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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not understand what the 'woke' brigade is?

275 replies

Ayla182 · 14/05/2021 17:09

Really confused about what it is

OP posts:
lakesidelife · 14/05/2021 19:44

The expression, "Ok, boomer"
Is essentially an ageist one, suggesting the person is old and out of step with modern thinking.

Ayla182 · 14/05/2021 19:44

@lakesidelife

Ok OP.

It is Boomer not bloomer.

"Baby boomer" is a term used to describe a person who was born between 1946 and 1964.

They are the post Second World War generation. Following the end of the war there was a baby boom, meaning a rapid expansion in the number of babies born.

Ok thank you.. so how is this word used now? ok, boomer instead of baby boomer
OP posts:
Ayla182 · 14/05/2021 19:45

@lakesidelife

The expression, "Ok, boomer" Is essentially an ageist one, suggesting the person is old and out of step with modern thinking.
I just saw this. Thank you very much :) very intresting you have all these words. We dont have a word to describe the big number of babies born after war!
OP posts:
Ayla182 · 14/05/2021 19:46

Or even words like 'political correctness'
we do not have these problems in Turkey as we cannot talk about most political things other then talk about how great are president is. I am hoping I am not found for writing this

OP posts:
IRelateToViewpointsNotPeople · 14/05/2021 19:49

@Ayla182

Off Google -

"Social justice warrior (SJW) is a pejorative term used for an individual who promotes socially progressive and liberal views, including feminism, civil rights, gay and transgender rights, and multiculturalism".

In other words, anyone who's [actively] fighting for a cause is a SJW; except with these sort of terms - like "woke", people tend to use it to sling mud instead of using it how it's meant. This is done because for every cause, there are extremist members/activists and these are usually the loudest voices.

Rosewood017 · 14/05/2021 19:50

I was watching a show on Netflix and the two lead characters were having a 'woke off' (debate). One of them stated that white people should really not use the term 'woke' due to its African origins.

I think the meaning has evolved recently.

Countrygirl2021 · 14/05/2021 19:53

I can't deal with what grammatically poor use of a word it is. I feel that you are off to a bad start if you use a word in the wrong tense to try and make a point.

LolaSmiles · 14/05/2021 20:03

Uncritical virtue signaling is how I think of it when the term is being used as an insult.
It doesn't relate to how the word was originally used.

I agree.
It's become an insulting way to describe a group of people who are so arrogantly convinced their opinion is better and more enlightened than anyone else that they seek to close down debates, no platform people with different views, and if all else fails throw the term 'bigot' around liberally.

They also seem to think that anyone who doesn't agree with with must be right wing, because:
A) They think that is somehow a huge insult despite many reasonable people being right lf centre
B) They like to confuse right wing with extreme right
C) They lack the critical thinking to realise that most of the UK will fall either side of centre ground and the political landscape is more than what their Twitter echo chamber says
D) The idea that many reasonable people may differ politically is alien to them

The woke brigade can usually be found digitally patting each other on the back for being so awesome on everything and deciding who the latest victim is for mass hatred. There is no nuance, no debate and no range of views when dealing with this group of people.

FOJN · 14/05/2021 20:08

This excellent article by Tony Blair may be helpful, it covers some of the culture war challenges facing the modern left.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/2021/05/tony-blair-without-total-change-labour-will-die

You've seen the point about the intolerance of the "woke" demonstrated multiple times on this thread already, if you're not woke then you must be a bigot. Blair makes the point that people dislike prejudice but they dislike extremism fighting prejudice even more. The woke position states if you are not with them you are against them and people find that an extreme position because most of us don't see the world in such simplistic terms.

Campaigning for noble causes seems to have become a get out of jail free card for intolerant bullies who silence dissenting voices with shaming, contempt, sneering moral superiority and on occasion actual violence. Social justice causes have been highjacked by narcissistic sociopaths who are arrogant enough to think the rest of us are too stupid to "get it".

IRelateToViewpointsNotPeople · 14/05/2021 20:15

@Ayla182

Woke is of American origin, particularly Black American. For a while, "Stay woke", said to a Black person by another Black person after a chat, was often seen as a way to say "Open your eyes/Keep your eyes open/Wake up or stay aware of what's happening/Focus" (can be said about any aspect of social justice concerning Black people).

Then some companies and some people who wanted to be part of the social justice movement about Black people also started using the term to show they've also woken up/are staying woke about those issues.

Then came the complaints from people who thought political correctness had gone mad because companies and some people were doing things to show they're allies to Black people and their concerns. Often, things they didn't think should be done for various reasons.

Then it became a pejorative to call those people "woke" or the "woke brigade" - complete with eye roll - as they were seen to be falling over themselves to show they're on the side of the latest social justice movement. (This is also how "virtue signalling" came about).

Then, other people co-opted the term "Woke" to also show how they've woken up to their own injustice.

Then, even more people became part of the "woke brigade" and it's often said about those who are seen as extremists or unreasonable in their cause.

CliftonGreenYork · 14/05/2021 20:20

It's the person who complained that a train driver used the phrase ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, when THEY are non binary. It's the nugget at LNER who then begged forgiveness for such inappropriate language.

WeirdAndPissedOff · 14/05/2021 20:24

For "ok, boomer", picture it as a response along side rolled eyes.

As others have said it's now used to put down any generation over the age of about 40, but it was started in response to the stereotype that the "baby boomer" generation were out of of touch and looked down on the younger ones.

Eg:
65 year old: "Young people would be able to afford a house if they stopped buying gadgets and mobile phones"
20 year old: rolls eyes "ok, boomer"

It's a way to dismiss whatever the older person is saying as ridiculous and out of touch.

warmandtoasty2day · 14/05/2021 20:50

woke is just a new type of bollocks hopfully it'll soon go out of fashion when the next shite comes along.

GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman · 14/05/2021 21:07

[quote BrumBoo]I've posted this before, it's a few months old now but it still generally covers how problematic the 'woke' are in their idealisms, and often hypocrisy.

[/quote] That video is utter genius.

It's been a bit of shit evening chez Grumpy, but that cheered me up no end.

Icancelledthecheque · 14/05/2021 21:13

@GappyValley

The woke brigade are the sorts of people who hear a safety announcement on a train that starts with the guard saying ‘hello ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please can I have your attention’ and their immediate thought is ‘omg that is sooooo offensive to anyone who is trans or non binary, I must complain right away instead of listening’

And the rest of the woke brigade are the people who read about it on Twitter and call for an immediate boycott of the railway and want the CEO and the guard to be sacked.

They are the people who see tampons in the supermarket under a sign for ‘feminine hygiene’ and start a petition to get it changed juuuuuust in case someone reads it and feels ‘attacked’ or ‘triggered’ or ‘offended’, and also make sure the petition calls for the manager of the shop to be sacked for letting this ‘literal violence’ happen

This sums it up 100%.

And it’s fucking bat shit crazy.

BrumBoo · 14/05/2021 21:15

@GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman I love JP. He's a bit ranty for some, but he's usually very balanced in his viewpoints.

Total side note, if in need of laughs, may I recommend Larry and Paul videos? Especially their Daily Briefings, which are just absolute howlers.

MintyMabel · 14/05/2021 21:18

The generations that are under fire now are the ones who fought, bled and demonstrated against all manner of intolerancea, and agitated fiercely for the freedoms and liberties the woke numpties take for granted.

They may be part of a generation who did some of that (although very few left who actually fought for our freedoms), but the type of people who demonstrated for freedoms and liberties would generally still be out demonstrating or at least supporting them now.

GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman · 14/05/2021 21:21

@BrumBoo
Total side note, if in need of laughs, may I recommend Larry and Paul videos? Especially their Daily Briefings, which are just absolute howlers.
Cheers, I'll take a look. Definitely in need of laughs at the moment.

Helleofabore · 14/05/2021 21:31

Maybe this is good to post on here.

BrumBoo · 14/05/2021 21:35

[quote GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]@BrumBoo
Total side note, if in need of laughs, may I recommend Larry and Paul videos? Especially their Daily Briefings, which are just absolute howlers.
Cheers, I'll take a look. Definitely in need of laughs at the moment.[/quote]
Hope things are better soon, whatever it may be Wine

Bearnecessity · 14/05/2021 21:35

@ssd

Woke is one if many words i see all the time on mn and i have no clue what it means. See also cis and gender critical. And if you ask you get some smart arse ripping the piss. So i dont ask.
Love this.....
Adventureswith · 14/05/2021 21:37

The Woke Brigade are similar to Snow Flakes - an umbrella term mainly used by the kind of white, MC, older man who believes his status in the world is under threat from the gays, women, and people who aren’t white and/or aren’t ’from here’.

tellmetologoffIamaMNaddict · 14/05/2021 21:41

neoliberal social justice warriors who are obsessed with individual grievances and have no understanding of structural inequality caused by class and have now awareness of why enlightenment principles like freedom of speech matter. Usually pretend to be left wing but are laugably unaware of how influenced they are by consumerism and principles like "freedom of choice" which are as far from left wing politics as you can get. Entitled, spoilt little brats. Actively destroying the left by playing into the hands of the right with their sanctimonious, judgmental bollocks and divisive activism.

tellmetologoffIamaMNaddict · 14/05/2021 21:41

@Adventureswith

The Woke Brigade are similar to Snow Flakes - an umbrella term mainly used by the kind of white, MC, older man who believes his status in the world is under threat from the gays, women, and people who aren’t white and/or aren’t ’from here’.
Bollocks
tellmetologoffIamaMNaddict · 14/05/2021 21:43

I think this video is a good introduction:
areomagazine.com/2018/10/02/academic-grievance-studies-and-the-corruption-of-scholarship/