Category: Features

Anyone and anything can be cancelled in our pop culture crazed social media culture that we exist in today.

Urban Dictionary defines “canceled” as dismissing someone or rejecting an idea or individual. Keeping that in mind, cancel culture is the recent trend of canceling individuals, organizations or products when they do something that the public does not approve of.

“When you have celebrities who have done problematic or harmful things, you have to cancel them,” said Sylvia Rust, a Women’s Studies student at Purdue University Fort Wayne. Rust went on to explain that we have created a society that is more critical of others who’ve done problematic things. “It has helped our society and has been a beneficial piece of today’s pop culture.”

Comedian Kevin Hart is a very recent example of cancel culture in action.

“Kevin Hart was about to host one of the biggest nights in television when he was deemed canceled. Nothing can stop cancel culture,” Rust said. After Hart was announced to as host of the Oscars last December, several of the comedian’s homophobic tweets resurfaced online. Twitter users began deeming Hart as canceled and he ended up backing out of the hosting gig.

Purdue Fort Wayne student and president of Campus Feminists of Solidarity, Jenn Reeve, explained that Black Twitter should be credited for cancel culture. Black Twitter, the active Black network of Twitter users, has been a large part of how Twitter has remained such a large platform.

“It really is a great thing that was born out of Black Twitter as a way to boycott problematic celebrities,” Reeve said. “Cancel culture and Black Twitter reaffirmed Twitter’s base, it would have failed without it.”

Secretary of Women’s Studies, Hayley King, was not familiar with the term cancel culture, but was familiar with the ability to call out celebrities or organizations that are in the wrong. “The #MeToo movement has given people power that they are not normally used to having,” King said. “It all highlights other parts of history that people aren’t used to hearing or sharing,” Reeve added.

The trend of canceling problematic people and organizations has created an even larger trend of transparency. With information being so readily available, more and more organizations are centering their advertising campaigns and social media platforms around creating a transparent and honest perception of themselves. If a company seems secretive, it will not be as easy for consumers to engage with and connect with them. If a company doesn’t own up to their mistakes, they may become canceled among consumers.

“If someone is doing something wrong, they will be held accountable now. We are more critical of others and are willing to try to put a stop to them,” Rust said.

Facebook went through a rather large privacy scandal this past year and has been working to increase transparency with its users to avoid any further issues. They publish “transparency reports” rather frequently, but it still has been difficult for the company to fully gain back the trust of the public. Even while publishing pieces about transparency, the company is still seen as rather secretive and as a big machine.

Becoming more aware and critical as a society plays a large part in the creation and growth of cancel culture. With so much information at our finger tips, it is easy to observe celebrities and large organizations. If someone or a company is in the wrong, it is hard for them to get away with it. When Facebook went through its privacy scandal, their stock fell more than 20%. They also experienced the slowest quarterly user growth since 2011. While Facebook was still widely successful, it did experience many problems due to their lack of honesty.

There are more people listening and observing now than ever before and they now have the power to speak up. Cancel culture will continue to thrive in a social media minded society that still gives platforms to problematic people and companies.

Reading the nutrition facts label – it’s a common thing to do in the grocery store when starting a new diet. Calorie, carbohydrate and fat content are the usual suspects during this endeavor.

But wait a second.

There’s a neatly-packaged and healthy-looking food container sporting a “gluten-free” label sticking out against the others. Didn’t Karen at work mention the other day trying the gluten-free diet and feeling better afterward? The gluten-free food is more expensive than the others. Inevitably the gluten-free food finds its way into your cart and out of the store.

So what’s with all this talk about gluten-free diets? More importantly, what is gluten and why has it suddenly become a problem for so many in the last 10 years?   

First, it’s important to know exactly what gluten is and where it can be found. According to Robert Shmerling of Harvard Health Publishing, gluten is a protein that can be found in many grains, with the most common being wheat, rye and barley. Foods like bread, pasta, pizza and cereal are all sources of gluten. The condition that is most commonly responsible for gluten intolerance is celiac disease. It is a condition that causes the immune system to attack the lining of the small intestine when gluten is ingested and it is estimated that 1 in 133 Americans, or about 0.75 percent of the population, suffers from it. If someone with celiac disease eats something that contains even small amounts of gluten, they can experience symptoms like instant gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, headache, trouble concentrating, and fatigue.    

So why do one in three Americans, many of whom don’t suffer from celiac disease, have a desire to reduce their gluten intake? There has to be more to the gluten-free fad than meets the eye. The issue that has gained traction is something called “non-celiac gluten sensitivity.” Adam Gehring, a clinical dietitian from Parkview Lagrange Hospital, said it is not known from a medical perspective if non-celiac gluten sensitivity exists.

“Whenever we get into that realm that’s whenever we start to leave research,” Gehring said. “We start to actually enter into the realm of speculation.

According to Beyond Celiac, a national organization focused on raising awareness for celiac-related illness, there are an estimated 21,000,000 Americans needing a gluten-free diet. Additionally, celiac disease is commonly misdiagnosed in as many as 83 percent of those suffering from the condition.

Gehring said many individuals who don’t have celiac disease but report feeling better after eating gluten-free food likely didn’t have the best diet in the first place. Foods such as meat, fruit, vegetables and dairy are already healthy gluten-free options. Gehring said as a result, it’s no surprise people begin feeling better when they begin eating these foods. This scenario of correlation not equaling causation, as well as people not following a strict gluten-free diet, is why Gehring said non-celiac gluten sensitivity is speculation even though research says it might be real.

“It’s almost like a lot of people today just do a gluten-reduced diet and they feel a lot better from it.” Gehring said.

According to Robert Shmerling of Harvard Health Publishing, there are many reasons the gluten-free diet has become popular. One reason is the intuition that it just seems like a good idea. Other convincing reasons to adopt a gluten-free diet include celebrity endorsement and logic. If gluten is bad for those with celiac disease, maybe it’s bad for other people too. Testimonials from other people and marketing also contribute to convincing people to reduce their gluten intake. With there being hundreds of gluten-free meal and snack ideas on the internet, it’s clear that many people are now considering their gluten consumption.

A 2014 study from the International Journal of Food Sciences & Nutrition said there are people that say they experience digestive problems but not a severe reaction when eating gluten. The study went on to say the next chapter of gluten sensitivity is more clinical research since a larger amount of data are needed to confirm these stories. Even though experts say non-celiac gluten sensitivity is currently speculation and research on it is sparse, gluten intolerance is still a very real issue for those with celiac disease.

Jessica Reynolds, 27, said she was diagnosed with celiac disease when she was 17 and had to make tough lifestyle changes.

“Gluten-free food is actually more expensive than regular food because of the way they have to process it and make sure nothing gets in it,” Reynolds said. “You kind of have to cut expenses from other places to be able to afford the food.”

Another lifestyle change Reynolds said she had to make was changing the lip balm she used. Reynolds said she discovered something called “hidden sources of gluten” from her dietitian when she found out her lip balm was made with wheat germ.

“I just kept getting sicker and sicker and sicker and couldn’t figure out why,” Reynolds said. “I checked the packaging of the chapstick I was using and wheat germ was used as a binding agent in the chapstick.”

Since being diagnosed with celiac disease, Reynolds said the lifestyle has become second nature to her but she doesn’t understand why the gluten-free diet became so popular.

“I actually think it’s completely ridiculous that it’s a diet because unless you need it, it’s not as healthy for you,” Reynolds said. “It’s generally higher in carbohydrates and fats because of all the substitutes you have to use and wouldn’t cause anyone to lose weight.”

So the next time you’re reading the nutrition facts label during a trip to the grocery store, you’re welcome to try gluten-free foods – but Reynolds recommends finding research on gluten intolerance from reputable sources, and Gehring recommends visiting a registered dietitian if you think you have gluten intolerance. After all, non-celiac gluten sensitivity still lies within speculation and needs research to determine its existence.