Cancel Culture
The internet has been an amazing invention for artists, as it has allowed us to take control of our careers. However there is one aspect that artists that came before us, never had to deal with and that is online bullying. It used to be trolls that we had to worry about, but in the last decade a more sinister form of bullying has started to emerge. Cancel culture, at it’s most insidious an internet mob attacks an artist on mass. I am not going to question the veracity of whether someone deserves to be bullied to the point of being doxed and harassed in real life. It is people who partake in this practice, that I object to, because truly cancelling a person or company, is when they do something vile and everyone stops paying attention to them. Cancel Culture is often something else entirely, because it involves harassment and bullying for ridiculous reasons. This often happens to artists who draw fan art or are illustrators. In the illustrator world, people have been set upon for drawing a character a little thinner then normal or asking for help with getting the right skin tone for a character, even though they were using references and trying their best. They were called out for whitewashing even though they were asking for help in doing right by the character. These examples are chosen to show the absurdity of call out culture. In the real world, when you have done something wrong, it is specific and can be easily pointed out without a harassment campaign. I find cancel culture, to be a disturbing trend that seems to be growing and that is the reason why I wish to comment on this topic. It is pure and simple abuse.
This Is A Form Of Gaslighting
Gaslighting is an insidious form of emotional abuse. It is a tactic used to make people doubt themselves and their sanity. When a group of your peers and people descend on your social media account claiming something about your character which is a untrue, it can make you doubt yourself.
Don’t Engage In Conversation
The worst thing you can do is to acknowledge their comments and try to explain yourself. This only adds credence to the accusations and only makes it worse. Leave social media alone for awhile. This is not real life and you don’t want to add fuel to the flame, so that it may encourage people to harass you in person. Ask for help from professional experts, if you are overwhelmed or depressed and they will help. In real life, if some stranger came up to you screaming buzzwords at you with a horde behind them, would you give into them? No, you would get as far away from them as possible.
We Are Supposed To Be Part Of An Art Community
Inciting a mob is not the way to handle disappointment or being upset in life. If you have a problem with someone speak to them or dm them on the internet. If you really want to educate someone, this is not the way to do it, as you are only shaming someone publicly. Which is an unacceptable. People outside of the community see these bullying episodes and are turned off by this atrocious behavior. It is horrifying to see artists be part of these mobs. If you are an illustrator, you earn money from commissions and jobs such as children’s books. Who wants to work with someone who has bullied others in such an immature and public manner? Someone who doesn’t feel any empathy for pushing a person to attempt suicide because they drew a character too thinner then normal. If you have never drawn, I can tell you line work is hard and takes time to perfect. How are you going to learn if your don’t make mistakes? If you find an artist has drawn something you find offensive start a dialogue with them. No one earns points for taking part in a mob that harasses another person, especially a young person and makes them feel as if the whole world is against them. There is no prize for the most virtuous person while ruining someones aspirations and life. Everyone can find a fan base, focus on your work and build your brand. Creating art, is not as easy as it looks to outsiders. Support each other
