What do Ellen DeGeneres and J.K Rowling have in common? If you guessed that both their careers ended due to cancel culture, you’d be right. Cancel culture is a tool that people often use when they are hurt or feeling uncomfortable with someone else’s words or actions. This allows people to call others out on their ugly behavior, anywhere from racist or homophobic comments to rape allegations. DeGeneres was canceled for using racism and intimidation in the workplace, and J.K. Rowling was canceled for continued mis-gendering of transgender women on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Cancel culture is an extremely powerful tool that can help people that have been suffering from someone else’s actions, but if done wrong, it can turn into a weapon. If canceling someone goes to far, especially if they don’t deserve it, it can lead to detrimental mental health issues, low self-esteem, and even suicide. Cancel culture should only be used when absolutely necessary, not just as a fun activity people can participate in to fill the hours in the day.
Just because someone says something you don’t 100% like or agree with doesn’t give you the right to harass them online and cover your tracks by using “cancel culture.” Because of the 2024 Olympic games, there has been a lot of media coverage on Simone Biles and her husband Johnathon Owens. Because of this, a quote from almost a year ago was dug up and spread online. Back in December of 2023, Owens went on The Pivot Podcast, and when someone asked him who the catch was in his relationship, he responded “I always say that the men are the catch.”
I interpreted this as a poorly landed joke, but others went wild online, telling Biles to divorce him and that he’s a horrible man. Biles has repeatedly commented on the situation saying that she doesn’t care at all about what he said and that he’s a loving man. Despite this, people now tear Owens down online any chance they get and call him “Mr. Biles” in the most condescending way imaginable.
This unnecessary bandwagon hate pretending to be cancel culture takes a larger toll on the people being harassed than one might think. On the Call Her Daddy podcast, Biles said that the backlash against her husband made her break down into tears because she couldn’t handle how people were talking about the man she loves. This kind of torment is harmful, especially against teenagers. According to Newport Academy, social rejection literally hurts people. It lights up the same part of the brain that reacts to physical pain.
Cancel culture doesn’t just apply to celebrities and their wrong doing. It can happen to anyone no matter the size of their online community. It’s no secret that cyberbullying is running wild in schools, but those actions can often be shrugged off if the bully claims their actions are reasonable because they are canceling someone for doing something unacceptable. They often don’t use that exact wording, but they will tie it back to the general idea that someone did something bad or that they didn’t like, so they can make fun of or hurt them with zero consequences. Impressionable teens suffer from this because they might think that they are genuinely a bad person because they haven’t pleased all of their peers or made a simple mistake. It can also teach young teens that it’s okay to humiliate people online because you don’t like what they said, even though it isn’t hurting anyone.
Calling people out online about their inexcusable behavior is important. Cancel culture has led to light being shed on victims of tragic incidents, like the #MeToo movement and the documentary film Quiet on Set. While it’s important to pull predators and cruel people to the spotlight to call them out on their actions, it’s not okay to abuse that power. If someone says that they are canceling someone online, people generally jump onto the hate train so they aren’t canceled along with them. This has led to people being canceled for things that they didn’t do. It’s important to do your own research before spreading hateful rumors that you don’t fully understand.
We want to make our online community as safe as possible, but that means minding your own business majority of the time. If someone says or does something online that you don’t appreciate or like, finding the self control to scroll without leaving an unnecessary comment is important. Your opinion on someone else’s thoughts or beliefs is not wanted and just causes unnecessary stress for the person receiving your cheap shot through their phone screen. Keep your thoughts to yourself unless you or someone else is getting hurt.
Everyone online needs to calm down. Publicly shaming people online for expressing their beliefs and values isn’t cancel culture, it is bullying and is distressing. Canceling someone is extremely powerful, and it’s something that our society shouldn’t take lightly. Canceling someone can ruin their social status, career, and even their life. It should only be used to bring victims of verbal or physical harm to justice, not just for fun because you’re procrastinating on your work.
