Impacts of Cancel Culture & Political Correctness on Interactions
Cancel culture is a phenomenon where the cancelling of people, movies, shows or brands is promoted as a result of what some people consider to be remarks or ideologies that are problematic or offensive (Ng, 2020). Cancel culture has been present throughout the history of humanity. People have been punished by society whenever they behave without following the social norms of that society. According to Dr. Jill McCornel, a professor of criminology and sociology at Villanova University, cancel culture is an extension a bolder set of social processes of contemporary evolution seen within society in the form of banishment. Cancel culture has been a trending topic in social media and mainstream media. Celebrities, companies and media have ended up being watched closely of their political correctness.
JK Rowling and Eminem have been cancelled. Rowling has been cancelled many times for many years more especially for her negative comments against the transgender community. Eminem was also cancelled over his lyrics in his 2010 hit song “ Love the Way You Lie” was reported to be glorifying violence against women and the verse where the rapper sing “If she ever tries to fucking leave again leave again I’ma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire.”
Cancelling celebrities, brands, shows or movies tend to create a sense of solidarity with the victim of cancellation and the feeling of being together at a low. There is a reinforcement of a political division which gives people a sense of solidarity. It is psychologically intoxicating when people feel part of a group as one feel to be part of something larger than self. This phenomenon has been huge on twitter which has developed watch dogs for pop-culture racism (Bouvier, 2020).
Cancel culture has in the recent past gone too far. People should be allowed to enjoy their democratic rights by engaging with one another in ways that are meaningful to solve the political differences that may exist. Behaviours that should be cancelled should be those that are agreed collectively by a society. Strategies like endeavouring to find solutions as a society and being able to openly engage across the political divides can be useful in handling certain issues in society instead of sampling cancelling celebrities. People should be ready to dialogue and embrace diplomacy in handling matters of society interest while ensuring that democracy is allowed to thrive. Difference in opinion should be respected and where society has to disagree to agreed, should do so in an amicable manner.
The stress and anxiety has been of major concern. Due to the curfews, lockdowns and increased number of deaths, depression has been real due to fear of the unknown. The use of social media and online content consumption has been on its all-time high as COVID-19 hit the world. Stress and anxiety was in all time high and people were exchange furious political views. Restriction of movement and banning gathering made it worse people could not meet in social circles. Adapting to working from home has been hard but it is the only way to keep distance to ensure that there is no overcrowding. With the discovery of a vaccine, now economies have opened up though the cancelling culture still goes on in the world today for being politically incorrect.
References
Bouvier,G.(2020). Racist call-outs and cancel culture on Twitter. The limitation of the platform’s ability to define issues of social justice. Discourse, Context &Media 38,100431
Ng, E,(2020). No grand pronouncements here….Reflections on cancel cultureand digital media participation. Television and media 21(6), 612-627
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