27 minute read
VOICES
A Drought in Male-Focused Pornography
The Misguided Efforts of Feminism in Supplying Women with Good Heterosexual Porn
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ISABELLA BLU PTITO-ECHEVERRIA Voices & Connections Editor
As the next generation of filmmakers and artists, take the following into account if you pursue a career in adult cinema:
A lot of porn is made for men— and I don’t mean this in the typical “women are objectified in pornography” way, because the nature of kinks is generally to objectify.
The problem with a lot of vanilla heterosexual porn is how the camera is over-focused on women. Their reactions, their bodies, while the men are cast off to the side and seen as little as possible.
Particularly frustrated with this reality one night, I cracked my knuckles and Viciously fingered my keyboard in a fit of academic horniness:
Male-focused porn, I Googled. Some brief compilations of professional porn clips with generic club music pounding over them appeared, but that wasn’t my cup of tea. Even pornography of women dominating men seemed to be made for men.
Porn for women was the next thing I searched for. This was an odd side of the internet I discovered; entire pornographic websites dedicated to a political cause: creating porn that didn’t objectify women. That’s great, in theory.
Although these women weren’t necessarily being objectified, they were still the focus of the camera work. What audience was this website catering to? Perfect for homoflexible politically-charged lesbians perhaps, but not so much for the average heterosexual woman; It was more like porn to promote the respect of women. Unfortunately, cinematic intros featuring B-roll stock footage of fireplaces and secluded cabins followed by a girl getting eaten out to royalty-free sexy saxophone smooth jazz does not make your porn feminist, it just makes it pretentious and boring. Your porno is not a Netflix original.
I’m not shitting on Porn For Women’s mission, but being in the midst of a break-up and consequently feeling like a can of Pabst in the backpack of a lass at an outdoor rave made the discovery of such a misleadingly-named niche all the more infuriating. This was not porn for women; it was porn made to train the horny eye not to see women as sexual objects. If we’re talking efficiency over sheer principle, porn is the worst possible place to make this change.
Porn is the one place where purposely objectifying people is okay, so long as the video is produced in an enthusiastically consensual environment. This is because sexuality is society’s pressure valve; Masturbation is the time in which human beings are allowed to behave primally and apolitically. What you do in your own sheets with your own hands should be your secret.
I know from a myriad conversations with women that heterosexual women do watch porn. I know that myself and other women favor gay porn, simply because that is often the most accessible genre when in dire need of male-focused action. However, numerous polls suggest that women watch porn significantly less frequently and in lower quantities than men tend to. The question remains; are women simply less inclined to watch porn, or is there a lack of content that caters to the fantasies of porn-seeking women?
Horniness is not a gendered feeling, yet today’s pornographic media scape appears to operate under the notion that men are hornier and kinkier than women, and must thus be the only consumers of pornography. Where is the proportional supply of male-focused porn to the heterosexual female demand for it?
Funnily enough, this whole situation made me realise the shortcomings of feminism in the world of pornography. Feminism is the belief that men and women must be treated equally. Realistically, shouldn’t some additional sector of feminism cater to the idea that women can be just as horny and morbid as men? If a man has the capacity to seek porn that blatantly objectifies women, shouldn’t a woman have the option to seek porn that blatantly objectifies men? To have access to pornography that caters to the animalistic and morbid female gaze?
That is equality. That would be true feminism at play.
It was a feminist idea that inspired the creation of a website like Porn for Women; The idea that if men aren’t objectified, women should not be objectified either. Props to men who actively seek women-respecting porn: you’ll have a great time on Porn for Women. Unfortunately, a website with the aim of diverting the invasive male gaze won’t do its job if the only people looking for you already agree with you.
This is why feminism in the porn realm should direct its focus toward supplying male-focused porn for fellow women, as opposed to creating porn aimed at retraining the desires of men. For heterosexual women, the results will be much more beneficial, impactful and, dare I say, climactic this way.
ALICE LARRIVÉE Contributor
“I literally want to die. I hate it here, oh my god.”
Dawson student Raphael Chenail, only 18 years old, shakes with laughter as he says these words. His friend Samuel Villeneuve, 19 and pictured above, taps his cigarette against a wooden table, joins in, and chuckles. “The dream. Might just attempt to off myself a seventh time to feel something!”
There’s nervousness in their giggles. The two friends are conversing on a rooftop in Griffintown, exchanging humorous statements concerning their low wills to live. It’s frighteningly obvious that a serious discussion of their feelings and their support for one another will be avoided in this conversation.
As concerning as this seems from an outside look, this is normal to Generation Z; Casual, even. This generation, ranging from ages 9-24, is known to struggle with heavy depression and anxiety, so much that they joke about it with each other.
This has escalated and led to a new internet subculture of “mental illness memes” that has spread to social media and gained its popularity there.
“I’ve got to admit, sometimes,[...], I share some ‘lowkey want to unalive’ type of memes to my private stories so my friends can know I’m not doing well. It feels less awkward than asking for help, because it’s not taking myself too seriously. Kind of an ironic cry for help, it’s not cringey.” adds Raphael, smiling yet visibly uncomfortable to be expressing his opinions on the subject. Samuel joins in immediately: “Also, I feel like most people our age are going through it, so you don’t want to bother your friends with it because there’s nothing they can do and they’re probably not that great either, so you just go see a therapist and not mention it to your friends [at least not in a serious way].”
Agathe Dusser, a psychologist that specializes in psychoanalysis, speaks on the subject. “Even if this generation that’s mostly teenagers is more depressed and faces higher risks of suicide than the others do, they’re still generally very open to therapy. There are more ‘Gen Zs’ in treatment than in any other generation, and they’re not afraid to ask for professional help.”
More than 37% of Gen Zers have reached out for help and have experienced therapy or a psychiatric evaluation with a mental health professional. Although these statistics seem hopeful, it’s important to ask ourselves; Where do all of these jokes and viral memes about suicide come from, and why are they constantly being reposted?
Unfortunately, Gen Zers’ selfempathy and awareness, which are ultimately what prompt them to receive professional help in the first place, don’t appear to transfer into their personal lives and relationships. Why are Gen Zers afraid to directly ask their friends for help?
Many factors contribute to this, ranging from the fast-paced nature of social media to the Covid-19 lockdowns that have led the world into a mental health and social skills crisis. Gen Zers are growing up in a world that limits real contact and prioritizes quick, straightforward text messages, both of which have been exacerbated by the pandemic. While connections are numerous and span far and wide across
social media platforms, they aren’t necessarily intimate or deep enough to provide a space for genuine vulnerability. Gen Zers’s constant disconnection from one another (that is to say, on a more personal and intimate level), is something this generation has experienced excessively, which is a feasible factor behind their difficulty in expressing true vulnerability. Even if one has the support of friends, being used to communicating through online social networks has made authentic, reallife communication feel unusual. The fast-paced and emotionally-removed nature of expressing suicidality via jokes or memes, whether in person or online, definitely mirrors this generation’s overall means of online socialising: voice something lightly, be validated that you’re not alone, and relish in the fact that your feelings are relatable so long as you don’t get too specific and turn into a buzzkill. With teen suicide rates climbing, these ‘suicide jokes’ and memes are coping mechanisms that allow Gen Zers to approach these strong, ineffable feelings without too much pain, and without worrying about being judged or discredited by their peers [who many worry are experiencing the same, if not worse, struggles]. Maybe, after all, this is an epidemiological cry for help from Generation Z.
The Origin Story of @Dawsoncollegememes
KEVIN LABOSSIÈRE Contributor
Well, after being asked by literally everyone at the Plant to make an article about this, I finally gave in and decided to make this. Hi! My name is Kevin. I’m a second-year student at Dawson, in General, Social Science. I am the creator and owner of Dawsoncollegememes on Instagram.
As I am writing this, the page currently stands at 1,824 followers… wow. How did it come to this, and what has come from this? Well, let me explain how it all started. I created the page on September 15th, 2020, as a joke really. I was messing around in my online psychology class (as usual) and continued switching backgrounds while pulling jokes left and right. Then, someone in the chat said, “Kevin definitely has a meme page” and that just struck a chord with me. Back in high school, we also had our own meme page. I didn’t run it/create it, but it did lead me to wondering whether Dawson College had a meme page. Spoiler alert: it did not. So, I created the page just to mess around, made a meme, and BAM, took less than one day to reach 100 followers, then it just kept piling up. September 20th, 500 followers.
Then came the worst teachers’ tournament, then came the collabs with The Plant, different college services, activities, the Student Council/ Executive elections… It became a standing ground for Dawson. (I’d like to mention that DSU would most likely collab, but for some reason they don’t want to repost memes?) Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself, but the iconic Blue Doge with the Glasses (made by current VP of Internal Affairs & Operations Abril Meza, who is a sweetheart btw) was a face of Dawson. In a couple months, it became a source of entertainment for students to relate and laugh at while being stuck on Zoom for most of their classes. It kind of died of during the summer (for obvious reasons) but when we finally came back on campus, it got even bigger. This led to opportunities that I would’ve never expected to happen to me.
One day, I was approached by the VP of Internal Affairs and Operations, Abril Meza, if I wanted to help during Frosh week as a DSU volunteer. Of course, I said yes-- quite the opportunity I’m getting! This led me to really achieving a goal that I would’ve never imagined when I first posted a meme back in 2020. It opened doors that would’ve never been opened if it wasn’t for the page. Since coming to campus, I have met so many great people, made connections and related to people and felt at home for the first time in a while. High school was tough for me, and seeing people that could relate to me while building a community around a single meme page is incredible. The page led to me being in the Campus & Events Operations Committee as Creative Director, which basically means that I’m part of the group that organises most of the on-campus events, collaborating with CLL and such.
Looking back at when I created the meme page, I did not expect it to blow up, or even get new students to make pages that post other types of memes/content that are Dawson related. @dawsoncollegeaffirmations and @spottedawson are two that come to mind instantly. Instead of making it a competition, we built a community made by students, for
students. I’ve kept my identity (mostly) secret until recently; Most people know who I am at this point.
I was recently diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and the tremendous support I get every day from friends, the people I surround myself with, and followers that give me nothing but love, has really changed my life. I might just be a guy that makes memes, and even if it doesn’t show, I appreciate every single person that DMs me, comments, likes or interacts with the page. It might seem stupid since it’s virtual, but connecting with so many people that relate solely through memes is awesome. I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the page and continues to interact with it to this day. Whether it’s new followers or day ones, you have a special place in my heart, and honestly, it’s one of the reasons I take around 3 hours of total commute every day to go to Dawson.
Love y’all!
Kevin, aka @dawsoncollegememes.
The Plight of the Real Santa’s:
What Over Consuming Means for Your Delivery Person
EMILY MCQUEEN Copy Editor
The semester is ending, Christmas is right around the corner and students are holly and jolly, ready to use their time off school to have fun. Yet the idea that the holidays are a joyful time of year isn’t agreed upon by everyone. Warehouse employees under large companies making inconceivable profits selling gifts, for example. For these workers, your “most wonderful time of year” is a stressful, emotionally and physically draining and sometimes unsafe nightmare. Testimonies from Amazon employees in New York recorded by the Guardian and local statistics on the work environment in warehouses in and near Montreal from a 2019 report by the Immigrant Workers Center (IWC) reveal just how bad the reality is for workers during the holidays.
In the article “I’m not a robot” by the Guardian, Rina Cummings, an Amazon warehouse employee shares her experience in the unsafe, grueling conditions of an Amazon warehouse. She works three 12 hour shifts for a total of 36 hours a week. Her job is to inspect and scan Amazon packages at a speed of 1,800 packages an hour, adding up to one package every two seconds. Sometimes packages burst and Cummings must stop work to clean up, which causes her to miss her requirement. When this happens, the employee can get written up, potentially leading to termination if occurring frequently, which according to Cummings, is most of the time. During these long and restless hours, the workers get one 30-minute break for every 5-hour shift and an additional 10 minutes off for every four hours of work. The latter has only recently been altered by the company because previously employees had difficulty finding time to go to the bathroom.
Far worse than the long hours and the high pressure of the job are the often-ignored safety guidelines and regulations. In the Guardian’s article, Cummings explains that injuries are common. She had recently almost lost her hand because of a pin sticking out of the conveyor belt, a carrier system used in the Amazon warehouses. The warehouse also drops packages from a chute that are either too large for the conveyor belt which they land on or are improperly packed. Employees have also been injured by the contents bursting out of packages. Cummings testifies that managers often ignore her disability accommodations that are required by law and are recommended by her mobility counsellor for her impaired vision. The only accommodations that Amazon underwent were painting safety lines in bright colours in the warehouse and putting safety tape on the stairways, an accommodation so simple it would take little to no time and cost barely anything. What’s even more irksome is that her managers consistently try to schedule her in departments unfit and unsafe for her. Two order pickers, unnamed by the journalist out of fear of the company’s response, have shared experiences with Cummings. One claimed that their manager ignored his health restrictions after a foot surgery causing them knee pain. The worker had to take time off to heal. The other order picker suffers from chronic back and knee pains. They are often forced to use paid time off for rest and recovery. An Amazon spokesperson responded to all accusations of unsafety in their warehouse, his statement says that the rate of injuries of company staff is high because Amazon is in fact more transparent than other companies with the number of injuries reported, which is probably why employees felt a need to testify about unsafe and grueling work environments.
These examples are from New York, but the situation in our local warehouses also leave much to be desired. In Montreal, immigrants often have few employment opportunities because of language barriers. Thus, they are often obligated out of necessity to get hired in warehouse jobs through temporary placement agencies, meaning they are not assured long-term employment. In the 2019 report by the Immigrant Workers Center, 40% of the temporary warehouse workers did not receive proper safety nor health training and 42.9% weren’t supplied with adequate safety equipment. In a Montreal Dollarama warehouse, safety practices were sacrificed to push productivity leading to several accidents involving heavy packages plummeting from upper storage rooms, all for the company to have Christmas decorations in store the day after Halloween.
In the interest of not contributing to these conditions, here are some alternative gifts ideas for this holiday season. You can commission Dawson students who are also local artists like @satin.stiches on Instagram who makes clothes, stuffed toys and hats or @dumb.blondebeads who makes stylish accessories. Local artists often sell their products on Etsy, too. Experiences such as concert tickets, carousel rides, dinner dates or sports games make meaningful gifts as well as memorable experiences. You can also order from ethical fair-trade companies. Lastly, if you are out of money, craft something yourself! Remember, the best gifts come from the heart, not from the hands of an underpaid and neglected warehouse worker.
The Promise of the Metaverse
Opinion: What Facebook Rebranding to META Really Means
ALICE MARTIN Staff Writer
Ever since October 28th, your sharp eye might have noticed that upon opening Instagram or Facebook, something in the loading screen changed. Paired with an infinity logo in the shape of an M, the “From META” caption at the bottom has raised a few eyebrows. However, META is nothing more than an extension of Facebook. I said nothing more, but that’s for now.
A History of Rebranding
Facebook has never been scared of rebranding and redesigning, but this would be, by a long shot, the most ambitious rebrand yet. Facebook’s most recognizable logo, with the lowercase white “f” over a deep blue background has existed since 2005. However, it has suffered a few changes over the years.
In 2015, Facebook changed its font to a much rounder one, and the characteristic blue became lighter. One could say it became less aggressive, softer, more modern, and in touch with the time.
In 2019, the colors were inverted, and the blue of the letters was much brighter. This logo, which lasted until October 28th, was the epitome of softness, being generic, but not nearly as generic as an infinity symbol.
The rebranding itself to META doesn’t imply much structural change to the company’s inner hierarchy, considering CEO Mark Zuckerberg remains in control of all Facebook-related operations. The concept of a “parent-company” is the only concrete change. META, as a parent-company, now encompasses all the other companies that Facebook has previously owned, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook itself, and Oculus, META’s virtual reality company that it acquired in 2014. Oculus will be crucial in the development of what META aims to be.
META’s Mission Statement and the Origins of the Metaverse
The real reason behind Facebook’s change to META is rooted in an evolution of Facebook’s mission statement. If Facebook was all about social connections, META aims to take these social connections a step further: Into the metaverse! META’s name didn’t fall from the sky, nor did META invent the concept of the metaverse as many people think it did.
The metaverse is a science-fiction concept first coined by author Neal Stephenson in his satirical and dystopian book Snow Crash in 1992. In his novel, the metaverse is represented as a huge virtual reality urban environment accessed through virtual goggles. Other instances of the metaverse in popular culture includes Steven Spielberg’s 2018 film Ready Player One, another dystopian story about corporate greed where the audience and the main character of Wade fear the dominance of the OASIS, the movie’s metaverse, by one single company. Sound familiar?
While these two works are of a dystopian nature, the metaverse itself isn’t inherently dystopian. It is rather seen as the pinnacle of the internet, where shared virtual and real worlds collide, through VR headsets, for example.
This is where Oculus comes in. META’s real chance at developing a metaverse is through headsets like the Rift, the Quest, and the most recent, which was recently unveiled: Project Cambria. Like in Snow Crash or Ready Player One, META is determined to make everything possible in the metaverse, like living, working and, as is already possible, playing.
The Heat of Competition
The problem with META’s vision of the metaverse is that it’s a highly ambitious project that will likely only take form in a few decades. For now, META
Photo VIA LOGOS-WORLD.NET
is only a promise, a commitment towards building a functional, unified, useful, and well-developed metaverse using a combination of all of META’s platforms. So, if META doesn’t currently have the technology to build the metaverse to the height of their vision and, most importantly, the technology to make it accessible to everyone, why are they rebranding so soon?
First, META is undeniably starting to feel the heat of competition, and if they don’t, they should. Although they seem hell-bent on appropriating the metaverse and on branding themselves to be the sole actor in the building of metaverses, it is to be noted that many companies are also heavily involved in the creation of these cyberspaces, and they have been for a while now.
Some of these companies like Nike, Dyson and Roblox just started to dabble in metaverses; however, Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite, is far ahead and has a vision that differs from what Facebook has traditionally been doing before changing to META. First of all, Epic wants social interactions in the metaverse to be bigger than “likes” and comments and to move away from traditional ads. Sima Sistani, the co-founder of the now-extinct social media platform Houseparty (once owned by Epic), emphasizes that the new generation of social media will likely be more about participating than the preceding one, which was more about sharing. This is Epic Games’ mission statement.
Epic Games has also made some major moves in their own metaverse that exists within their hit game, Fortnite. The “Party Royale” Mode has housed a few major concerts from artists like Marshmello, Travis Scott, and Ariana Grande.
Microsoft’s advancements can’t be overlooked either. Microsoft Mesh is Microsoft’s metaverse in which it hopes to connect people together and to make collaborating easier for colleagues who work together timezones apart, as Microsoft publicizes it. To support its metaverse, Microsoft also has its own VR Headsets as well as the HoloLens.
If Microsoft has more of a working angle in mind, Epic Games orients itself towards gaming. And META? Well, they are all about socializing.
Rebranding As a Distraction
The second reason that could explain Facebook’s rush to rebrand to META is the criticism they’ve endured since 2018. 2018 marked a rough year for Facebook’s reputation. By the end of that year, every Facebook user became all too conscious that their beloved platform, once used for connecting with long lost high school friends, had a hidden dark side.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal was among the first of many mistakes that Facebook made during that year. When the data analytics firm decided to work hand-in-hand with a university researcher that made a fake personality quiz, it gathered data from 87 million Facebook users without their consent.
Cambridge Analytica also had close ties with Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and took part in the creation of what it calls “psychographic”, or personality, profiles of voters, which help target ads.
Now, this wasn’t Facebook’s only data breach scandal. In September of 2018, Facebook tackled another security breach that exposed the data of another 30 million Facebook users.
Unfortunately, Facebook’s weaknesses do not only lie in their users’ privacy. Facebook has been implicated in a wide range of scandals, from fake news and misinformation, to foreign interference in the 2016 presidential elections, while simultaneously promoting hate speech through its algorithms.
Every day, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that Facebook’s place in society is growing, but their accountability towards their social responsibilities isn’t. Frances Haugen, the latest Facebook whistleblower, and a former product manager there, testified on October 5th, 2021 before the US Congress. Amongst her other powerful statements, she revealed from her experience at Facebook that “it is clear that Facebook prioritizes profit over the well-being of all users”. Even if, by saying it, she rendered that information concrete, it feels like old news.
Could Facebook have created META to distance itself from the negative perspectives people have come to have on Facebook? In that sense, was the 2019 rebranding just a way to escape from the scandals that stained Facebook’s reputation in 2018? Granted, when a company rebrands, it is usually done to create a better image of itself. However, let’s not forget that this image is based on nothing but promises that META has no obligation to fulfill other than to realize the prophecy of their new name.
What if, instead of rebranding to distract people, Facebook took the opportunity to address their wrong doings? What if they used the rebranding to actively—and concretely—work towards being better socially, which many of the 2.91 billion monthly Facebook users would be psyched about?
The metaverse itself is something to look forward to, and what all the different companies involved in its creation are proposing is definitely interesting. To think that there’s soon going to be a way to connect with friends and colleagues to an almost lifelike extent even though they might be thousands of miles away is exhilarating.
If it weren’t for everything that Facebook has been responsible for and their history that makes them untrustworthy, everyone would be in awe with this innovation in technology. However, until it becomes clear that Facebook wants to take concrete actions towards its existing problems, it’ll be hard to be completely excited for META new endeavours.
Here’s to hoping the metaverse is more than just a dystopia represented in science-fiction.
Author’s note: A special thanks to Bérengère Marin Dubuard, Profile Coordinator of the Interactive Media Arts profile in ALC, for helping me navigate this awfully broad topic and for giving me the resources I needed to understand exactly what the metaverse is about, as well as who the key players are. You are a wonderful professor.
Separating The Art from The Artist
JOSEPHINE ROSS Staff Writer
I was most recently confronted with this issue last February while reading The God Delusion by author and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. In this non-fiction book, Dawkins refutes the idea of any type of supernatural creator, voicing his arguments in his witty, no-nonsense manner. I was curious about his other work and began to research the author himself. Google greeted me with pages of articles criticizing him for his lack of empathy towards women experiencing sexism in the first world. I was hit with that sinking feeling of profound disappointment that we’ve collectively come to know all too well. I will admit that the deception I felt was perhaps brought on by my own idolization of the author, as we are often prone to putting our favourite celebrities on a pedestal. Nevertheless, I felt deceived. I tried to reason with myself, persuade myself to let it go, finish the book. You can’t dismiss a four-hundred-page argument just because an author said some ignorant things in 2014. But when I began to think about the contents of the book in parallel with the ignorant remarks he has made about women, something didn’t sit right with me.
It was difficult take the chapter on the morality of religion seriously when Dawkins appears to completely disregard his moral compass when taking part in victim-blaming women who have suffered sexual abuse. It was also difficult to read the chapter on child abuse in the Catholic church in which he voices great empathy for those who have been mentally, physically, or sexually abused by the church whilst being dismissive of sexual harassment in the workplace and date rape on Twitter. His moral compass and the empathy he displays in his book serve his cause of turning the reader against religion; he has no such agenda when commenting on the MeToo movement. I realized why I couldn’t move on, the problem with writers is that their art is just a physical manifestation of their character.
We’ve seen this story play out many times in the last few years; When employees began to claim that Ellen DeGeneres perpetuated a toxic workplace environment, when J.K. Rowling came out as a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist), or when the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein arose, we were left wondering whether it was OK to enjoy what these artists have created. However, maybe there are different degrees of how connected an artist and their work are.
In the case of Ellen DeGeneres and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the answer is simple. You can’t separate the talk show host from her talk show, of which she is the titular character and most of the segments depend on her as host. She is the show, and therefore cannot be separated from it.
The line blurs when it comes to cases like that of J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter. By reading Harry Potter, are you inherently supporting J.K. Rowling? Maybe financially, if you’re paying for the book, but say you get it from the library, is the act of reading it an act of support for the author? Harry Potter is arguably the most popular children’s book franchise, it is virtually inescapable, and
Photo VIA PBS
J.K. Rowling doesn’t voice any of her transphobic values in these seven books. I would argue that it can be separated from the author, after all, the franchise has taken on an identity so far removed from the author, with eight movies, two theme parks and the Fantastic Beasts prequel series. However, Harry Potter is not J.K. Rowling’s only work. Critics spotted transphobic themes in her most recent adult novel, Troubled Blood, in which a serial-killer dresses up as a woman to pursue his victims. In this case, J.K. Rowling’s transphobic opinions physically manifest themselves in the novel and it is virtually impossible to separate her from it.
Whether or not you choose to enjoy art by a controversial creator is up to you. You must evaluate the cost of continuing to support an author, singer, painter, or any type of celebrity, and align your actions with your values. Are you supporting the artist with your dollar? Do you feel comfortable supporting this artist? Are you negatively affecting marginalized people around you through your support of this artist? If you do choose to continue enjoying a piece of art by a “cancelled” artist, the most important thing is to acknowledge their wrongdoings and continue learning more about where they went wrong.
