Opinion: Pressure From Cancel Culture Is Growing

It is obvious today that some opinions and viewpoints are much more accepted than others. The popular ideas and thoughts are magnified and promoted almost constantly through the megaphone provided by Hollywood, Big Tech and the media, while the opposing viewpoint is shunned, silenced and ridiculed through threats and loss of jobs provided by the ever-growing pressure of cancel culture.

It is more popular to believe that transgender women should compete in biological women’s sports and that men can have periods, but less popular to support the idea of traditional marriage and the nuclear family and believe in God.

The popular viewpoints tend to clog up the airwaves of entertainment, education and social media, making it harder for other viewpoints to be heard or even respected. In an age where people can now make a living through social media, what does all of this mean for the conservative influencer or social media user?

Today, individuals can make money through their social media by receiving sponsored posts and stories through brand deals. When someone has a following with a specific niche, they attract like-minded brands that will pay them to promote products. This career, while it may seem frivolous or lazy, actually takes a lot of hard work, research and dedication.

Amanda Ensing is a 29-year-old beauty influencer whose niche is makeup. She amassed 1.4 million Instagram followers and had signed a contract for a brand deal with Sephora when people began to discover her political views. 

Sephora was sent a screenshot of a Tweet posted by Ensing that said, “The left: I hate it here. America is embarrassing. Only we can riot & loot. Defund the police. Just do what the government tells you & don’t ask questions. The right: Let’s fight for freedom. We love the USA. Defend the Constitution. We support our Military & Law enforcement.”

Sephora revoked their brand deal with Ensing soon after, stating that she did not align with their “values of inclusivity” and that they would not be working with her in the future.

This is not the first and probably will not be the last instance where conservative influencers are attacked by the concept of cancel culture, which ultimately results in the loss of jobs and sponsorships.

Former neonatal nurse and mother of four, Cara Dumaplin, cultivated a social media following of 1.4 million followers after creating her sleep training courses known as Taking CaraBabies. 

Dumaplin was recently put under the unforgiving magnifying glass of cancel culture after it was revealed that she had donated to former president Donald Trump’s campaign in the past. 

Another example of this is MyPillow creator and CEO Mike Lindell. Brands such as Bed, Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s and Wayfair all cut ties with Lindell after he revealed his ardent support of former President Trump and Conservative views.

This begs the question – should brands be able to pick and choose who they sponsor and who they don’t based on political and religious leanings?

I believe brands are doing themselves, and the American people, an injustice by keeping a narrow message and only partnering with those who believe exactly like they do. 

The beauty of freedom of thought is that people can think differently and have opposing viewpoints, but they can still be friends and thrive in the same society. Now that the thought police have sabotaged our ability to agree to disagree, we are heading down a dangerous and slippery slope. 

If brands can pick and choose who they work with based on politics, it won’t be long before they’re picking who to work with based on their religion or what they look like. Once it starts, where do they draw the line? 

As conservative Americans, we can do our part to remedy this problem by being more supportive of brands that don’t exclude people based on their views and use less of big companies that ostracize one side of the aisle without repercussions.

We have to show businesses that engage in this sort of censorship that we won’t back down, and that we aren’t afraid  to talk about what we believe. Once we begin to silence ourselves, we have done all the work for them.

Bailey Duran is the Opinion Editor. Follow her on Twitter at @duran_bailey.