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Kendall Watts

Samantha Gonz.

English

Annotated Bib.

"What is cancel culture: explained." Vox, Vox Media, 30 Dec. 2019,

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/30/20879720/what-is-cancel-culture-explained-hist

ory-debate.

Summary: This article discusses “cancel culture”, where people boycott and criticize public

figures for saying or doing offensive things. In the beginning of the article the author

breaks down what cancel culture is and what people seek when they “cancel” someone

for their wrong-doings. The author goes in-depth to show how some people view it as a

way to make powerful people accountable for their actions while other people view it as a

mob attacking people just because. The author also gives some examples of celebrity

cases like J.K. Rowling and Shane Gillis. The article explains the rooted history behind

cancel culture describing it as a “joke” but later turned serious while some look at it as an

opportunity to fight for equality.

Evaluation: This article gives a great overview of what cancel culture is when describing it to

someone who is not familiar with it. It explains the background/history of it while also talking

about how it is connected to a lot of social justice movements. But, this article lacks the

downsides of cancel culture in my opinion but that is okay because I am only really looking for

the definition and examples. The biggest downside about this article is that It doesn’t show the
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social media side of the issue and why it makes having hard/honest discussions difficult in

society today.

Reflection: After reading this article, you will learn a lot about the effects of cancel culture and

whether it is fair. Some might wonder if there are better ways to hold people accountable for

their actions by maybe educating them instead of causing them harm. This article made me think

about how we view social media and real-life problems. I think this is a great article for someone

who is at a starting point to understanding the pros and cons of cancel culture. The majority of

this article will be used in my research paper to help introduce cancel culture and the ideas

around it.

"How Counselors Are Dealing with the Impact of Cancel Culture on Mental Health." Carlow

University Blog, Carlow University, 8 Dec. 2022,

https://blog.carlow.edu/2022/12/08/how-counselors-are-dealing-with-an-impact-of-cancel-cultur

e-on-mental-health/.

Summary:

This article also explains what cancel culture is but instead of just giving the definition and why

its bad on social media; the article dives into the mental effects of what it could do to someone

who is a victim of this. The author brought up how canceling someone leads with shame and

bullying that can cause a long line of depression or anxiety. The article tells us that while cancel

culture is addressing the bad behavior, it can also prevent the learning and growth of society by

putting aside harsh topics and discussions. Instead of having these hard conversations, society
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has shaped its self into “protecting everyones mental health’. But despite the intentions behind

this trend, it makes it very hard for people to be able to grow and learn from the things they said

or did.

Evaluation:

I think this article is very good at showing the effects of how victims of cancel culture feel while

also expressing how damaging it could be. This article highlights the damaging effects of public

shaming and the psychological toll on the targets and cancelers. The article narrows down into

informing us that instead of continuing to play a role in cancel culture that we should detach

from social media and seek help. However, the downside of this article is while it is very

informing in one part, I wish they had discussed more on the societal implications of cancel

culture and potential solutions instead of individual coping strategies.

Reflection:

This article shows the dark side of cancel culture and how it negatively impacts everyone. It also

informs us that cancel culture or social media doesn’t care about the importance of empathy or

forgiveness. It emphasizes that we need to have a balanced approach to addressing problematic

behavior while also fostering growth and preserving mental health. Overall, I think it gave a lot

of examples that I could use in my research paper because it can help show that the reflection of

our behavior over the phone shouldn’t always follow us and that it is important to keep in mind

that promoting a culture of compassion and resilience on social media or in person will help us

out in the long run when voicing our opinions about harsh topics.
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"The Game Says 'You Can't Cancel Kanye West'." Rap-Up, Rap-Up, 4 Feb. 2024,

https://www.rap-up.com/2024/02/04/the-game-says-you-cant-cancel-kanye-west/.

Summary: In this article they talk about figures like Kanye West and how he is known for

provocative actions and statements while facing intense backlash for recent controversies.

Despite people trying to cancel him, his career never stopped. This is because celebrities like

Kanye West simply do not care about being canceled. They believe celebrities like Kanye west

are hard to cancel because of their large following.

Evaluation:

This article really didn’t give much insight about cancel culture or Kanye West. But it did give

me a good quote to use in my research paper and an explanation as to why cancel culture is not

real to some people. It also prompts the reflection of the power dynamics between celebrities and

media outlets when discussing cancel culture.

Reflection:

This article was somewhat insightful because it helped raise questions about fame and public

perception in determining whether what the celebrity said was controversial. I think this will be

good to input into the article to reflect that cancel culture is not always ‘real’ in the eyes of

celebrities and only a scapegoat for people to feel good about collectively agreeing to ‘dislike’

someone because of what they did or said. In my research paper, I will use Kanye as an example
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along with some other celebs to show that sometimes a person can say a lot of things society

does not agree with but canceling that artist is difficult when

This article provided some valuable insights into the complex dynamics of fame and the public

perception, particularly regarding controversial statements made by celebrities, like Kanye West

or YE. It helps prompt the question about weather the authenticity of cancel culture and it also

underscores the notion that cancel culture isn’t always a true reflection of societal consensus but

just a mechanism for collective disapproval. I intend to incorporate this perspective into my

research paper to illustrate that while individuals may express different societal norms, the

process of canceling’ them often comes with a lot of challenges; especially figures like Kanye

West and others.