#really think

The people who fuel cancel culture the most arent the bullies who dig up old dirt. Its the well-meaning people who say “oh they did that? That’s awful!” And reblog the callout post, leave the disapproving comment, post their disappointed tweet, and even those who say “at least you acknowledge that you were wrong <3” (because that still validates the accusation) without critical thought, without checking facts, without getting context.

Here’s a challenge for you: dont reblog any kind of informative post or callout post or even discourse without fact checking. Look for primary sources. Stop backing bullies and cynics who think people cant change and anyone who’s ever done anything wrong in their life must be subject to a public thrashing to atone for it.

These “influencers” are human beings that you. Don’t. Know.

They arent your family or friends or even aquaintences.

Can they have a positive or negative effect on your life? Sure! So can literally anything else in the world. But they’re easy targets. Theyre vulnerable. They can be taken down with a single word, a well-placed comment, and an army of people who mean well but don’t check their facts.

I know I’ve been guilty of both condemning and defending people that maybe I shouldnt. But why do we have to do either? We don’t know them. If there are victims of their abuse we can support them. But otherwise, it isnt justice to bully someone. Its bullying. Full stop.

Please, check your facts. Think about whether its really worth it to spread something about someone who makes dumb videos for a living, especially if you dont know the context or even if it’s true.

Don’t be quick to reblog something that makes you angry. In fact, question those kinds of posts the most.

And I'm here to pass the salt bc my woman Mrs. E wasn’t even a contender in a list celebrating the women of THG. No, I get it, it’s a game and it’s all in good fun, so I’m not going to rain on your parade, but it’s pretty common for Mrs. E to be erased from consideration when we talk about strong women of The Hunger Games. Of course Katniss is amazing. Mrs. Hawthorne has our undying respect, Paylor can be my president any day, and Jackson is bomb. And obvs there are others. But over and over Mrs. E gets sidelined.  I’m going to use my soapbox here on my little corner of the internet to give a shoutout to Mrs. Everdeen.

Mrs. Everdeen overcame crippling depression, started her own business, provided for her family, became essentially the town nurse/doctor for a significant segment of the district, she triaged the injured and took on a leadership position helping her district after the firebombing. A district that wasn't there for her when she was the most in need of help and support herself.

She continued to love and be tender and even playful with Katniss despite repeated rebuffs and persistent rudeness and unkindness and- likely the hardest to endure- unforgiveness. Katniss never missed a chance to remind her mother of her failure.

Mrs. Everdeen lost her family (shunning), lost her husband (mining accident), a daughter to the games (yes Katniss), and another to the war (Prim). Yet through all of her loss and pain and grief she still found purpose and meaning and a reason to keep living in helping other people.

Mental illness is hell. Going through depression alone with no medical or therapeutic help is hell. To come out the other side of that vast darkness and not only be productive, but become a community leader? To remake yourself when you've lost everything and everyone you love and create something from almost nothing? To become a female leader in a patriarchal community? That takes so. much. strength.

Mrs. Everdeen is a fucken hero. But she gets none of the recognition she rightly deserves for everything she accomplished when she had everything working against her. Instead she continues to be judged harshly for her mental illness. She's viewed as weak. Fragile. A liability. In contrast, Katniss suffers from depression too; but she is venerated, her mental illness romanticized, elevated, honored.