The high price of cancel culture

This is a hugely controversial topic, as demonstrated in the case of J K Rowling, once adored by most for her Harry Potter novels but now attacked by many for her views on what constitutes womanhood. Those who disagree with her accuse Rowling of “wrongthink” – a word that itself conjures up images of dystopian societies – for expressing her personal view that the concept of self-declared gender identity cannot wholly replace biological sex as a category, and that a person’s biological sex remains relevant.

Opponents who think otherwise say that anyone who identifies as a woman should be regarded as one by society, regardless of their biological sex, and without exception. That is a simplistic explanation of a complex argument that has seen Rowling vilified by individual commentators and sections of the Press and,   perhaps more disturbingly, “cancelled” by sections of society.

For those who are unaware of “cancel culture” it is basically a phrase used to describe a form of ostracism in which an individual is ignored in social or professional circles, or both. They are boycotted, or cancelled, as if they no longer exist. JK Rowling is probably secure and strong enough, with sufficient supportive friends and colleagues, to withstand this situation, but unsurprisingly, the “cancelling” of individuals is spreading, particularly in education, including universities here in the UK.

Students at Sussex University attempted to “cancel” feminist lecturer Professor Kathleen Stock by branding her a “transphobe”. She had written that womanhood and manhood reflect biological sex, not gender or gender identity. Students accused her of “making trans students unsafe,” and posters appeared in the tunnel from Falmer station to the university campus that read “We’re not paying £9,250 a year for transphobia”. The university authorities removed the posters and said they were “extremely concerned” by the “harassment” Prof Stock suffered. 

Back in 2019, Essex University cancelled a lecture by Visiting Professor Jo Phoenix of the Open University, after her views on transgender people were attacked by students and staff. The professor was to give a lecture looking at tensions around placing transgender women – who were born men – in female prisons. 

But the Centre for Criminology cancelled the event a few hours before it was due to take place, citing concerns that “open debate and discussion might be obstructed”. The university recently published findings of a review into the matter and has since issued four separate apologies to Prof Phoenix.

A Bill unveiled in the Queen’s Speech threatens institutions and student unions in England and Wales with fines of up to £500,000 if they bar controversial guests, but the row will rumble on. “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it ‘’ is a quote frequently misattributed to Voltaire. Those words were in fact written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in her book The Friends of Voltaire as a description of the principle of freedom of speech. But is freedom of speech itself now under threat of being “cancelled?”