Voldemort effect: Difference between revisions

The '''Voldemort effect''' is a [[social phenomenon]] where people are fearful of naming someone, to speak of something (or acknowledge it exists), and therefore derail any attempt to confront it.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://newmatilda.com/2015/12/03/islamism-atheism-and-the-voldemort-effect/ |title=Islamism, Atheism And The ‘Voldemort’'Voldemort' Effect|author = Brian Morris|date=3 December 2015 |access-date=30 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | author = Clara Henry| date = 15 August 2017 | title = I've Got My Period. So What?| publisher = Sky Pony Press| pages = | isbn = 9781510714236| url =https://wwwbooks.google.com.au/books/edition/I_ve_Got_My_Period_So_What/2TWCDwAAQBAJ?hlid=en&gbpv=12TWCDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Voldemort+effect%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT177&printsec=frontcover}}</ref> The phrase takes cue from the line associated with [[Lord Voldemort]] in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series: 'he who must not be named', because they are terrified to name him or they deny his existence.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.9news.com.au/world/reformed-ex-islamist-says-society-needs-to-take-on-voldemort-effect/55b47584-283b-4769-84be-2060dda67398 |title=Reformed ex-Islamist says society needs to take on 'Voldemort-effect'|date=29 October 2015 |publisher= [[Nine News Australia]]|access-date=30 January 2024}}</ref><ref name=matthew>{{cite web |url=https://archive.thinkprogress.org/the-voldemort-effect-4aabe89811b/ |title=The Voldemort Effect|author = Matthew Yglesias|date=16 January 2011 |access-date=30 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | author = Rev. Peter Hendriks Okello| date = 8 August 2018 | title = The Real Deal: Making the Case for the One True God | publisher = FriesenPress | pages = | isbn = 9781525530234| url = https://wwwbooks.google.com.au/books/edition/The_Real_Deal_Making_the_Case_for_the_On/3mFoDwAAQBAJ?hlid=en&gbpv=13mFoDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Voldemort+effect%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA160&printsec=frontcover}}</ref><ref name=rizvi>{{cite book | author = Ali A. Rizvi| date = 22 November 2016 | title = The Atheist Muslim: A Journey from Religion to Reason| publisher = St. Martin's Publishing Group| pages = | isbn = 9781250094452| url =https://wwwbooks.google.com.au/books/edition/The_Atheist_Muslim/JiwaDAAAQBAJ?hlid=en&gbpv=1JiwaDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Voldemort+effect%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA153&printsec=frontcover}}</ref>

The phraseexpression was popularized by British activist [[Maajid Nawaz]] in 2015, where he applied it for analysts, experts, [[social commentary|social commentators]] and politicians, among others, who are fearful or hesitant to call out the ideology of [[Islamism]] as the underlying cause of [[Jihadist terrorism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bigthink.com/videos/maajid-nawaz-on-the-voldemort-effect/ |title=We Treat Radical Islam Like Voldemort — That’sThat's Bad for a Very Counterintuitive Reason|author = Maajid Nawaz|access-date=30 January 2024}}</ref> Nawaz stated that people refusing to acknowledge [[radical Islam]] are comparable to members of [[Hogwarts]] who refuse to mention Voldemort's name, and by declining to name him, they forestall an open discussion from taking place about an accomplishable solution.<ref>{{cite book | author = D.C. Collier| date = December 2016 | title = My Origin, My Destiny Christianity's Basic "Value Proposition"| publisher = WestBow Press| pages = | isbn = 9781512766202| url =https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/My_Origin_My_Destiny/FNmvDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Voldemort+effect%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT23&printsec=frontcover}}</ref> As Majid puts it, "Refusing to name a problem, and failing to recognize it, is never a good way to solve it".<ref name=rizvi/>

The earliest usage of "Voldemort effect" was in an Australian infant health research in 2008 which reported that [[formula feeding]] was seldom named in publication titles or [[Abstract (summary)|abstract]]s as a health risk factor for babies.<ref>{{cite report|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230673936_%27Voldemort%27_and_health_professional_knowledge_of_breastfeeding230673936 |title=‘Voldemort’'Voldemort' and health professional knowledge of breastfeeding – do journal titles and abstracts accurately convey findings on differential health outcomes for formula fed infants?|author = Julie P. Smith, Mark D Dunstone, Megan E Elliott-Rudder|date= December 2008 |access-date=30 January 2024}}</ref>

In a 2013 [[Christian book]], ''Holding Your Family Together'' by American author Dr. Rich Melheim, the term was finally used forwith its current meaning; those who do not want speak the name of something that is frightening them or causing problems to them. The author encouraged the reader to "to name that sucker out loud...We are going to call him what he is and who he is so that we can deal with real problem, not the myth", because after mentioning the unspeakable name, "The moment the silence is broken, the power starts to drain away from its sinister source and move in the direction of those who dare deal with it.<ref>{{cite book | author = Dr. Rich Melheim | date = 30 April 2013 | title = Holding Your Family Together | publisher = Baker Publishing Group | pages = | isbn = 9781441266668| url = https://wwwbooks.google.com.au/books/edition/Holding_Your_Family_Together/z8uwBAAAQBAJ?hlid=en&gbpv=1z8uwBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Voldemort+effect%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT31&printsec=frontcover}}</ref>

In 2015, the term was used by British [[counter-terrorism]] expert Haras Rafiq, who remarked that Islamic extremism is treated like a "Lord Voldermort" taboo topic in the [[United Kingdom]], whereby, according to him, the failure to label and condemn Islamist ideology (by western leaders) for what it i,sis has encouraged young people to join [[ISIS]]. Rafiq stated, "it has so far very much been a Voldemort effect – he who shall not be named – with no-one actually coming out and saying it is an Islamist ideology."<ref>{{cite webnews |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/western-leaders-have-been-treating-islamic-extremism-like-lord-voldemort-10401150.html |title=Western leaders have been treating Islamic extremism like ‘Lord'Lord Voldemort’Voldemort'|author = Matt Dathan |publisherwork= [[The Independent]]|date=20 July 2015 |access-date=30 January 2024}}</ref>

The [[Obama administration]] in particular has been criticized for not acknowledging radical Islam, and instead opting for the "violent extremism" rhetoric. An example of the obfuscation was after the [[Orlando nightclub shooting]] in 2016, the administration released highly re­dactedredacted transcripts of the [[Omar Mateen|shooter's]] conversation with 911 dispatchers; his [[Bay'ah|sworn allegiance]] to ISIS and his self-description as an "Islamic soldier" were omitted from the transcripts.<ref name=rizvi/>

*[[ {{Annotated link |Elephant in the room]]}}

*[[ {{Annotated link |Ostrich effect]]}}

*[[ {{Annotated link |Polite fiction]]}}

*[[ {{Annotated link |Regressive left]]}}

*[[ {{Annotated link |Selective exposure]]}}

[[Category:PoliticalLinguistic correctnesscontroversies]]