When former President Barack Obama called out "woke" "cancel culture" in a speech last month, social media exploded. Reaction was also swift and passionate in newspaper editorials and on television talk shows — many thanked him for encouraging more forgiveness in our society,while others were angry, saying his views were out of touch.
"Cancel culture" or the related "callout culture" — terms used on college campuses for some time — are now entering the mainstream lexicon. They refer to the phenomenon of someone being shunned or shamed for saying or doing something that is not considered appropriate or politically correct. It's applied when young people on social media shut out a peer who has offended others, or when a politician or celebrity does something unacceptable by today's standards and becomes "canceled," often losing their job or their following.
We'll discuss what political correctness means today and whether the idea of ideological purity has gone too far.
Guests
Judith Rosenbaum, associate professor, department of sommunication and journalism, University of Maine
Theo Greene, assistant professor of sociology, Bowdoin College; secretary and treasurer, section on sexualities, American Sociological Association
Liz Theriault, opinion editor, University of Maine student newspaper, The Maine Campus
Amy Wood (by phone), psychologist, author, speaker, executive coach
Resources
- Maine Campus: From cancel culture to changing culture
- Obama calls out 'woke' cancel culture: 'That's not activism'
- Tales From the Teenage Cancel Culture: What’s cancel culture really like? Ask a teenager. They know.
- Cancel Culture Is Not Real—At Least Not in the Way People Think
- Here’s What Cancel Culture Looked Like in 1283