This PPT is based on MA semester 3 presentations on Cultural Studies presented at the Department of English, MKBU. The topic of this presentation is 'Cancel Culture'.

1. CANCEL
CULTURE

2. Academic details
Roll no:- 19
Enrollment no:- 4069206420220011
Sem:- 3(M. A.) Batch:- 2022-24
Paper no. :- 205 Paper Code:- 22410
Paper name:- Postcolonial Studies
Submitted to:- Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of
English, M.K.B.U.
Dated on:- 23/10/2023
Email:- trushalidodiya84@gmail.com

3. Points to Ponder
● Introduction
● What is Cancel Culture and How it Emerged?
● Role of Social Media
● Difference between Cancel Culture and Boycott
● Examples
● Impact on Individuals
● Legal and Ethical Considerations

4. Introduction
● Just Step a little back: ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by Nathaniel
Hawthorne
● Hester Prynne- had an affair and got pregnant- When people
of the town find out it- they make her wear “A” that stands for
Adulterer
● As Alejandro Betancourt addresses Cancel Culture as “Our
New Version of Scarlet Letter” (Betancourt)
● John Stuart Mill’s ‘On Liberty’ is about the threats of human
liberty posed by social Confirmation(Applebaum and Lewis)

5. What is Cancel Culture?
And How it emerged?
● Cancel Culture- Popular Culture(Nayar)
● According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, Cancel Culture is
“the practice or tendency of engaging in mass cancelling as a
way of expressing disapproval and exerting social
pressure”.(“Cancel Definition & Meaning”)
● Cambridge Dictionary notes it as a way of behaving in a
society or group, especially on social media, in which it is
common to completely reject and stop supporting someone
because they have said or done something that offends you.
(“CANCEL CULTURE | English meaning - Cambridge
Dictionary”)

6. ● No specific historical traces
● According Aja Ramano The terms roots in Black culture- Civil Right
Protests of the 1950s and 1960s- #BlackLivesMatter
● Nile Rodger’s 1981 song- “Your Love is Cancelled”
● 1991 film- New Jack City- cancelling his girlfriend(Romano)
● Clark sees its origins in Black oral tradition to its misappropriation by
social elites
● Cancel Culture must begin with an analysis of the power relations by
which it is defined. (Clark)
● Applebaum and Lewis tells it a new Puritan mob
● Concept of Mob or Crowd and
● John Drury argues that the discourse around crowds, collectives, and
people power have historically been problematic and negative,
revealing the class biases and political ideologies of those
commentators who describe them.(DRURY)

7. ● Social media is often driven by a
certain narrowness of view that limits
the human nature to itself.
● Facebook
● Twitter
● Instagram
● Rise of Cancel Culture
● Use of Hashtags#
Cancel Culture and Role of
Social Media

8. ● Boycott is to refuse to buy a product or take part in an activity as
a way of expressing strong disapproval. (“BOYCOTT | English
meaning - Cambridge Dictionary”)
● Cancel Culture is about the mass cancelling as a way of
expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure.
● But though remains one and same while its execution
● Both denies the person or organisation
A Slightest Difference
between Cancel Culture and
Boycott

9. ● Amir Khan- #BoycottLalSinghChaddha- For His Past
Statement about India(Chatterjee)
● Pathan Film- #BoycottPathan
● Kevin Hart a hollywood Comedian- Due to his past tweets-
derogatory language referring to gay people and made
disparaging comments about sexuality.(Respers)
● Gina Carano- After months of posting controversial
messages on social media mocking pronouns supporting
trans people.
Examples of Who are
Cancelled and Why?

10. ● While talking about Cancel Culture, Vijay Varma says that "It
can scare you. It has just gone a bit overboard now. I feel
something that you said 10 years ago could have been
objectionable, and made a few people raise their eyebrows…. I
feel you cannot be cancelled for something like that.”
● He gives example of a Rajasthan house where there are
Leopard and Tiger Skin on Display.
● “ …I don't really have an answer. I feel education and catching
up on times is very important. But times and trends are
changing so quickly. A comedian who must have said something
10 years ago, can have those lines come back to haunt him right
now.”(Kanabar)

11. ● Chi Luu in “cancelling as a very new and scary
● Young people are ready to cancel the whole
thing(DRURY)
● Social Media Mobbing
● Self Censorship(Estigoy et al.)
● Cancellation of Shows and firing Stars
Pros and Cons of Cancel Culture

12. ● Cancel culture involves publicly shaming individuals or brands for
perceived wrongdoings, often initiated on social media platforms.
● It may have a sort of Social purpose but affects the mental health of
an individual
● Its impacting badly on individual life
● Public Shaming
● People are getting cancelled for the thing that they have done many
many years ago(Bhatia and TEDx Talks)
● Psychological impact
● Threats of income, career and social/public status
● Mental and emotional troll, Isolation, Loneliness, anxiety
● False allegations under #MeToo movement
Impact on Individuals

13. ● An era of Post Truth
● People are becoming too
Judgemental
● You are at the risk of getting
cancelled
Ethical Considerations

14. References
Applebaum, Anne, and Helen Lewis. “Mob Justice Is Trampling Democratic Discourse.” The Atlantic, 31 August
2021, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/10/new-puritans-mob-justice-canceled/619818/ .
Accessed 23 October 2023.
Betancourt, Alejandro. “Cancel Culture: The New Scarlet Letter | by Alejandro Betancourt | New Writers
Welcome.” Medium, 29 March 2022, https://medium.com/new-writers-welcome/cancel-culture-the-new-
scarlet-letter-bc5f92b4db6f . Accessed 22 October 2023.
Bhatia, Raghav, and TEDx Talks. Cancelling Cancel Culture. 11 May 2011. YouTube,
https://youtu.be/QKd61mezRfA?si=dupgEt5ZnsowLVfx . Accessed 23 October 2023.
“BOYCOTT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary.” Cambridge Dictionary, 18 October 2023,
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/boycott . Accessed 23 October 2023.
“CANCEL CULTURE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary.” Cambridge Dictionary,
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cancel-culture . Accessed 23 October 2023.

15. “Cancel Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cancel#h1 . Accessed 22
October 2023.
Chatterjee, Srabanti. “Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan boycott: Cancel culture is destroying films - #BigStory |
Hindi Movie News - Times of India.” The Times of India, 6 August 2022,
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/laal-singh-chaddha-and-raksha-bandhan-
boycott-the-cancel-culture-of-movies-needs-to-be-cancelled-bigstory/articleshow/93378865.cms . Accessed 23
October 2023.
Clark, Meredith D. “DRAG THEM: A brief etymology of so-called “cancel culture.”” Communication and the Public, vol. 5, no.
3-4, 2020. Sage Journals, https://doi.org/10.1177/2057047320961562. Accessed 23 October 2023.
DRURY, JOHN. “‘When the Mobs Are Looking for Witches to Burn, Nobody’s Safe’: Talking about the Reactionary Crowd.”
Discourse & Society, vol. 13, no. 1, 2002, pp. 41-73. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42888412 . Accessed 23
October 2023.
Estigoy, Maria Adrielle S., et al. “Virtual Call-Out: The Aggressions and Advantages of Cancel Culture.” Innovations, 2021.
Innovations, https://www.journal-innovations.com/ . Accessed 23 October 2023.
Kanabar, Nirali. “Vijay Varma feels cancel culture and Boycott Bollywood have 'gone a bit overboard' | Exclusive.” India
Today, 18 August 2022, https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/celebrities/story/vijay-varma-feels-cancel-culture-and-
boycott-bollywood-have-gone-a-bit-overboard-exclusive-1989476-2022-08-18 . Accessed 23 October 2023.

16. Luu, Chi. “Cancel Culture Is Chaotic Good.” JSTOR Daily, 18 December 2019, https://daily.jstor.org/cancel-
culture-is-chaotic-good/ . Accessed 23 October 2023.
Mathur, Abhimanyu. “Did Aamir Khan's Laal Singh Chaddha fail due to boycott call or bad content.” Hindustan
Times, 18 August 2022, https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/did-aamir-khan-s-
laal-singh-chaddha-fail-due-to-boycott-call-or-bad-content-101660825417921.html . Accessed 23
October 2023.
Nayar, Pramod K. An Introduction to Cultural Studies. Viva Books, 2008.
Phelan, Sean. “Seven theses about the so-called culture war(s) (or some fragmentary notes on ‘cancel
culture’).” CULTURAL STUDIES, 2023. Taylor and Francis Online,
https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2023.2199309 . Accessed 23 October 2023.
Respers, Lisa. “Kevin Hart on cancel culture: 'I understand people are human.'” CNN, 14 June 2021,
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/14/entertainment/kevin-hart-cancel-culture/index.html . Accessed 23
October 2023.
Romano, Aja. “What is cancel culture? How the concept has evolved to mean very different things to different
people.” Vox, 5 May 2021, https://www.vox.com/22384308/cancel-culture-free-speech-accountability-
debate . Accessed 22 October 2023.

17. Thank You