Let’s Talk Bookish: Cancel Culture

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted with Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Book Nook Bits has hosted since April 2022.

August 11th: Cancel Culture in the Book Community

Prompts: What are your thoughts on cancel culture in the book community? What are its impacts on authors and readers? How does cancel culture differ from simply holding people accountable? What do authors and publishers owe their readers?

I think a lot of people who yell about “cancel culture” are massively confusing accountability and consequences with “being cancelled”. Honestly, the fact you hear ‘cancel culture’ coming from the right more often than not, and those who are the loudest about being cancelled are, well, still sitting there yelling about being cancelled so they really haven’t been, have they? However, I do think the book community and some ‘subsections’ within it are very much constantly on edge waiting for people to slip up so they can leap on social media and cry about what good people they are while targeting others for a perceived slight. I also think there’s an issue where some folks will have a personality clash with others, or a disagreement, and be so convinced they are such a good person that someone they don’t like must be bad or evil in some way.

Let’s face it, some of the biggest bullies are still present in these communities. If cancel culture effects anyone, it’s not usually the people causing actual, real harm.

As for impacts, I think it’s fair if people read something and want to call something out in it they think is honestly, truly harmful – I’ve definitely read books that should not have made me feel uncomfortable in the way they do. But I also think common sense has to be utilized – there seems to be a problem at the moment in people equating portrayal with endorsement. There’s a difference in reading, say, Romance, where a character expresses racist, fatphobic, homophobic views etc and is never challenged, and a Horror novel that explores those themes. There’s things that should be picked up in edits, or books that should have gone through sensitivity readers before making it to print.

I think when we hold people accountable, it allows the person an opportunity to engage, learn, respond, grow. There’s a difference in giving someone space to do these things, and going straight for the neck and demanding blood. Often, when we see particular communities come under attack (frequently, right now, the trans community for example) we see valid criticism, discussions, and opinions pointing out why the book is harmful and suggesting different ways people can support the community. On the other side, you have those who refuse to even engage with the text they are criticizing, simply demanding books are pulled from schools, libraries and shops without even seeing what they say, because they believe these books are ‘harmful’ to children (when, often, they’re not).

I think this is something I could talk about a lot more, but I think I’ve pretty much said enough for today’s post. What it boils down to is I think some people are so determined to seem good, they can get caught up in targeting people who don’t deserve it, or demanding an author or celebrity reveal their sexualities (as an example), while other actually harmful people feel no ill effects from their bigotry, sitting in their castle and collecting cheques and completely isolated from the very real damage they are causing to communities.

What I will finish on is it’s always worth being careful about who you give your time, money and support to, and to consider what really matters to you – read own voices reviews, read diverse books and follow different people on social media, and if someone mentions a book is harmful, don’t be afraid to use your own judgement, seek out other reviews, and take time looking into it before instantly jumping on social media or Goodreads and yelling at the author or review bombing their works. It’s easy to shoot off angry messages behind a screen, it’s much more difficult to take back typed out words after you’ve posted something while seeing red.