‘Cancel Culture’ Is How the Powerful Play Victim

A letter published in ‘Harper’s’ mistakes critiques of the powerful for the silencing of free speech

Jessica Valenti
GEN
Published in
5 min readJul 8, 2020

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J.K. Rowling. Photo: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images

A few years back, my old high school found itself embroiled in a controversy over dress codes. The girls were protesting what they believed were sexist rules: bans on bare shoulders and midriffs and code violations…

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Jessica Valenti
GEN
Writer for

Feminist author & columnist. Native NYer, pasta enthusiast.