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Politics

What is the opposite of woke?

118 replies

Randomword6 · 18/10/2022 23:07

I think some people like to say they hate "wokeness" without thinking what it means.

OP posts:
LolaSmiles · 05/01/2024 10:38

It depends on how woke is being used.

Woke: being aware of injustices and trying to make things better, understanding different perspectives
Vs
Woke: identity politics or student politics driven by fringe groups, yelling "no debate", shutting down discussions with accusations of bigotry, trying to censor people who don't agree with them, think that hearing political speakers with different views is a threat to their existence etc.

I'd say a lot of people fall into the first camp, but wouldn't necessarily describe themselves as woke.

Not many people fall into the second camp, but those that do seem to make a lot of noise and spend a lot of time focusing on how they're the good guys.

There'll be some people who are ignorant and bigoted (eg shouting "it's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve hahaha" or "actually all lives matter") so will criticise the first group, but most of the things I've read across the political spectrum most criticisms of "woke" seem to be aimed at the second group. I'm not sure what the opposite of woke is for that situation.

Username947531 · 05/01/2024 10:35

Free speech advocate.
Libertarian.
Tolerant.
Rational and reason based.

Woke is the opposite of these.

MargaritaThyme · 05/01/2024 10:33

Rational, reasonable, realistic.

babasaclover · 05/01/2024 10:30

Circumferences · 19/10/2022 21:30

Woke= bigotry, absolute intolerance of views different to your own, authoritarian, cancel culture, bullying, being unable to form a coherent argument without resorting to insults, a green light for misogynistic and racial abuse towards people who have different opinions, etc.

The opposite to that is normal people. People who are free to think for themselves. The woke hate that.

Yes agree 10000000%

Plazzy · 05/01/2024 10:27

I laughed when Kathy Burke tweeted "I love being 'woke'. It's much nicer than being an ignorant fucking twat" in March 2022. They've made a t-shirt of that, and it's still how I basically feel.

Before Covid, someone at work in a discussion about racism said I was 'a bit more woke than most people', and meant it nicely ( and if that's not a virtue signal, what is? =D ).

But yeah, that's all changed now. Rightwing pushback has made it more of an insult - such are the culture wars. @dcbc1234 described woke as 'an inability to see any shades of grey,' and I think those of us who think we're liberal & concerned for equality need to acknowledge that that happens. It's about people clinging to doctrine, isn't it? - like religious people quoting scripture, because it's easier than actually thinking issues through on their merits. Both sides of the debate (intolerant, bad-tempered argument?) do it; lefties like to see themselves as being on the side of the angels as much as anyone.

So the boring answer is, it depends who you ask.

cardibach · 05/01/2024 09:55

Isoqueen · 05/05/2023 05:36

Woke now has changed from meaning a good, enlightened and tolerant person to an annoying bigot who thinks they are always right and tries to force his/her/it’s views on everyone else.

Has changed? Or is being used in that way by some groups who want to sow division?

itsmyp4rty · 05/01/2024 09:40

To me woke has come to mean - looking like we're big on diversity and equality when really we haven't thought it through at all and they're just buzz words that we want to be in on.

squashi · 05/01/2024 09:34

I think the meaning of it has become so subjective and distorted that it's impossible to identify its opposite.

SoIRejoined · 05/01/2024 09:31

Woke is a slur, so the opposite would be a slur for people with the opposite view point, like "rights hoarding dinosaur" or "daily mail reader".

LadyWithLapdog · 05/01/2024 09:19

Have you noticed how “woke” as an insult is falling out of use and makes the ones still using it sound like a dinosaur?

Teaches · 05/01/2024 02:42

The opposite of woke or awake is asleep.

Toseland · 24/09/2023 22:45

Woke is the biggest con going. Celebrities leading the way, falling over themselves to state the latest mantras to look good. Without looking too closely at exactly what they are supporting.
Meanwhile women, children and LGB people suffer the worst attacks on their rights and misogeny and homophobia run riot and if you question this you are deemed a bigot. Wake up everyone!

LadyWithLapdog · 19/09/2023 07:59

RB in the news currently is anti-woke.

TodayInahurry · 19/09/2023 06:52

Woke to me means people like the vile students abusing Professor Stock, they looked totally deranged.

stayathomer · 19/09/2023 06:47

Someone above says woke is aware of injustice but I think a lot have come to see woke as want everything exactly so, and you do see it on mn that if you say something a little different to how people want it said you’re absolutely jumped on. There’s correct phrasing for everything now, and I remember being out with a group of friends and we were all saying we have no idea how to speak to younger people now (and we’re only early 40s), you’re corrected, pulled up and laughed at for any opinions now. That’s why people are wary of the word woke

sadaboutmycat · 19/09/2023 06:40

Circumferences · 19/10/2022 21:30

Woke= bigotry, absolute intolerance of views different to your own, authoritarian, cancel culture, bullying, being unable to form a coherent argument without resorting to insults, a green light for misogynistic and racial abuse towards people who have different opinions, etc.

The opposite to that is normal people. People who are free to think for themselves. The woke hate that.

I suggest you read a dictionary, rather than the right wing media that has clearly infiltrated your thought processes.

modifan · 18/09/2023 23:03

Opposite of woke is cuntservative.
Those creatures who have no humanity should be ashamed of calling themselves normal.
They are normal in behaving like an abnormal

dubsie · 25/07/2023 07:24

When I here right wing politicians use terms like woke it strikes me as very divisive and plays in the hands of those who seek to divide.

Similar banter is being used by the Tories to win votes .....forget all this green clap trap is now being bantered around...when they know full well we can't avoid the reality.

While Brits flee parts of the Mediterranean due to heat and fires we have politicians that ars so irresponsible that they are willing to rubbish science to remain in power.

We must return to sensible policies that may not be popular. It's not all about winning votes, it's about doing what's right and the only way to achieve this is through cross party support...so in issues of national importance all parties should form an agreement on a cohesive policy that will span parliaments.

Allowing our cities to become polluted, or allowing the nations health to decline should not be a political battlefield....it should be a consensus on how we mend it

Newrumpus · 23/07/2023 11:16

Liberal. Tolerant.

EKeenleyside · 21/07/2023 19:03

I think the antonym might be a one syllable word such as dozed or stupe.
I disagree that the meaning has drifted to the negative. I still think of Politically Correct as a positive, despite the crabbing of bigots who feel they are being cancelled when they are criticized. Opinions such as “You’re not allowed to say XYZ anymore… “ are reflections of inner conscience rather than of police brutality. They simply don’t like being called bigots.
Co-opting an opponent’s terminology does not make the word theirs.

dcbc1234 · 21/07/2023 11:01

BeyondTheLetterOfTheLawTheLetter · 05/12/2022 17:36

I consider the homophobia of the "woke" left to be a negative. They consider my alleged transphobia to be a negative. However we could both generally agree on disability access. So who is woke there?

Yes 'woke' is an inability to see any shades of grey. The interests of LGB people are not the same as the TQ+ people but 'woke' insists that they be force-teamed.

dcbc1234 · 21/07/2023 10:56

Youg · 20/10/2022 10:06

Someone that’s ‘woke’ has their eyes open to inequality and injustices.
Someone who’s ‘not woke’ has their eyes shut to this. Usually because they have some sort of privilege that they don’t want to admit to or discuss. Usually these people will use ‘woke’ as an insult, not realising how ridiculous they sound.

Do you realise how ridiculous you sound by saying that to people who believe in critical thinking and common sense? Current 'woke' trends want everyone to agree in 'gender identity ideology'.

I am sorry but I will never believe that there are more than 2 sexes and it is Orwellian to expect everyone to go along with 'gender woo' just because it is one of the current 'woke' themes.

dubsie · 21/07/2023 10:49

Woke is used to try and divert peoples attention away from our current situation to less relavant issues. Why are we focused on woke when people can't get a dentist or they are struggling to find housing.

Anything this government is unhappy with it aims to pin the blame on a minority or label someone with an opinion that differs from theirs woke.

Once again populism at play and we've seen it across the pond and now it's here

karinad104 · 14/07/2023 19:29

@Circumferences the opposite of woke is oblivious to racial and human injustices, i.e. having your head stuck in the sand. You can define the word as you please, but .... there is only one accepted definition for Woke-ism. You're not only dazed with your head in the sand, you aren't literate either.

LadyWithLapdog · 02/07/2023 06:50

Isoqueen · 05/05/2023 05:36

Woke now has changed from meaning a good, enlightened and tolerant person to an annoying bigot who thinks they are always right and tries to force his/her/it’s views on everyone else.

Blimey, so Braverman and the Tories are woke? They are pushing on with Rwanda plans.