What happens when you get cancelled?
You are prohibited from speaking to a certain audience. So you are silenced from speaking to young people at university for example. A place where young people are supposed to be being exposed to a vary of ideas so they can make decisions and form opinions themselves. Instead a situation where the range of ideas from which are allowed to create debate and form opinions from are tightly controlled by another group or body.
And whilst it's true that cancelled speakers 'aren't being silenced' because they can speak in other places, there's a point that remains.
These other places have different demographics and target markets. And these speakers are being excluded from specific markets because 'someone' disagrees and doesn't like the opinion. That's not the people who booked to see that person and wanted to hear what they said. Nor people who are opened minded and still in the process of forming opinions. And these speakers are being ousted from education and having their employee opportunities limited because of the desire to censor.
What we have to discuss is the power of the censor, who the censor is, what their agenda is, the degree to which they are trying to control the opinions of others and whether this power is transparent, accountability and how concentrated and representative it is.
We know the features of this are profoundly unliberal nor remotely democratic in practice in most cases.
Thats where the problem lies.
And yes it does mean that speakers are being silenced to force the creation of echochambers which prevent proper discussion and examination of issues in their full extent.
If your argument holds weight, you should be able to make the point and for others to challenge it. Attempts to stop this process create voids of disinformation and resentment to build up amongst some. And backlashes aren't helpful to anyone in society because they manifest in extremism from a different position.
Most would be happy just to be able to make their point. Points which may be complex, sensitive and difficult but also important because they address issues.
If you let problems fester, you foster the backlash because you enable the problems to persist and anger to build because you've neglected your position and this is a dereliction of duty. And you also foster unchecked power of censorship and behaviour which leads to abuses in its own right.
Once again it comes down to those with power failing to understand responsible governance. You understand the power of censorship and how it needs to be regulated and checked and you understand hostile forces which harm.
Women recognising both are stuck in the middle attacked by both and the problems they are recognising are being allowed to continue unchecked.
This isnt about women having power and therefore are privileged 'because they can speak elsewhere'. This is about that invisible power unspoken power of censorship which is limiting when and where women can speak which still is a power greater than the power these women have, regardless of the reach they might still maintain. Is this power being held to account or is it uncontrolled, faceless and subversive in its extent?
This matters.
Women are being silenced because they are not free to speak to all possible audiences and to people who want to listen (Inc fully sold out venues). Because there's a group who are using harassment, intimidation and coercive techniques to force this cancellation.