“It’s not that people don’t do and say terrible things for which they ought to atone,” Jill Lepore writes. “But, on Twitter at its worst, all harm is equal, all apologies are spectacles, and hardly anyone is ever forgiven.”
For the things they said—words whispered, grumbles muttered, prayers offered, curses shouted—dissenters, blasphemers, and nonconformists in seventeenth-century New England faced censure, arrest, flogging, the pillory, disenfranchisement, exile, and even execution. Quakers might have their ears cut off. For holding toxic opinions, one blasphemer was sentenced to have the letter B “cutt out of ridd cloth & sowed to her vper garment on her right arme.
The twenty-first-century culture of public apology has its origins in the best of intentions and the noblest of actions: people seeking collective justice without violence for terrible, unimaginable acts of brutality, monstrous wickedness, crimes against humanity itself. In the aftermath of the Second World War, churches and nation-states began issuing apologies for wartime atrocities and historical injustices.
The refusal of Thomas and Clinton to apologize for the ways in which they had harmed women took place on television. And the whole spectacle, with its scripted expectation of apology and contrition, drew its sensibility from television. In the nineteen-eighties and nineties, the stock soap-opera plotline—betrayal, hurt feelings, and misunderstanding followed by tearful apology, reconciliation, and reunion—became a hallmark of the daytime talk-show circuit.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'SNL' has Trump plead his case to restore banned Twitter account | CNN BusinessIt’s been a crazy few weeks for Twitter, and “SNL” made the most of the chaos.
Read more »
Paid Twitter verification is rolling out: What to know about Elon Musk's chaotic Twitter takeoverAmidst Elon Musk's tumultuous takeover, Twitter has layoffs and began rolling out a $7.99 Twitter Blue deal for paid verification and blue checkmark.
Read more »
Paid Twitter verification is rolling out: What to know about Elon Musk's chaotic Twitter takeoverAn update to Twitter's iOS app mentions a Twitter Blue $7.99 offering that includes the blue checkmark and will soon have 'half the ads & much better ones,' as well as the ability to post longer videos.
Read more »
Paid Twitter verification is rolling out: What to know about Elon Musk's chaotic Twitter takeoverAmidst Elon Musk's tumultuous takeover, Twitter has layoffs and began rolling out a $7.99 Twitter Blue deal for paid verification and blue checkmark.
Read more »
Some laid off Twitter employees say they're being asked to return to Twitter after layoffsInsider tells the global tech, finance, markets, media, healthcare, and strategy stories you want to know.
Read more »
Case against officers, medics charged in Elijah McClain's death postponedArraignment for the police officers and paramedics named in a grand jury indictment alleging their involvement in the death of Elijah McClain was postponed again.
Read more »