What does 'cancel culture' mean to you?

[FTMF30]

This stems from a few posts. One about the disgust of Jodie Comer dating a Republican and comments stating that cancel culture is getting out of hand, dictating people's thoughts, opinions, preferences, etc.

There's also a post about Tescos giving funds to Mermaids and people boycotting them.

Personally, I thought cancel culture was more about the rise of people being quick to 'cancel' things via boycotting, not watching a certain TV show, unfollowing, etc.so (to me) is much more descriptive of the Tescos/Mermaids thing rather than Jodie Comer. With Jodie Comer, I just saw people commenting on their huge disapproval with no real intent on taking action (i.e 'cancelling') her.

When I look into definitions online, they are somewhat varied, so I'm just wondering, what does that term actually mean to people?

To me it means withdrawing support for that person / company but also calling for others to follow suit including a person's employer, associated sponsors etc... also asking for them to be stripped of previously given awards and accolades etc... This is seemingly to punish them for perceived unacceptable behaviour or speech.

I'm totally against it. It reminds me too much of communist China where people are brainwashed into informing on each other the moment they stray from the status quo and being stripped of all their rights and privileges as punishment.

To me it means teenage kids on twitter posting #xxisoverparty when xx does something that they don't approve off.

See Jodie Comer on twitter today trending cos her unconfirmed boyfriends dad might be a trump supporter

@StoorieHoose

To me it means teenage kids on twitter posting #xxisoverparty when xx does something that they don't approve off.

See Jodie Comer on twitter today trending cos her unconfirmed boyfriends dad might be a trump supporter

I think I'm leaning more towards this being my understanding of it too after looking into it further.

@Aria2015 Thanks for your reply. Do you think the Tescos/Mermaids thing counts as cancel culture too then?

I suppose it does because ultimately the people boycotting Tesco are doing it to 'punish' the company for doing something they disagree with. It's unlikely of course that Tesco will be ruined as a result as the numbers trying to 'cancel' it aren't sufficient. It's harder to 'cancel' big companies because you'd need the majority of people who use that company to withdraw their support for it.
Individual people are far more vulnerable to cancel culture.

I agree. It did make me wonder why people were quick to say that cancel culture is getting out of hand when it came to Jodie but there was a different tone when it came to Tescos and I suppose the difference is one affects someone personally while the other does not.

Was interesting to see a couple of people mention on the Tescos thread how they were finding it difficult to boycott all the things they had been boycotting recently.

To me it means businesses, academic institutions and other organisations saying, "We refuse to be associated with this person anymore" in an attempt to make it harder for them to reach an audience. The Tescos/Mermaids thing is more about individuals making choices.

So 'cancel culture' (to me) would be a publisher refusing to work with an author anymore because of the author's personal views. It's an attempt to take away a person's audience. A Tesco/Mermaids equivalent would be individuals saying, "I'm not going to buy that author's books anymore." They are choosing not to be that audience.

To me, it's a phrase people use when they're upset they're not allowed to be racist any more.

It means silly little people being silly on social media. Those cancelling look stupid. Those cancelled, I suspect, couldn't give a shit. Might mean a lot of people desert twitter.

Isn't Tesco a boycott? People have been voting with their money for years. Cancel culture is more targeting individual people, in particular trying to get their academic talks cancelled and get them fired.

Its like boycotting plus. Like trying to get jk rowling dropped from her publisher because of her views on other issues. Having barroness nicholsen removed from the booker prize (?) committee because of her views. Glinner bring banned from twitter because of his views despite not inciting violence or hatred.

It's interesting how a few responses have given multiple definitions. I think there is a problem when people throw about the phrase when we all have different interpretations of the meaning.

In some ways, I do feel the term has been weaponized to shame people for having a public stance and wanting to take action against things/people (eg against racism as @JesusInTheCabbageVan mentioned) but there's also the other extreme, trigger happy end of the spectrum.

I guess I'm just not sure what my stance is on so called 'cancel culture' because I still really don't know what it means. So many people have seemingly misused the term that there just doesn't seem to be a clear definition.

@CaptainFoulenough

It means silly little people being silly on social media. Those cancelling look stupid. Those cancelled, I suspect, couldn't give a shit. Might mean a lot of people desert twitter.

I suspect David Starkey might not agree.

It means bullying - no debate, just bullying. Social media seems to be judge, jury and executioner these days and a persons career can be thriving at breakfast time and dead by lunchtime if they put out an unpopular idea or liked the ‘wrong’ persons tweet.

We supposedly live in a society where we have free speech - so yes people are able to say things BUT we have the right to counter and debate.

Stopping people speaking does not stop them thinking/saying the same things elsewhere. If we can’t debate with them then how can we possible reason or find common ground? It is always useful to be able to hear even the most outrageous ideas - because then we can see and understand dangerous and harmful ideologies and movements and address them.

The devil is knowing where the line is - who decides what it beyond the pale?

We just don’t debate these days - tweets and memes are the modern day debate chambers.

People boycotting Tesco or not reading David Walliams books is not cancel culture, it's individual choice.

Trying to get Tesco shut down or abusing people who shop there is cancel culture. Demanding that all of Walliams books are removed from the shelves and that he never works again is cancel culture.

Refusing to talk to someone because they are friends with the wrong person on Twitter is cancel culture.

Trying to pretend JK Rowling did not write Harry Potter is cancel culture.

I see it much like other posters here, I see it as censorship and a weapon which can be wielded by anyone and everyone, reminds me of a black mirror episode of robot bees used as a mass terrorist act which was triggered by ignorant peoples #groupmentality, much like cancelling.

Mostly it concerns me that people in the public are being 'cancelled' because they have human flaws and their own opinions much like the rest of us but somehow they are fair game. Also concerned from a feminist perspective, two recent events sort of confirmed it for me. Woman get 'cancelled' for eloquently stating her point of views not harming anyone versus media soft blow reporting on male band member tiptoeing away from his crimes and not being cancelled.

The whole term irritates me, sounds like a bad fad of a bandwagon.

I thought it meant the growing trend to just cancel on people and arrangements made.

Like how, suddenly it has become socially acceptable to make plans with people and then cancel whenever it suits you! 😂🙈

@SerenityNowwwww

"The devil is knowing where the line is - who decides what it beyond the pale?"

I fully agree with you, but Google "mumsnet beyond the pale". There is a thread that may trouble you.

It is suppression of free speech.

Something for journalists to bore us into a stupor about whilst ignoring their stinking hypocrisy

Agree with PP who have said Tesco/mermaids is a boycott, one of the few effective tools people have to demonstrate that they disagree with a business’s stance or practises, we get to choose where to spend our money.
Cancel culture is typically targeted action against an individual to silence them, that they will be ‘cancelled’ as a individual with a opinion.. platforms removed, jobs or titles lost, public shame and disgrace. Retreat into irrelevance, you are nothing, you have been cancelled.
It’s chilling.

I've no idea what cancel culture / mermaids even is.

Even after reading this thread, I'm not really sure what it is!!

A made up term used almost exclusively by the kind of people who say things like ‘you can’t even speak your mind anymore’.

In fact it’s perfectly reasonable to be challenged on your opinion, nobody owes you quiet acquiescence to your views, making ethical decisions about where you spend your money is a normal part of a thinking person’s life, and nobody loses their job because of an innocent comment taken wildly out of context.

I appreciate it’s tiresome for many who are unaccustomed to challenge, who prefer not to think too much about their opinions, or who enjoyed the days when overtly racist public statements were welcomed by all.

Too bad.

From what I'be seen on Twitter lately, it's doxxing strangers on the internet and sending their private details out for the world to see (usually over a mistake they made when they were about 15), tweeting #soandsoisover knowing full well that person will never be 'over' unless it's over something really deplorable, burning books or threatening to never buy them again (I wonder who ...), and generally just advocating for censorship unless you believe in x, y and z. I've come off of Twitter.

For me it is a hysterical response to a person who has expressed an opinion/thought that shows they are not "woke" enough and must be shut down. With cancel culture there is no debate, the person cancelled is vilified and (for me very importantly) the person outraged is virtue signalling. I think it tends to be younger people doing it and from left-leaning politics. Think pulling down of statues. Boof you're gone mate.