023 scholastic awards, won a silver key
˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹Four years ago, at the beginning of fifth grade, whispers of the dreaded “cancel culture” first began to show up in my daily life, floating throughout the halls of my elementary school like most rumors and trends do. Cancel culture felt so mysterious at the time; it was like some sort of taboo thing that we, mere elementary schoolers, weren’t supposed to be talking about, like politics, or sex ed. What I didn’t know was that cancel culture would soon be dubbed “a phenomenon of the internet,” unlike anything that humanity had ever seen before.
Whether or not different sources can agree on the exact date and time of cancel culture’s origination, one thing is for sure—modern-day cancel culture is unique to the internet era. Many argue that cancel culture has been with humanity in different shapes and forms for as long as individual opinions have existed (Dudenhoefur, 2020). However, there is a key difference present only in the cancel culture that we know today: instead of simply a small group of people or a couple of individuals fighting amongst themselves, it is the entire social media audience beating up a single person. Cancel culture is, when all the other meanings that have been added onto the phrase over time have been taken away, a way for the public to “demand greater accountability from public figures” whether it be an internet celebrity or a political candidate. This modern form of cancel culture has and can only ever be around for as long as the internet because of its most trademark trait: the way a simple cancelation can warrant social humiliation, an end to the victim’s employed life, and sometimes even death threats.
Canceled: JK Rowling and Straight Ships
Cancel culture has come to take on a radical political definition. The group of people behind an increase in cancellations became closely associated with left-wing politics, socially liberal causes, feminism, LGBT activism, cultural issues, race equity culture issues, and more. These causes are essential for the growth and development of our country, yet, they have come to take on a more negative tone for the rest of the internet. Places like Twitter, which had once been a (more or less) trustworthy source of information and internet discussion have become mocked for consistent unwarranted cancellations by self-awarded “internet vigilantes.” Cancel culture itself, taken to an extreme extent has become harmful for not only the victims of cancellation but sometimes even the groups of people leading the cancellation. Feminism, for example, is an important cause in and of itself. However, many “modern feminists” have taken it upon themselves to cancel all male-identifying individuals, transgender women, and anyone who dares show their support for other men. Nowadays, I often see feminism associated with negative things online such as transphobia, toxic masculinity, and of course, cancelation. This group of polarized feminists have not only put other communities down—they’ve also reduced awareness and respect for women’s empowerment and caused the meaning of feminism to deviate from “equality for all genders” to a much more concentrated message of “only women deserve empowerment” with a not-so-subtle undertone of “all men are bad.”
The controversy caused by cancellation in the LGBTQ+ community isn’t much better. “Shipping,” a phrase used in fandoms, is a phrase used by followers to express their desire for two or more people, either in real-life or fictional characters, to be in a romantic or sexual relationship. Recently, straight ships have become ruthlessly mocked, with authors and artists who express their support of these ships accused of being homophobic, transphobic, and more. This wasn’t the worst of it—ships of LGBTQ+ couples eventually became incredibly fetishized, which was sometimes even encouraged in certain online circles. Because of these harmful and clearly offensive actions, many LGBTQ+ spots on the internet have become notorious, even among members of the community themselves.
Canceled: Republicans
As the 2020 elections came around, cancelations had begun to get out of hand. What was once an empowering tool for those who had been wronged had changed to become weaponized for personal and much more selfish problems. This resulted in a massive increase in cancelations. Another part of what contributed to this new wave of cancelations was "woke culture," which is a slang term originating in AAVE referring to someone who was self-aware and strived for something better. While being "woke" at the time wasn't necessarily a bad thing, the issue was the people "trying too hard." Even the original word was used to mockingly refer to someone whose perspectives on race equity were changed drastically after learning about a historical injustice without fully understanding it. As social media continued to develop, the term "woke" began to lose its meaning, much like the term "cancel." Rather than confronting politically incorrect ideas or race equity culture issues through discussion, debate, education, and protest, "woke" people now aimed to intimidate their opposers into silence. This tactic often goes hand in hand with hate speech and forcing ideologies onto others with no effort to truly explain any reasoning whatsoever. Sound familiar? Exactly— This group of "woke" people were the ones putting the "cancellations" to shame.
Have you ever heard of the phrase "the woke left?" It's another one of those phrases that have lost its meaning throughout its time on the internet, but one thing is for sure: it is most often used in a derogatory manner. The "woke left" side of the internet took it upon itself to cancel all Republicans, that is, anyone identifying as even the slightest bit right-leaning for being Trump supporters, "Trumpies" for short. To some, this may just be a label, but for others, this ruined their careers and caused social alienation within their community. Victims were being forced into boxes labeled "racist," "sexist," or "homophobic" simply because they expressed their political alignment online. However, it wasn't just a one-sided push from the left, the radical right soon began to cash in on this fear of being canceled. At this point, it seemed like people were simply canceling others for not sharing the same opinion, which was a fact thrown into perspective during the presidential elections.
By taking a step back, it is clear that these cancellations do nothing to actually help society, which is what these internet vigilantes claim they are trying to do. By canceling the owner of a large company for being republican, in the end, it's clear that the subject of the cancellation isn't being affected at all— it's the workers underneath, living paycheck to paycheck, who are receiving the brunt of the impact.
Canceled: Confused People
In my first year in middle school, one of my former classmates messaged me, privately, about my opinions of the organization "All Lives Matter." The name was foreign to me, and I didn't know what she meant, so I responded "Yes, I think that everyone's lives matter equally." Immediately after my response, she called me racist, and screenshotted the conversation, cutting my message out after the word "Yes." She proceeded to post the screenshot in multiple group conversations, telling others that I was "racist" and should be canceled. I had never felt so helpless as I watched the chaos unfold right before my eyes— it should have been very clear from my response that no, I didn't support that organization; I didn't even know what it was! I posted an explanation to every single group conversation that she had sent the screenshot in, and most of my former classmates were understanding enough to forgive me. But I was so confused— what was the first classmate's goal in exposing me for something that I really wasn't?
Cancellations have become less about educating others and more about just plain "wokeness." Nowadays, those who cancel others are less concerned with the general well-being and education of the rest of the internet population, rather, they are seeking to gain popularity points for calling out confused people who haven't had a chance to look at the news yet. By manipulating others to say specific things that can be taken the wrong way, these people who seem to have nothing better to do with their lives can prey on innocent people.
This brings up another important point to distinguish: art isn't defined by the creator, but rather, by how people choose to interpret it. Dr. Seuss, for example, was incredibly racist. So was Walt Disney. Yet, their works can and still are widely enjoyed by a large audience. While it is important to recognize these authors' wrongdoings, that doesn't go to say that anyone who has ever enjoyed their work shares the beliefs of the original creators.
Canceled: Cancel Culture?
Humans are driven by an urge to fit in—it’s a primal instinct from the very beginning of, well, us. This need to fit in with the people around us is often described as “peer pressure.” Dr. Solomon Asch, a professor at Swarthmore College, conducted a study assessing the relevance of peer pressure on humans in which, when taking a short and easy test in a group of 7 actors and 1 participant, actors were told to confidently choose a blatantly incorrect answer while the real participant responded last. The results were incredibly surprising: 32% of all participant’s answers would conform with the rest of the actors’ incorrect ones and 75% of the participants conformed at least once (Penn State, 2021). This study really goes to show the impact of peer pressure—young, educated people can be swayed to the point where they are willing to “call black white,” according to Asch himself.
Social media utilizes peer pressure to an extreme extent. News, whether it be true or false, spreads incredibly quickly on social media, especially when it evokes strong emotions in the viewer. In cancel culture, when a user is canceled, it can only be human nature to jump on the bandwagon of that cancelation, regardless of the validity of the evidence. Often, new passengers on the train of cancelation aren’t even sure what they’re supposed to be angry about—they’re just joining in on other users’ outrage. Cancel culture is the definition of pure, unfiltered outrage at previous outrage and embraces a mindset of guilty until proven innocent. However, it has become obvious that this current form of cancel culture has deviated so much from its original intentions that it is causing much more harm than good. Innocent people are being doxxed and harmed, both figuratively and literally. Human perceptions of right and wrong are being blurred to the point where those who are self-proclaimed heroes are actually doing villains' work.
