Cancel culture is an aftermath of the disease of modernity. It is a trend that has been misconstrued for activism. Soaring up and beyond, Gen Z has taken to “canceling” people based on any and every action they might’ve taken that could be considered wrong.
While, on the one hand, canceling miscreants might seem the right way to go, it is not so when thought of in-depth. Simply because holding someone accountable and questioning their motive has nothing to do with boycotting them forever.
We have all seen trolls getting out of hand—the same is the case for cancel culture, which leaves no scope for development and improvement.
Adding to that, cancel culture leaves little to no capacity for the difference in opinion and dialogue. Especially with gen Z being so intolerable, this is something that we need to beware of.
This Is Not Activism
I dismissed cancel culture earlier as a form of activism because there’s no attempt to make something better here. Merely giving up and boycotting someone or something by presuming evil is not the progress we’re seeking. Is it?
Impending issues get highlighted, and we become able to discern genuine from the superficial, but that’s about it. Cancel culture has, by no means, any positive impact whatsoever on society.
Let me put it in simpler terms for you. Let’s take, for example, a book that offended a community in some sort. Now Gen Z will take it upon themselves to call out the author and even go on to “cancel” their subscription to the publishing house or simply boycott the author altogether.
Out Of Hand Trolling
But what they’ll not do is make way for improvement. Gen Z will troll, abuse, and shame the author to their heart’s content, but will make no active effort to come out of the past and improve the situation of either the community or the author’s mindset.
Nor will they give the author a fair chance to defend themselves against the judgment.
Hence, solving absolutely nothing. Imagine if the same people, instead of doing the above said, talked it out, called the author out for the transgression, asked for justification or explanation, and acted upon improving the dire situation. How liberating and impactful that’d be!
Read More: Despite YouTube Cancelling His Show Once, PewDiePie Becomes The First Individual YouTuber To Get 100 Million Subscribers
Seriousness Cannot Be Neglected
What’s more shocking is that Gen Z takes cancel culture as a joke or a one-time thing, while the one being canceled gets affected for life. Not to digress from the fact that some people do more harm than good, but canceling them, again, only nullifies their scope for improvement.
We are all evolving. And to snatch away that from someone simply because their opinion is different from the one prevalent or because you’re so insecure as to misinterpret difference in opinion as being targeted is cruel.
Gen Z has been canceling people more because of a clash in opinions than because of something the person did that was worth it. Being shunned for the former is extremely unfair.
Scope For Improvement/Correction
Not to forget positive reinforcement. Only when a person is made to understand where they went wrong, being given the chance to better themselves, and not made to feel alienated for their past mistakes, they will want to improve.
This “want” plays a huge role in improving. Now, I’m not asking you to cancel the cancel culture itself. No. It’s a necessary evil. But the next step after calling someone out and not subscribing to their channels (toxicity) is as crucial, if not more.
What if it was all a simple mistake and not intentional? What if you ruin another person only because you didn’t allow them to defend themselves. Being aware of whether they did it purposely or not would be crucial in determining the next step.
But this can only be achieved when the person is given a valid chance at defense and a platform to right their wrongs.
#IsOverParty
When it comes to reasons for canceling people, the range is all-encompassing. With vitamin company endorsement (James Charles) to suggesting slavery was a “choice” (Kanye West), from getting offended over Netflix shows to banning Dr. Seus, Lana Del Ray, Jimmy Fallon, this is the culture of ceaseless canceling, banning, and boycotting.
The #IsOverParty is a hashtag that trends whenever the public decides to cancel someone. It signifies that their entire career, life, and future will be over once Gen Z is done with them. The toxicity is prevalent herein.
The question arises as to how is this bully culture so “progressive” that it believes in equality to such an extent that any and every “crime” leads to all perpetrators being treated the same?
The culture itself is quite ridiculous. I mean, digging dirt from the past, and instead of questioning the motive behind it or holding the person accountable, “canceling” them. Rehabilitation is every person’s right. Is it not? So is a fair chance at defending themselves.
Do we want our word to be so bigoted, bitter, and intolerable? Do we even want to end this public shaming and ostracism that leads to nowhere?
Aftermath Of Being Canceled
People not only lose jobs, but relationships, and at times, lives as well. We need to be extra cautious as to who we are “canceling”. We need to discern the mistakes from the intended offenses and react accordingly.
Lastly, the scope for improvement and platform to defend oneself should always be accessible. Being “woke” doesn’t license undermining the efforts people are willing to make to better themselves, just for the sake of calling out people.
Activism is about “being” rather than “looking/sounding”. Learning to listen, acknowledge, improve upon, and grow, should be the ultimate goal.
Image Source: Google Images
Sources: NY Post, IDS News, The Pavlovic Today
Find The Blogger: @evidenceofmine
This post is tagged under: Gen Z, cancel culture, toxic, modernity, trend, viral, activism, celebrities, fame, miscreants, cancel, ban, boycott, right, wrong, accountable, question, motive, trolls, development, improvement, opinion, pov, perspectives, tolerance, progress, evil, issues, social, fake, real, impact, society, offended, community, book, author, subscription, publishing house, trolling, abuse, shame, effort, mindset, judgment, justification, explanation, joke, scope, future, evolving, evolution, difference, insecure, misinterpretation, attacked, targeted, clash in opinions, shunned, improvement, correction, positive reinforcement, alienated, past, mistakes, intentional, unintentional, improve, necessary evil, awareness, defense, platform, IsOverParty, hashtag, James Charles, Kanye West, Netflix, Dr. Seus, career, life, toxicity, progressive, crime, perpetrators, rehabilitation, bigotry, bitterness, public shaming, ostracism, lives, jobs, relationships, offense, caution, woke
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