CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE May/June 2021 | Page 32

CANCEL C

WHY IT USUALL AND WHY IT IS STI

References for this can be found in various msm as well as far left and right sources

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WHAT IS ?
“ Cancel Culture ” according to Wikipedia is a modern form of ostracism where someone is thrust out of social or professional circles by one form of media or another . Those who are the subject are said to have been “ cancelled ”. The origins of this are not what you think they might be and VOX published an interesting article on the subject in 2019 . You can see it here ; https :// www . vox . com / culture / 2019 / 12 / 30 / 20879720 / what-iscancel-culture-explained-history-debate

2 true / not true ?

Generally , a “ cancel culture ” campaign does not imply truth or falsehoods . It is a perception of an incident that will garner a response based on someone elses feelings on a particular subject . Most posts are based on a personal experience or bias and prey on other like minded to validate these feelings through comment or likes . Overall these posts are from persons who have a perceived grievance .

3 call out or Cancel ?

There is a difference and they are often confused . Call out or Cancel have one significant difference , the opportunity for change . Calling someone out for a transgression , perceived or not , can open a dialogue that leads to communication , understanding and education . Cancelling does not allow for this . Some transgressions ar borne ignorance rather than malice .
Words are very powerful tools , used properly they can elicit a positive feeling , a response based on the way the words are stated or the context of the phrasing . The same words and phrasing can also elicit negative connotations . Case in point , recently a client of a business posted this “ it was very inappropriate behaviour and I would not recommend this person ”. On the surface and in light of everything else on social media most would read this and almost immediately jump to a sexual context , I did . I am a bit of a pragmatist though and before I jumped on the band wagon I did a little research and actually reached out to the business in question . I was told that it had to do with procedure and contractual obligations and was also forwarded the correspondence from the client to prove out that point . Most people jumped on the social media post condemning this business thinking all along that it was inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature . The client never did explain the real issue or post any reasoning , just “ inappropriate behaviour ”. I have noticed that recently most individuals who initiate these types of “ cancel ” campaigns will only tell the parts of the story that suit them best . Segments of the story may hold partial truths to further solidify their perceived position and lend legitimacy to their saga . To further their goal they will also ask for others to chime in on the interactions they have had with the perceived “ offender ”. Even one response will validate the individual ’ s campaign and it does not require a factual accounting of the supposed complaint . Let ’ s face facts here . Not every individual or business will be able to please everyone , all the time . Not every individual or business operates the same way . Not every individual or business has the personality to get along with everyone . Old wisdom shines through here and I feel President Lincoln said it best “ You can please some of the people some of the time , all of the people some of the time , some of the people all time , but you can never please all of the people all of the time .” In relation to the world as it is right now that almost perfectly explains every politician ’ s plight right now . In relation to the industry I currently work within it takes on a whole new level of behaviour that warrants a closer look . Again , I caution , this does not apply to situations that ARE inappropriate and really require intervention but to situations that are for personal gain in trying to “ cancel ” an individual , business or in some cases both . We have all seen it , the vitriol posts on social media after every single contest , the judges were at fault , they didn ’ t even look at me , they don ’ t know what they are doing , and all my friends told me I should have won . Yes , this has become the battle cry for the competitor that is not happy with the placing they received . For me this is not part of “ cancel culture ” but poor sportsmanship . Simply put , it should not happen . Another group that is constantly targeted by competitors , again immediately following a contest , are coaches . Posts on social media will blame the coach , their methods , their plans and sometimes their attentiveness at the time of that particular contest . Their diatribes on social media are always one sided so the reader generally doesn ’ t get the whole story . They will encourage others by baiting them with leading questions to elicit like-minded responses and will ignore or berate anyone that is not espousing the same opinion as they would like to see / hear . They will announce that they are leaving that coach for another who is so much better and understands their
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