I wish we could cancel the phrase "cancel culture." You cannot say whatever you feel like and have everyone in the world still **** with you socially--or even professionally. Those are the breaks.

It is horrifying and unfair to be treated poorly because of something you can't change. Your body type. Where you were born. Your economic class. Your orientation. But it is not unfair to be treated poorly because you BEHAVED POORLY.

Let's pull this beyond marginalized groups for a second because I think people who don't belong to those groups understand it better when you do. It is unfair and ****ty to "cancel" incels. Short dudes. Fat women. Those who stutter. Any attribute permanent or hard to change.

It is okay to cancel the dude who shouts "Nice tits!" at the secretary in the lobby. The woman who tackled a random black kid for stealing HIS OWN DAMN PHONE. In fact, it improves an environment exponentially when you remove these people.

When you "cancel" harassers and abusers and bigots you are left with an environment that is friendly and nurturing and PROFITABLE in the long term.

You are never owed a space at a table where you treat those next to you like garbage. As if they are less than. I don't care what group you belong to. You can easily be replaced by someone else from that group kinder and more talented than you.

"Do we need cis white men at the table?" Bruh, we need everyone at the table. But THOSE particular white men? Ones who abuse and harass others? Nope. There's a legion of kind and brilliant white dudes just waiting for a shot. Waiting for an idiot to finally stop failing upwards.

So when said idiot finally--FINALLY--sees a consequence for his actions and squeals about being "canceled" because of WHO he is? It's because he wants you to ignore how he BEHAVED.

It's because he wants to make you feel sorry for him. Wants you to believe that he is the only one from said group who can fill that slot. He's not. TRUST. And he is terrified of the one thing you should immediately do. Bring in his replacement.

For example, I don't trust a table that doesn't have a black woman at it. I do not have to be the black woman at said table. I am not going to be qualified to sit at every table! But I know damn well that there is a black woman qualified to be at every single one.