Navigating Cancel Culture: A Guide for the Average Jane

Humankind operates within a social food chain, and who eats whom is decided by fame. The apex predators are celebrities and stars, who are both loved and hated by their prey — the average Joes and Janes of society.

But, in the era of smartphones and social media, the prey have capitalized on shame to take back control, dawning a new age where all must abide by one paramount law — cancel culture.

While the term cancel culture itself is new, the phenomenon has deep roots in humankind’s history as the public shaming of seeming moral offenders has manifested in different ways throughout various societies, cultures and epochs, according to The New York Times. 

Akin to the actions of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism, cancel culture aims to expose and exile people for straying too far from the norm. A defining feature of this ever-present phenomenon, and less frequently discussed, is its affinity for the condemnation of women. 

For centuries, women’s actions have been placed under a microscope, every detail critiqued and assessed by societal standards. Living in a man’s world, women can’t act outside their social role without severe consequences. 

This overly-critical notion has lived on in both subversive and overt ways, despite years of feminist progression. This condemnation truly developed when women in the western world began acting as subjects rather than objects in the 1960s and 70s, when women’s only job of being passive creatures who let men and life happen to them changed, becoming agents of their own choices, according to the National Women’s History Museum.

Fueled by insidious misogynistic ideals which subconsciously pervade modern public consciousness, innovative means have developed to put women back in their place — such as the rise of cancel culture. 

A female celebrity’s personal crisis is almost guaranteed to garner more coverage than a male counterpart’s. Her wardrobe mishap will end up on the cover of a magazine, effectively shaming her for being a bad role model, while his will be laughed off and is unlikely to even end up on BuzzFeed. Her sex tape will be leaked and circulated, slut-shaming her to the highest extent for exploring her sexuality, but he’ll end up with a pat on the back for his conquest. 

This sends a clear yet problematic message — a woman’s mistake is more worthy of punishment and scrutiny than a man’s. 

Take for example, pop star Chappell Roan. In late August, Roan announced she has been the victim of “creepy” and “predatory” behavior from so-called fans. She also posted a video on TikTok Aug. 19, calling out fans for said behavior. Instead of receiving support, her actions seemed to have opened the door to cancel culture.

Users took to TikTok and began making videos and commenting on Roan’s character, claiming  she has always harbored negative intentions and qualities and condemning her for pursuing music.

One video from Roan was all it took for her so-called fans to open the floodgates of criticism and fall back on the socially acceptable and expected response — regardless of whether they agree with the claims — of canceling her. 

Now, she’s facing additional backlash for canceling a concert for health reasons, claiming she feels an overwhelming amount of pressure and stress in her life. At even the slightest opening, cancel culture latches on and can follow a celebrity — especially a female celebrity — for the rest of their life.

Even more frustrating, it seems there are surprisingly more reactions and attention from TikTok users regarding Roan’s scandal than there are those regarding Sean “Diddy” Combs and his allegations.

In this case, one celebrity shared their thoughts and opinions about the pressures and dangers of fame, while the other has been accused of sex trafficking, yet they receive completely disproportionate amounts of attention. 

While this may be the fault of the algorithm, it’s more likely the response to an intrinsic teaching that men are able to get away with actions women are not. 

To this point, rapper Aubrey Drake Graham, known as Drake, was accused by rival Kendrick Lamar in his diss track “Not Like Us” of being a “sexual predator” and “pedophile.” These allegations are much more serious and pressing than Roan’s crisis, yet Drake only denied the claims once and his fans seem to have dropped it.

Roan is still actively losing support after taking a stance against toxic fan behavior, while Drake is plotting his comeback into the open arms of his fans amidst predatory accusations. 

Male celebrities are accused of worse, but suffer less scrutiny and get away with more. While canceling a celebrity does have a time and place, the majority are overly-critical of the actions of women and wouldn’t receive the same attention if the actions were a man’s. Canceled male celebrities emerge unscathed whereas canceled female celebrities can lose their careers. 

Cancel culture allows women to be criticized disproportionately for their actions compared to those of men, and it cultivates the idea that women are more responsible for those actions than men are. As modernity’s latest form of misogyny, cancel culture will continue to unfairly hold women — not just celebrities — to a higher standard of conduct.

While cancel culture continues to perpetuate gender inequalities and promote unjust condemnation, keep an eye out for society’s next and newest tool to remind women of their place in the world.