Ellen Degeneres, canceled. Brandy Melville, canceled. Columbus Day, canceled. Everything has always been political. No matter how big or small, if the media believes an issue is worth bringing to light; it will be accounted for. With the rise of social reform, we see issues in history brought forward to our modern day. Learning from history and agreeing not to make the same mistakes is important. However, public shaming isn’t an effective way of holding mistakes accountable.
Social media is known to create trends and spread information expeditiously. Building a community and sharing your voice has been easier than ever. But does the convenience of public sharing have its downfalls? Writing a tweet on twitter, designing a post on Instagram, and filming a video on TikTok creates a much quicker way of spreading personal opinions to the public. Taking a minimum of 15 seconds, posting on social media platforms has become so popular due to how easy it is. Spreading like wildfire, public sharing can catch on extremely quickly.
Every year more and more topics are added to the “canceled list.” For public figures, if the media decides their controversial remark, action or scandal is unjust, the celebrity is boycotted and their career supposedly destroyed.
Though consequences for hateful actions are important, the media is quick to judge and label a person before understanding the full story. For example, Lizzo was accused of a variety of assault by three background dancers in her show for Jay Z’s Made in America Festival. The internet was quick to cancel Lizzo for these claims and even quicker to believe this gave them the right to outspokenly body shame her. Cancellation does NOT mean the slander of celebrities is okay. Cancel culture isn’t a horrible concept but the process isn’t effective at all.
In the article “Student Trina Mitra explains how to hold people accountable in a way that promotes real change”, from Malala.org‘s funded publication of student opinions, “When we cancel someone for saying something offensive, we condemn their personal failure more than the larger institutional problem. This teaches people that seeming socially aware is more important than being socially aware,” Mitra said.
We miss out on actually teaching people to learn and change by forcing them to feel pressured into feeling a certain way for the media. Instead of focusing on shaming, we as a society must prioritize growth and change.
