If we are to take the impact of the Internet seriously, then it is easy to see how cancel culture exacerbates the conditions that Wadud set out for us. Natalie Wynn, creator of the popular Youtube channel ContraPoints, published a video in March of 2019 entitled, “Gender Critical” in which she analyzes the debate surrounding gender identity politics. Her point of view, as a transgender woman, is one of personal experience but it is also combined with an acknowledgement of a historical timeline much like the one Andrea Long Chu describes. After soliciting stories from “people who used to be gender critical feminists” on Twitter, Wynn discovered that many were women who “found comfort in a rigid view of gender where women and men are completely separate species, where women are safe and men are dangerous” (Wynn 00:02:47-00:02:51). This TERF-promoted definition actively chooses to ignore many transgender individuals and their identities and therefore tensions naturally arise. She likens engaging with the opposition to be akin to eating a “bowl of thumbtacks” (Wynn 00:06:05-00:06:06). This sharply apt description encompasses the struggle that comes with speaking to those that are often not looking for real debate, those who instead choose to argue, undermine, and bully others without any authentic desire for resolution.
Given the amount of vitriol present in many online exchanges, it seems that the success of a social movement relies upon its ability to destroy the relevance of ‘Problematic Individuals.’ Chu’s theory of feminism’s reactionary and evolutionary nature is complicated by social media. There is no longer any need for the movement to move forward in a linear fashion with a succession of waves, which is perhaps one reason for confusion surrounding which wave we are currently in. Rather, as Henderson highlights, the Internet allows people to simply cancel, unfollow, block and silence those that they do not agree with. As Wadud notes, when a text or an individual is removed from the conversation, the chance for productive reconciliation is also removed.
Such ideological conflicts are not easily resolved, and it may be naїve to assume that if we all simply talk and listen to one another that conditions will dramatically improve. Part of the anger that social media generates is a result of its giving a voice to those who have not previously had access to one. However, petitioning Cardiff University to cancel Greer’s event may have just simply handed her a megaphone to further martyr herself. On the day of her lecture, a small group gathered to protest. Greer admitted that her rhetoric had been harsh, but she remained unrepentant: “I do agree that calling people names may add to their misery but it happens to old women every day” (qtd in Morris). In a single statement, Greer dismissed the views of the students and cast them as cruel, at least in the eyes of those who support her. This is not to suggest that future online protests are doomed, or that we should treat bigots with kindness. Rather, it is a plea to expand beyond the 280-character limit into a nuanced and clarifying debate. It is, after all, not possible to heal what is not acknowledged.
Works Cited
Alba, Davey. “Welcome to the Bizarro World of Trump Supporters on Reddit.” Wired, 27 July 2016, https://www.wired.com/2016/07/welcome-bizarro-world-trump-supporters-reddit/.
Chu, Andrea Long. “The Impossibility of Feminism,” The Impossibility of Feminism.” differences, vol. 30, no. 1, 2019, pp. 63-81. Duke University Press, doi: 10.1215/10407391-7481232.
Daniels, Jessie. “The Algorithmic Rise of the ‘Alt-Right.’” Contexts, vol. 17, no.1, 2018, pp. 60-65. SAGE Publications, doi: 10.1177/1536504218766547.
Diquinzio, Patrice. “Exclusion and Essentialism in Feminist Theory: The Problem of Mothering.” Hypatia, vol. 8, no. 3, 1993, pp. 1-20. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3810402.
Fuchs, Christian. “Herbert Marcuse and Social Media.” Critical Theory of Communication: New Readings of Lukács, Adorno, Marcuse, Honneth and Habermas in the Age of the Internet, University of Westminster Press, 2016, pp. 111-152. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv5vddf2.6.
Gayle, Damien. “Caitlyn Jenner ‘Wanted Limelight of Female Kardashians’—Germaine Greer.” The Guardian, 24 Oct. 2015, www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/24/caitlyn-jenner-wanted-limelight-of-female-kardashians-germaine-greer.
Henderson, Robert. “The Atavism of Cancel Culture.” City Journal, 30 Sept. 2019, www.city-journal.org/cancel-culture.
Morris, Steven. “Germaine Greer gives university lecture despite campaign to silence her.” The Guardian, 18 Nov. 2015, www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/18/transgender-activists-protest-germaine-greer-lecture-cardiff-university.
O’Keefe, Theresa.“Making Feminist Sense of No-Platforming.” Feminist Review, no. 113, 2016, pp. 85-92. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44987266?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
Quinn, Ben. “Petition urges Cardiff University to cancel Germaine Greer lecture.” The Guardian, 23 Oct. 2015, www.theguardian.com/education/2015/oct/23/petition-urges-cardiff-university-to-cancel-germain-greer-lecture.
Smythe, Viv. “I’m Credited with Having Coined the Word ‘Terf.’ Here’s How It Happened.” The Guardian, 28 Nov. 2018, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/29/im-credited-with-having-coined-the-acronym-terf-heres-how-it-happened.
Wadud, Amina. “Can One Critique Cancel All Previous Efforts?” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, vol. 32, no. 2, 2016, pp. 130-134. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/jfemistudreli.32.2.21.
Wahlquist, Calla. “Germaine Greer tells Q&A her trans views were wrong, but then restates them.” The Guardian, 11 Apr. 2016, www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/12/germaine-greer-tells-qa-her-trans-views-were-wrong-but-then-restates-them.
“What Is Radical Feminism?” RadFem Collective, www.radfemcollective.org/what-is-radical-feminism.
White, Sophie. “Is the current wave of feminism losing supporters due to polarisation?” IMAGE, 8 Mar. 2019, www.image.ie/life/current-wave-feminism-losing-supporters-due-polarisation-143812.
“Woman Billboard Removed after Transphobia Row.” BBC, 26 Sept. 2018, www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45650462.
Woods, Heather Suzanne, and Leslie A. Hahner. Make America Meme Again: The Rhetoric of the Alt-Right. New York, Peter Lang, 2019.
Wynn, Natalie. “Gender Critical | ContraPoints.” YouTube, uploaded by ContraPoints, 30 Mar. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pTPuoGjQsI.