Cancel Culture 

In the 80's famous producer and Chic's bandlead, Nile Rogers went on a bad date. He later wrote about it in the song 'Your love is cancelled'. Little did he know that decades later the word 'cancelled' would be at the core of a cultural movement.

In 2010 Cancel Culture made an appearance, really taking off in the 2020's. The idea of shutting people out because their behavior goes against the (un)written rules of a society is not new. The scarlet letter, a 19th century novel (later made into a movie) already described the struggles of a woman who conceived a baby outside of wedlock. Excluding a person is regarded as an effective punishment and sets a warning for others since it's a basic need of any human being to 'belong'. Or is it?

Calling out unacceptable behavior can surely help to break the taboo on racism, sexism, bulling etc. On the other hand, as a number of socialogists pointed out, by fully silencing people, having a constructive debate is no longer possible. So, is simply 'shutting' down effective to help people change their conduct? By not discussing how behaviour impacts others is it even possible to intrinsicly alter the way of thinking by those who caused the wrongdoing?  Especially in the digital world, where (anonymous) confrontations can escalate easily, will it not fuel people to dig their heels in further? 

For sure the social debate continues as there are many angles to take into account. My hope for 2025 is that we try to not jump to conclusions, try to show how you can communicate in a respectful way, and just think before clicking enter.