Two things are simultaneously true, that within left-wing online spaces:
"There is no probation in the eyes of the social justice world. The only penalty is the death penalty, the attempt to commit permanent character assassination."
And, simultaneously, our culture (even when espousing liberal, progressive values) will continue to award and celebrate (largely white) men who have committed seriously heinous acts, even crimes.
I'm not convinced that Norman Mailer //is// a beloved cultural figure. I genunely don't think I've ever met someone who has read him or, indeed, has even mentioned him without raising the fact that he stabbed his wife. But, the fact definitely holds for David Foster Wallace and John Lennon and William Burroughs and Charles Dickens and Ernest Hemmingway and... I guess it depends where we draw the line.
However, there is a big selection bias in choosing those men who are still famous, rather than confined to obscurity after "cancellation". These are big names that carry cultural clout.
Do you have any idea what, say, Luke Bozier is up to nowadays? I know from a quick Google that Hugo Schwyzer is working at Trader Joe's. That seems fair enough. His own blog posts reflect that he would cause more harm than not if he committed suicide and I think he is correct.
Then, between very minor figures like Hugo Schwyzer and Luke Bozier, and cultural icons like Wallace and Lennon, you have men like Aziz Ansari.
Do you think Ansari should be in jail for ever? Probably not. Do you think he should be getting paid $$$ for Netflix specials? Probably not.
But Ansari knows that not everyone forgives him. Otherwise he wouldn't have shaken off his lightly-worn progressivism for material decrying cancel culture. He's forgiven by a lot of centrist bros... but then, does he want or need their forgiveness? If I stabbed a bunch of kittens to death, I wouldn't be forgiven by most people... but I'd probably be forgiven by other kitten stabbers who wanted to justify their own behaviour.
---
As for women being unforgiven... again, by who? Some people forgive Lena Dunham, for instance; others don't. Like Ansari, she's culturally condemned on one hand, but materially rewarded with a lot on money and visibility on the other. Further down the ladder, I don't see much forgiveness for Asia Argento, but she's not in jail, either. I'm sure a whole bunch of horror fans still love her fine. Lower down the ladder, have the likes of Kaitlyn Hunt and Gemma Barker been forgiven? To be honest, I think they've mostly been forgotten.
In short TL;DL there are metaphysical consequences (i.e. the perpetrator's soul is judged as forever tained) but very limited material consequences. It is a reversal of where our society was 300 years ago, in which (//if you were low down on the cultural hierarchy of class//) you could be executed for transgressions, but God would be asked to have mercy on your soul.
"All I know is that peace that is built on a pile of other people’s pain isn’t peace at all. That, and no matter how many ugly books he writes, no woman should be expected to suffer so that a man can grow."
DAMN, girl. Wow. Powerful, powerful piece of writing. My current life has some serious shit going down right now and this hit me where I live. Thank you. I think. I mean, yes, thank you. I just...
Loved this post. :)
Two things are simultaneously true, that within left-wing online spaces:
"There is no probation in the eyes of the social justice world. The only penalty is the death penalty, the attempt to commit permanent character assassination."
https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/some-principles-and-observations
And, simultaneously, our culture (even when espousing liberal, progressive values) will continue to award and celebrate (largely white) men who have committed seriously heinous acts, even crimes.
I'm not convinced that Norman Mailer //is// a beloved cultural figure. I genunely don't think I've ever met someone who has read him or, indeed, has even mentioned him without raising the fact that he stabbed his wife. But, the fact definitely holds for David Foster Wallace and John Lennon and William Burroughs and Charles Dickens and Ernest Hemmingway and... I guess it depends where we draw the line.
However, there is a big selection bias in choosing those men who are still famous, rather than confined to obscurity after "cancellation". These are big names that carry cultural clout.
Do you have any idea what, say, Luke Bozier is up to nowadays? I know from a quick Google that Hugo Schwyzer is working at Trader Joe's. That seems fair enough. His own blog posts reflect that he would cause more harm than not if he committed suicide and I think he is correct.
Then, between very minor figures like Hugo Schwyzer and Luke Bozier, and cultural icons like Wallace and Lennon, you have men like Aziz Ansari.
Do you think Ansari should be in jail for ever? Probably not. Do you think he should be getting paid $$$ for Netflix specials? Probably not.
But Ansari knows that not everyone forgives him. Otherwise he wouldn't have shaken off his lightly-worn progressivism for material decrying cancel culture. He's forgiven by a lot of centrist bros... but then, does he want or need their forgiveness? If I stabbed a bunch of kittens to death, I wouldn't be forgiven by most people... but I'd probably be forgiven by other kitten stabbers who wanted to justify their own behaviour.
---
As for women being unforgiven... again, by who? Some people forgive Lena Dunham, for instance; others don't. Like Ansari, she's culturally condemned on one hand, but materially rewarded with a lot on money and visibility on the other. Further down the ladder, I don't see much forgiveness for Asia Argento, but she's not in jail, either. I'm sure a whole bunch of horror fans still love her fine. Lower down the ladder, have the likes of Kaitlyn Hunt and Gemma Barker been forgiven? To be honest, I think they've mostly been forgotten.
In short TL;DL there are metaphysical consequences (i.e. the perpetrator's soul is judged as forever tained) but very limited material consequences. It is a reversal of where our society was 300 years ago, in which (//if you were low down on the cultural hierarchy of class//) you could be executed for transgressions, but God would be asked to have mercy on your soul.
"All I know is that peace that is built on a pile of other people’s pain isn’t peace at all. That, and no matter how many ugly books he writes, no woman should be expected to suffer so that a man can grow."
DAMN, girl. Wow. Powerful, powerful piece of writing. My current life has some serious shit going down right now and this hit me where I live. Thank you. I think. I mean, yes, thank you. I just...
Yeah. As always, you give me lots to think about.
Don't stop.