So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed is an intriguing book by Jon Ronson. It covers a wide range of subjects related to public shaming. Here is a brief overview along with some of my thoughts on it.
Ronson includes several stories of people who were publicly shamed and interviews as many of them as possible. Most of them fared poorly from it, whether by losing their jobs or even going so far as to taking their own lives, but a few seemed largely unaffected by it. Those in the latter category make up the part of the book in which Ronson examines possible ways to avoid feeling shamed in the first place or to recover from a public shaming.
Additionally, Ronson discusses how public shaming used to be a common legal punishment in the US before it was mostly phased out. However, his interview with Ted Poe, who as a judge made extensive use of public shaming in his sentences, showed that it has still been used fairly recently in the modern legal system. As public shaming has become less common in that area, it has become more common elsewhere thanks to social media. Most of the stories Ronson covers originated on Twitter and, to him, seemed to mostly begin with people who had good intentions. Ronson also thinks that those who participated in the shaming (as he himself used to do) had good intentions: sticking up for people without a voice, speaking truth to power, attempting to stop bad behavior, etc. Although he described a few scenarios in which public shaming may be the best way to go, such as in stopping systemic violence or oppression, he seems opposed to using it for trivial incidents in which nobody is hurt.
The sense I got from the book is that public shaming may change someone’s behavior without changing who they are. If that’s the case, then an apology from someone who has been publicly shamed comes across more as an attempt to return to their normal life (such as finding a job if their shaming resulted in them getting fired) than a result of deep introspection and true remorse for what they did. Whether or not someone ought to show remorse depends on the situation as public shaming can be used in response to nearly anything even remotely controversial. That’s one reason I dislike public shaming. Another is the fact that it can shut down the potential for productive conversations. I’d rather people talk things out than attempt to destroy each other, whether through violence or through shame. One alternative idea I like is calling people in rather than calling them out, as Loretta Ross explains so well in this article. I’d like to see more of that.
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed didn’t change my mind as I went into it opposed to public shaming. If anything, it made me more convinced of the need to find an alternative. To do that effectively, it first has to be determined why people engage in public shaming. I suspect that there are a few primary reasons. By keeping the spotlight on other people, they hope to avoid becoming the target of anyone’s scrutiny or vitriol. Further, it’s much easier to become incensed by the behavior of others than it is to acknowledge the same behavior in ourselves and work through it. Lastly, it can act as a way for those who otherwise feel like they have no influence to have a temporary feeling of power. If any or all of those suspicions are correct, then it makes engaging in public shaming an extremely tempting offer which many people find incredibly difficult to refuse. Some people seem to be turned away from it only after they themselves are shamed. I’m certain that there are other, better ways to end public shaming once and for all. Over time, this book may prove to be one such way. I hope it does.