To think that "wokeism" is for the privileged few?

[Mooscow]

Wokeism and identity politics seems rife at the moment in the UK. But Canada and the US seem even worse. There is this massive push to avoid the possibility of ever offending anyone, ever. For example, I work for a North American company and we've just been given a long list of words never to use. This includes "female", "blind", "deaf", "blacklist", "homeless", "rule of thumb" and it goes on and on and on. So you can't say things like "turn a blind eye" or "tone deaf" etc. any more in case it offends a blind or deaf person. Really?!

I've just read an article in the FT (sorry can't share) that says the US has only sent 111million out of its pledge to send 1 billion vaccines to poorer countries. The US has 2 and a half times the amount of vaccines it needs for itself and Canada has ordered 8 times what it needs.

I know that vaccines and wokeism has little in common but it just struck me how so much effort is put into this new purity culture whilst at the same time demonstrating utter selfishness and lack of compassion for anyone else.

It's also like the push to remove the word women from healthcare such as cervical screening in case a transman, as a "cervix haver" 🤮 is offended at being grouped with women, while 40% of women (especially those without English as a first language and those in lower socio-economic groups) don't even know what a cervix is. But screw them, let's let them get cervical cancer while we pat ourselves on the back and virtue signal at making sure we don't offend by telling the truth the tiny, tiny proportion of trans people.

I wonder if the whole work/identity politics stuff is based in the fact that privileged people can effortlessly virtue signal to feel better about themselves whilst remaining selfish, uncaring and apathetic towards people who are actually in need or vulnerable. AIBU?

What's wrong with rule of thumb? Can't get that.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you have written! People are falling over themselves to be “woke” and inclusive for the tiny majority while totally disregarding the majority. Priorities are all wrong!!

It's a handy way to police and look down on the outsiders who aren't knowledgeable like your group.
Which is ironic really.

It originates from a stick where a man was allowed to beat his wife

@ChooChooSan

What's wrong with rule of thumb? Can't get that.

It's connection to domestic abuse.

One association, is a school of thought that "rule of thumb" comes from a very old English law, that men could legally beat thier wives with a stick provided it was no wider than thier thumb.
If you Google, there is a lot of information out there.

I thought that it might offend people with no thumbs.

That list of words not to say is annoying. I like the idea behind wokeness (a word?) - basically empathy. But when it become a tool to censor, it is self-defeating.

But why is "homeless" offensive? It is a important social problem. What do you use instead - or am i being horribly ignorant?

I have found an awful lot of “woke” people I’ve met tend to be white, from reasonably affluent back grounds and well educated who are often very sniffy to people who haven’t had the same educational opportunities as them.
While I am the first person to agree that people who use racist/homophobic/misogynistic language should be pulled up I find a lot of the woke brigade tell people of colour how they should feel toward other peoples, how people from deprived backgrounds should behave and vote. How dare you tell someone that their experience is invalid because you feel your education is better, as that’s essentially what’s going on. It’s the language of superiority just through bizarre virtue signalling.

@vickibee that's an old urban myth.

Wikipedia days that derivation is spurious.
To me it sounds far too glib.
Using the thumb as a rough measure, has a FAR more generalised history.
The internet causes people to fall for this sort of pseudo etymology.

@ChooChooSan

What's wrong with rule of thumb? Can't get that.

FFS, why won't you think of the thumbless?! Or, indeed, those who live without rules?

I can't take anyone seriously who uses the term 'wokeism'. It's perfectly possible to discuss the use of language without it.

The meaning of the saying and it's normal condtext is a big clue in itself. It's a phrase that I'm comfortable using as it is congruent with my real world estimating experience and understanding of the derivation of our traditional measuring units.

I loathe woke-ism and all those who espouse it.

As an aside I’ll raise something that annoyed me recently.
I have a “friend” (as part of a wider group) who I would describe as “fashionably woke” whatever the current big topic is is the hill she’ll die on.
But for a month last year it was “defund the police” which she’d go on about to anyone that would listen. There is a lot wrong with policing I agree, but another friend of ours was the victim of a horrific violent crime a few years ago and is alive thanks to the police, this woman kept telling this poor woman that her experience with the police was essentially wrong, because it didn’t fit with her ACAB diatribe.
It boiled my piss.

I am a WOC. What people think I am offended by: wishing me Happy Diwali because I am brown. Or wishing me Merry Xmas when I might not celebrate it.
What I am offended by: vaccine inequity.
The one is easier than the other to achieve though.

What are you allowed to say instead of "female"? And is "male" also on the list or is that A-okay?

I mean it's fairly easy (if daft) to avoid using "blacklist" and "rule of thumb" but female and male are fairly key concepts!!

I sometimes have to describe clinical trial results in terms of various patient subgroups including male and female. What words should I use instead, according to your company? Genuine question!

I wouldn't use rule of thumb with anyone with actual hand issues like arthritis let alone anyone specifically missing a thumb.
I'm a worrier like that.😂 So I do have sympathy with the not causing offence side of things.
It's the bossiness that grates.

@ChooChooSan speaking as someone with half a thumb missing I guess that means I can measure in metric and imperial.

@Chickenkatsu

I thought that it might offend people with no thumbs.

😂

😂

I mean it's fairly easy (if daft) to avoid using "blacklist" and "rule of thumb" but female and male are fairly key concepts

Well you'd think so, but lets not go there shall we? .

Now I've put my foot in it.

Now I've put my foot in it.

I have a sore foot, and so am horribly offended by this remark.

I thought that it might offend people with no thumbs.

^^ that was my first guess too!