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I don't believe there is a "cancel culture".
For one thing, the term "culture" is being washed of meaning here.
Is any widespread practice a "culture"?
Is the act of "canceling" someone anything new? Does it constitute a "culture" then?
When I was 19 years old I was... I think the word is "doxed", by a large group of transphobes. They posted comments and sent messages on every possible network and medium, they sent me the worst possible stuff and attempted to criminalize me.
That has not stopped and because you don't get to erase anything from the web, my name is still associated to their opinions to this day.
This has affected me on a psychological and financial level, but the worst is feeling it's up to me to "get over it", even though that never happened.
What I had to learn was acceptance of the fact I can't change the past. When I'm at my worst I end up doubting myself, having intrusive thoughts that give more weight to their words than mine. I can end up hating myself for being affected, by allowing this victim mentality to take over. It just shouldn't matter anymore.
Back then the term "cancel culture" wasn't a thing. And I don't think it should have been. We called it what it was: transphobia. I wasn't being targeted for my actions, nor being asked to be accountable or even prosecuted by the state. I was just a public face they felt they could smear.
I can't really understand their motivation even to this day, but I know what to call it: transphobia.
They weren't moved by a "culture" that makes us want to "cancel" others. They were moved by the fact that I am trans, and that made them feel like it was OK to harass me.
Consciously or not they knew that their words would paralyze me and stop me from reacting in a way that would come back at them. And unfortunately that was how it indeed worked out in the end.
There is no going back to fix that.
Once they could think of me as a criminal, everything else was OK.
I eventually stopped complaining and just deserted. I deleted every profile and decided there wasn't anything I could say.
I had to learn not to give this episode as much importance, and be able to move on with a broader perspective, not letting it define my life.
But I don't really know what potential employers see when they look me up, or what else is being assumed about me elsewhere. To overthink this is a mistake — "what others think about you doesn't matter", a wise, meaningless common-sensical voice says in my head.
I hate that voice.
But how much can you ignore? And how much support are you going to find once you stop overthinking it?
So that's the place I'm coming from when I say I don't believe in a "cancel culture".
This is how a police state operates. It's not a culture of its own, it's a characteristic of the very culture we live in.
This is how someone acts if they believe criminals and even those who are accused without trial should be treated: they should be shunned, ostracized and punished so those they harmed feel avenged. Through their punishment the offended gets "justice".
But it's a lie. If it were so, no one would be able to buy their way out of it. So who is punished? And who is not? Those who are not punished don't get justice. What they get is the tranquility of knowing they are not subject to the same vulnerability.
This culture makes an industry of security, it creates these two separate groups, the villain who is criminalized regardless of due process and the innocent who must be protected at all costs.
So the crime is being being Black, being a trans woman, being an undiagnosed neurodivergent person who's deemed "dangerous", being an immigrant, being poor and daring to grab what's yours with your own hands.
There's a lot between always fearing the degree of punishment and the life-long consequences, and just getting "canceled" online but still having so many resources that it doesn't really matter and you can just "get over" that as an isolated fact.
Someone might as well grow even stronger by aligning with those who are against "cancel culture" — people who may not care at all for such issues, they just want to have "freedom" to do and say anything and not be held accountable for it.
The problem is not losing your social media following. The criminalized is stripped of their dignity. Any words spoken in their defense are anatema. It will be considered drama and self-centeredness should they speak up — as selfish and uncaring about those they hurt.
It's just an excuse to do away with people you hate. It doesn't really matter if they have commited crimes or not.
Who among the "canceled" really gets punished? If they are privileged enough, they can get lawyers, pay bail, and above all depend on the supports they already had prior to being canceled.
If you lack all this, it doesn't even matter if there's due process or not. You just get instantly punished.
That's what a police state feels like. You don't trust anyone, and you cling to your own sense of innocence like a precious moral commodity you don't know where you got but that allows you to stay above those that lack it.
Who gave you that innocence was a priest, a judge, a bureaucrat, a boss, it's anyone who is watching, waiting to see if you are going to be useful or not — and for how long. And they are ready to take it back.