Cancel Culture

[zenolalia]

I know, I know, "cancel culture isn't real, it's just what white men call consequences so they don't ave to suffer them."

But listen.

The woman who makes Hazbin Hotel is currently being subjected to a mass campaign of harassment because 5 years ago she saw a youtube clip of some women, thought they were hot, and drew fanart of them. Then found out a few weeks later that they were racist shitheads who had done blackface. Viv apologized for making art of them, never did so again, and moved on with her life.

What, I ask you, is demanding HH be taken off the internet because of Viv having done a fanart 5 years ago and then apologized for it and moved on, if not fucking cancel culture?

Which brings me to tonight's talking point.

Cancel culture definitely does, in fact, exist. But, it is not equipped to punish people in power. No rich white man has ever truly suffered because of being "cancelled by the left." Louis CK is getting bookings again, Jerry Seinfeld is doing whatever the fuck he does, James Gunn is back in charge of Guardians of the Galaxy's films...

Cancel culture cannot and does not harm people in power, because the peopel doing the "cancelling" do not have equivalent or greater power with which to bring consequences to bear.

But it does encourage mob justice, unrealistic standards, and inappropriate use of long past mistakes that have not continued into the present. And all of that is then turn against marginalized people. Small time queer artists, essayists, activists, etc are held to standards far above what even the biggest industry names are held to. Because the big industry names have the power, reputation, and backing necessary to shake right past that kind of mob.

And independent creators don't. Furthermore, independent creators are much more likely to actually be concerned about the peopel their creating for, and thus willing to actually internalize criticism. So not only can they not avoid it, but they're hit harder by it.

Cancel culture is actively detrimental to its own causes: it doesn't punish harmful people, only well meaning people doing their best.

So, I guess, this is a warning as much as it is a post: if you think cancel culture is not real, or that it's a good thing, etc, then you'll probably not want to associate with my content too long.

Comments

[ruinsplume]

Thank you for this post! Beautifully said.

[palominocorn]

Jesus fucking Christ on a goddamn shit pogo stick. Stuff like this is a huge part of the reason I keep my "writing identity" (so to speak) separate from my "activism identity" and both of them hermetically hidden form my legal identity. I go to the most lukewarm "Trump is bad, maybe impeachment" protests and give a fake name when people ask because I'm sure that if someone found out that I was at a protest organized by, IDK, a person who used the R word one time ten years ago, and they could connect it to my legal identity, then I - an openly genderqueer, disabled immigrant - will get run out of the damn town. And as scared as I am for what that might mean for me, I'm even more terrified of what these people would do to my family. These people will report folks to CPS or the cops on fake accusations over this shit!

TBH, when it comes to conservatives whining about "Pee Oh Cees and females ruining media" I roll my eyes and add another Woman of Color to my works out of sheer spite. But like two years ago I floated the idea of writing a DID system in one of my novels and asked for advice... and the only responses I got were "you're a singlet? Don't." And even though investigation on those people's blogs revealed that they were all exclusionists or antis or whatever, so, not exactly people whose opinions I'll take wholesale... I still haven't done it. Because I mean. If the community I'm trying to represent doesn't want that representation, and people outside the community don't want me to make that representation... then what's the point? At least when I'm writing a bipolar, autistic, brain damaged ex-addict who dresses like a nonbinary unicorn I'm making representation for me, so I automatically have one person happy with the results.

re: writing a system

[hellofriendsiminthedark]

Completely, literally tangential, but The Host by Stephanie Meyer (the author of Twilight) inadvertently has a very solid depiction of what it's like to multiply embody one flesh vessel; the point of view character is an alien brain parasite whose host body's original owner's mind is still present, and the two converse, fight, and find solace with one another, plus they have access to each other's memories but can also create barriers that prevent the other from intruding, etc, plus alien panic/desperate searching when the host seemingly disappears at one point. Very very true to my own experience being atypically dissociative and median, at least.

Again, obviously this is two years too late in terms of advice, but if I were aware somebody had been asking two years ago, this is what I would have pulled out.

Re: writing a system

[zenolalia]

God, it's been years since I even thought of the host, but I love that book so much. It really meant the world to me for a while there.

Re: writing a system

[palominocorn]

I was not expecting Meyer's book about an alien parasite to be good system representation. (r/Brand-new sentence) I'll see if my library has a copy.

I know it's a strange ask, but I think it would help to get some explicit encouragement to write a system. I'm wrapping up one of my works in a couple of months, and then I'll probably start writing another, and I'm sure I could slot one in.

Re: writing a system

[hellofriendsiminthedark]

It would be really really cool! I would definitely support the endeavor.

Re: writing a system

[palominocorn]

Thank you! I'm going to take a look at my writing ideas after lunch and slot one in.

[feotakahari]

The last person I can think of who was meaningfully “canceled” and was actually causing harm was Andy Blake. It’s probably not coincidental that a trans male soulbonder who claimed to be schizophrenic got “canceled” in ways Pewdiepie still hasn’t.

[leahandillyana]

While I agree, we should keep in mind that online proponents of cancelling are mostly Black women. Similarly, many Black women subscribe to elements of purity wank. We should be cautious to not be accidentally racist.

[ruinsplume]

I'm interested in your take on this because mine is the opposite--that the most virulent cancellers are white women who (perhaps in desperate attempt to not be racist or prove that they aren't racist) are quick to judge not only other white women, but women of color. Not that cancel culture happens only around questions of race, but it does seem that many of the most vicious arguments happen there. Perhaps it's just a matter of there being more white women in my feed and more black women in yours--demonstrating that cancel culture is everywhere--but I am continually surprised by the patience of women of color online who go to great lengths to continue to explain, educate, and turn down the heat--to actively undercut cancel culture.

[leahandillyana]

Probably. I have personally never encountered cancelling in action on any of my feeds, only backlash against more idiotic examples of purity culture, but the occassional defense of cancelling are viral posts written by Black women (or at least as far as we assume that people are not lying on the internet - for example, I know that white terfs tend to masquarede as Black lesbians to make their clique appear less monochromatic).

[ruinsplume]

I think cancelling is unbounded by race, but that said, I also think we do need to receive critique of any kind mindful of the ways the critiquer has been marginalized, whether or not we agree with their approach/argument.