the issue I have with the callout is that personal reactions to it are coded as irrelevant defense mechanisms. when the personal is totally and only political, it ceases to exist as a category worth paying attention to. so the only valid response to a call-out that you think is unfair or cruel is to deploy a counter-callout. it becomes a kind of theoretical arms race, and the winner is the person who can spot the most structural influence on an individual shitty interaction.
see: all the posts talking about how call-out culture can trigger anxiety, or rely on racist or classist norms of language use, or in some other way reinforce oppression. all these things are true! but sometimes I think the salient issue is just that people are being total fucking assholes.
edit: Should have said via MewMewFoucault, originally written by ourcatastrophe, original post looks like it’s down now.
I have many, many thoughts on this subject, but really this piece says it better than I could. Read the whole thing.