200+ things that Fox News has labeled “woke”
June 15, 2023 9:30 AM Subscribe
200+ things that Fox News has labeled “woke.” “Fox personalities struggle to define ‘woke’ because they have attributed the term to nearly everything under the sun, stripping it of any meaningful definition and surrendering it to right-wing dog whistles...Here is a list of over 200 things Fox News personalities, guests, and writers have called ‘woke.’”
Related:
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Fox News loves to call things 'woke' but never seems to define it. So we tried to figure it out.
Over the last three months, we've conducted our own Wokestigation and it's far more ridiculous than you already thought.
Anything they don't agree with is "woke." And they say liberals are too sensitive.
posted by cooker girl at 9:38 AM on June 15, 2023 [19 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 9:38 AM on June 15, 2023 [19 favorites]
Anything they don't agree with is "woke." And they say liberals are too sensitive.
Related, from The Onion: Conservative Man Proudly Frightened of Everything.
posted by gauche at 9:43 AM on June 15, 2023 [43 favorites]
Related, from The Onion: Conservative Man Proudly Frightened of Everything.
posted by gauche at 9:43 AM on June 15, 2023 [43 favorites]
I thought it was pretty well-defined.
>Asked what “woke” means more generally, [Desantis’ General Counsel Ryan] Newman said “it would be the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.”
The only way to believe that there are no systematic injustices in American society is to have your head so far up your ass that you can't see the light of day. So the term is both well-defined and useful: it's a quick litmus test that lets you know whether someone's a blithering idiot or not.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:44 AM on June 15, 2023 [45 favorites]
>Asked what “woke” means more generally, [Desantis’ General Counsel Ryan] Newman said “it would be the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.”
The only way to believe that there are no systematic injustices in American society is to have your head so far up your ass that you can't see the light of day. So the term is both well-defined and useful: it's a quick litmus test that lets you know whether someone's a blithering idiot or not.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:44 AM on June 15, 2023 [45 favorites]
Calling things “woke” is virtue signaling to other fascists.
posted by Artw at 9:48 AM on June 15, 2023 [66 favorites]
posted by Artw at 9:48 AM on June 15, 2023 [66 favorites]
So the average Fox News viewer or DeSantis/Trump/GOP supporter then.
I keep thinking we need to start saying that oxygen is "woke", just to see what happens.
posted by mephron at 9:49 AM on June 15, 2023 [8 favorites]
I keep thinking we need to start saying that oxygen is "woke", just to see what happens.
posted by mephron at 9:49 AM on June 15, 2023 [8 favorites]
believe that there are no systematic injustices
I'm pretty sure if you made a list of 'systematic injustices' that Fox believes exists, you could fill a spiral bound notebook with just their rhetoric as to why Trump has been accused of [gestures at another long list, oh the lists]. Their systematic injustices are about wealth and power, but in the other direction, how the system is designed to prevent their viewers from having wealth and power, otherwise they'd be rich and powerful ones.
posted by AzraelBrown at 9:50 AM on June 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
I'm pretty sure if you made a list of 'systematic injustices' that Fox believes exists, you could fill a spiral bound notebook with just their rhetoric as to why Trump has been accused of [gestures at another long list, oh the lists]. Their systematic injustices are about wealth and power, but in the other direction, how the system is designed to prevent their viewers from having wealth and power, otherwise they'd be rich and powerful ones.
posted by AzraelBrown at 9:50 AM on June 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
No, oxygen is just an abundant element. Mindful breathing is woke.
posted by Artful Codger at 9:52 AM on June 15, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Artful Codger at 9:52 AM on June 15, 2023 [4 favorites]
What's amazing is that the same people can name all kinds of things that they think are systemic injustices. It's a long list and I don't care to recall all of it but off the top my head: taxes, the EPA, child labor laws, affirmative action, the FAA, public school funding ...
posted by gauche at 9:52 AM on June 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by gauche at 9:52 AM on June 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
The mention of Ben and Jerry's just reminds me of the saga of Star Spangled Ice Cream.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:54 AM on June 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:54 AM on June 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
Aaron Rodgers is “a little bit woke"
/Picard-facepalm
posted by riverlife at 10:00 AM on June 15, 2023 [3 favorites]
/Picard-facepalm
posted by riverlife at 10:00 AM on June 15, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm pretty sure if you made a list of 'systematic injustices' that Fox believes exists
Won't somebody please think of the poor oppressed white Christians?
posted by kirkaracha at 10:05 AM on June 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
Won't somebody please think of the poor oppressed white Christians?
posted by kirkaracha at 10:05 AM on June 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
But just the straight male white Christians, of course.
posted by nickmark at 10:07 AM on June 15, 2023 [13 favorites]
posted by nickmark at 10:07 AM on June 15, 2023 [13 favorites]
what about waking up in the morning and having a cup of coffee
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:14 AM on June 15, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:14 AM on June 15, 2023 [8 favorites]
Woke is the new SJW which was the new Politically Correct, etc. And in a year or five they'll co-opt or create another term as a catchall that, as others have observed, just means "everything conservatives hate."
The nice thing, if there is one, about "woke" and the other terms is they're a great identifier of people I can immediately stop taking seriously when they utter the term. And if there's one thing I'd love to see happen is solidarity in conveying that to conservatives when they say it.
Just stop the conversation, "oh, sorry - you just used 'woke' as a pejorative. That's all I need to know. We don't need to converse any farther. Ever." (Or something else as appropriate.) But as soon as the term is dropped shut it down.
There needs to be a Godwin's Law type rule for "as soon as someone uses the Woke-of-the-day term, that's it. Stop taking them seriously and move on." (Sadly, Godwin's Law has been ruined by the fact that we once again are dealing with actual Nazis and Hitler wanna-bes so invoking Nazis is no longer a sure sign that someone has gone off the rails...)
posted by jzb at 10:21 AM on June 15, 2023 [36 favorites]
The nice thing, if there is one, about "woke" and the other terms is they're a great identifier of people I can immediately stop taking seriously when they utter the term. And if there's one thing I'd love to see happen is solidarity in conveying that to conservatives when they say it.
Just stop the conversation, "oh, sorry - you just used 'woke' as a pejorative. That's all I need to know. We don't need to converse any farther. Ever." (Or something else as appropriate.) But as soon as the term is dropped shut it down.
There needs to be a Godwin's Law type rule for "as soon as someone uses the Woke-of-the-day term, that's it. Stop taking them seriously and move on." (Sadly, Godwin's Law has been ruined by the fact that we once again are dealing with actual Nazis and Hitler wanna-bes so invoking Nazis is no longer a sure sign that someone has gone off the rails...)
posted by jzb at 10:21 AM on June 15, 2023 [36 favorites]
They're still missing a lot of things that are "woke", including:
Kittens
Actual rainbows
A really nice grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup on a rainy day
NIST-funded standards of metrology used for accurately measuring things
The metric system
Bicycles
Oxygen
Clean socks and underwear
Shrek
Pluto the Planet (Which is my new mumble rap name)
Biscuits and gravy
Craft beer
Clean drinking water
Volunteering for snack duty for your kid's class or sports league
Big pick up trucks actually used for real work until they look like they've survived several crash derbies
Jesus Christ
Puppies
Comfy, sensible shoes that fit
Questions in general
Bees
Not stuffing your wallet full of receipts then sitting on it and causing back problems
The Golden Rule
Eating vegetables
The color purple
Steel toe work boots
Very good dogs
Pineapple on pizza
Cuttlefish
Washing your butthole
Going to the doctor
Skinny-dipping
Smelling flowers
The discovery of fire
Farming anything that isn't food for livestock
Cheddar cheese that isn't bright yellow
Wearing a sensible jacket in heavy rain
Learning how to spell the word "bureaucracy" without a spell checker
...and so many more woke things that I can't even start to list and epistemologically categorize them all without simply copying and pasting the bulk of wikipedia articles into this comment.
As you can see there's an entire cosmos filled full of utterly terrifying woke things menacing them from all sides and we we should have pity on them, for their lives are surely fearful and so very trying and exhausting. They're doing their very best at fighting back against this menacing, uncaring universe!
posted by loquacious at 10:22 AM on June 15, 2023 [30 favorites]
Kittens
Actual rainbows
A really nice grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup on a rainy day
NIST-funded standards of metrology used for accurately measuring things
The metric system
Bicycles
Oxygen
Clean socks and underwear
Shrek
Pluto the Planet (Which is my new mumble rap name)
Biscuits and gravy
Craft beer
Clean drinking water
Volunteering for snack duty for your kid's class or sports league
Big pick up trucks actually used for real work until they look like they've survived several crash derbies
Jesus Christ
Puppies
Comfy, sensible shoes that fit
Questions in general
Bees
Not stuffing your wallet full of receipts then sitting on it and causing back problems
The Golden Rule
Eating vegetables
The color purple
Steel toe work boots
Very good dogs
Pineapple on pizza
Cuttlefish
Washing your butthole
Going to the doctor
Skinny-dipping
Smelling flowers
The discovery of fire
Farming anything that isn't food for livestock
Cheddar cheese that isn't bright yellow
Wearing a sensible jacket in heavy rain
Learning how to spell the word "bureaucracy" without a spell checker
...and so many more woke things that I can't even start to list and epistemologically categorize them all without simply copying and pasting the bulk of wikipedia articles into this comment.
As you can see there's an entire cosmos filled full of utterly terrifying woke things menacing them from all sides and we we should have pity on them, for their lives are surely fearful and so very trying and exhausting. They're doing their very best at fighting back against this menacing, uncaring universe!
posted by loquacious at 10:22 AM on June 15, 2023 [30 favorites]
...But just the straight male white Christians, of course...
And their children... but only their children and occasionally the 'hypothetical' idea of children of other straight, white Christian families...
I like the term 'woke', because the opposite can be a great insult... "Oh, you would rather be asleep?"
posted by rozcakj at 10:24 AM on June 15, 2023 [4 favorites]
And their children... but only their children and occasionally the 'hypothetical' idea of children of other straight, white Christian families...
I like the term 'woke', because the opposite can be a great insult... "Oh, you would rather be asleep?"
posted by rozcakj at 10:24 AM on June 15, 2023 [4 favorites]
not woke: sleepy puppies
time to reclaim woke from FOX Nazis
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:26 AM on June 15, 2023 [5 favorites]
time to reclaim woke from FOX Nazis
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:26 AM on June 15, 2023 [5 favorites]
Woke signifies an in-group and public division. It essentially translates as "enlightened" or "better than you." The disinformation team on the right couldn't have missed the opportunity if they tried. Just get the media to repeat it ad nauseam and paint the left as elitist while they golf.
posted by Brian B. at 10:27 AM on June 15, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Brian B. at 10:27 AM on June 15, 2023 [3 favorites]
Worth reading: Weekly Sift - Why You Can’t Understand Conservative Rhetoric
posted by Axle at 10:34 AM on June 15, 2023 [37 favorites]
That’s what’s going on with “cancel culture”, “political correctness”, and the conservative phrases I listed above. They don’t have definitions, they have usages. People learn how to use these terms by hearing other people use them, then doing trial-and-error until their usage matches the rest of the conservative community.For conservatives, woke doesn't have a coherent definition that one could analyze and derive meaning from. Woke is a word used to describe certain things, and if you expect to point out hypocrisy or meaninglessness to the conservative user of the word, expect them not to care, you're simply using the word wrong. 🤷♂️
So why isn’t Colin Kaepernick an example of cancel culture? Because it’s not used that way.
...
What does “America is a republic, not a democracy” mean? Nothing, actually. The phrase has a usage, not a meaning. Conservatives say it when liberals object to some minority-rule tactic like gerrymandering or the Electoral College or giving Wyoming the same number of senators as California, but DC and Puerto Rico none at all. If you’re hoping for some definition of “republic” that turns that usage into a meaning, though, you’re not going to get one.
posted by Axle at 10:34 AM on June 15, 2023 [37 favorites]
The Loquacious List gets woker by setting to music (♫... these are a few of my favourite things ♩)
... but I do think that any simplistic and absolute term like "woke" is always going to be problematic. It's needlessly divisive and polarized; it enforces partisan thinking - you're woke or you're not - and its utility as a catchall term of right-wing derision makes this pretty clear.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:41 AM on June 15, 2023 [5 favorites]
... but I do think that any simplistic and absolute term like "woke" is always going to be problematic. It's needlessly divisive and polarized; it enforces partisan thinking - you're woke or you're not - and its utility as a catchall term of right-wing derision makes this pretty clear.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:41 AM on June 15, 2023 [5 favorites]
"if you expect to point out hypocrisy or meaninglessness to the conservative user of the word, expect them not to care"
Hypocrisy in pursuit of their agenda is a virtue, not a failing, as far as conservatives are concerned. They know. It's not that they don't care, they revel in it. "You play by the rules, I don't have to. It's a game to me. It's your life to you."
posted by jzb at 10:50 AM on June 15, 2023 [19 favorites]
Hypocrisy in pursuit of their agenda is a virtue, not a failing, as far as conservatives are concerned. They know. It's not that they don't care, they revel in it. "You play by the rules, I don't have to. It's a game to me. It's your life to you."
posted by jzb at 10:50 AM on June 15, 2023 [19 favorites]
So, everything?
posted by aiq at 10:54 AM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by aiq at 10:54 AM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
Ewoks are woke and dyslexic.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:58 AM on June 15, 2023 [16 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:58 AM on June 15, 2023 [16 favorites]
It's definitely the case that my partner and I now use "the woke mind virus is destroying this country" as an all-purpose sarcastic reaction line to even the mildest of annoyances. Vet office cut their hours? Woke. Restaurant stopped offering the special I liked? Woke. Have to get a deep cleaning at the dentist? Absolutely woke.
We obviously do this only over text so we don't have to utter the phrase "woke mind virus" aloud
posted by potrzebie at 10:59 AM on June 15, 2023 [13 favorites]
We obviously do this only over text so we don't have to utter the phrase "woke mind virus" aloud
posted by potrzebie at 10:59 AM on June 15, 2023 [13 favorites]
Before rightwingers took it over as a catch-all insult, I only ever saw woke being used in a light-hearted, humorous way, such as #wokebaby. Once again, rightwingers cannot detect subtlety.
posted by LindsayIrene at 11:00 AM on June 15, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by LindsayIrene at 11:00 AM on June 15, 2023 [3 favorites]
rozcakj: And their children... but only their children and occasionally the 'hypothetical' idea of children of other straight, white Christian families...
Slow down there. You forgot to subtract any of their children who turn out to be queer or otherwise interesting.
posted by clawsoon at 11:17 AM on June 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
Slow down there. You forgot to subtract any of their children who turn out to be queer or otherwise interesting.
posted by clawsoon at 11:17 AM on June 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
Calling things “woke” is virtue signaling to other fascists.
@AsteadWH, Nov 2020: some ppl say woke with a hard R.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:46 AM on June 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
@AsteadWH, Nov 2020: some ppl say woke with a hard R.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:46 AM on June 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
>They don’t have definitions, they have usages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_cliché
"the language of non-thought"
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 11:50 AM on June 15, 2023 [8 favorites]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_cliché
"the language of non-thought"
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 11:50 AM on June 15, 2023 [8 favorites]
Worth reading: Weekly Sift - Why You Can’t Understand Conservative Rhetoric
Can’t recommend the alt-right playbook series strongly enough here for conservative rhetorical trucks in general.
posted by Artw at 11:57 AM on June 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
Can’t recommend the alt-right playbook series strongly enough here for conservative rhetorical trucks in general.
posted by Artw at 11:57 AM on June 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
I was with loquacious right up to the tomato soup.
posted by y2karl at 12:25 PM on June 15, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 12:25 PM on June 15, 2023 [4 favorites]
> some ppl say woke with a hard R
i don't get it
posted by glonous keming at 12:27 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
i don't get it
posted by glonous keming at 12:27 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
On topic, I think that woke is an easy to spell four letter word that means people of color to most Republicans. It's a dog whistle everyone can hear.
posted by y2karl at 12:35 PM on June 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 12:35 PM on June 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
That’s what’s going on with “cancel culture”, “political correctness”, and the conservative phrases I listed above. They don’t have definitions, they have usages. People learn how to use these terms by hearing other people use them, then doing trial-and-error until their usage matches the rest of the conservative community.They're like the Tamarians.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:22 PM on June 15, 2023 [4 favorites]
#201: Things belonging to the Emperor
#202: Suckling pigs
#203: Things drawn with a very fine camel hair brush
#204: et cetera
I assume "mermaids" was already on the list....
posted by Quindar Beep at 1:39 PM on June 15, 2023 [12 favorites]
#202: Suckling pigs
#203: Things drawn with a very fine camel hair brush
#204: et cetera
I assume "mermaids" was already on the list....
posted by Quindar Beep at 1:39 PM on June 15, 2023 [12 favorites]
I'm glad to see other people hear "woke" and think "politically correct" and "sjw" and every other garbage insult that means "stuff conservatives don't like" and "you are someone I don't have to take seriously".
Sometimes I hear dumb comments from young reactionary types like Charlie Kirk and realize that, depressingly, I've been hearing people spout the same thing with slightly different words longer than the person saying those things today has been alive.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 1:41 PM on June 15, 2023 [9 favorites]
Sometimes I hear dumb comments from young reactionary types like Charlie Kirk and realize that, depressingly, I've been hearing people spout the same thing with slightly different words longer than the person saying those things today has been alive.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 1:41 PM on June 15, 2023 [9 favorites]
Of the horrors that Fox has brought upon us, the use of "woke" is near the bottom. As this 2020 Vox article on the term summarizes, "It’s used as a shorthand for political progressiveness by the left, and as a denigration of leftist culture by the right." These examples generally mesh with that.
In most of the examples, the term seems rather communicative, in the sense that I understand the point that Fox is making, even if I disagree with it. They don't want public health to consider race. They want a traditional "tough on crime" approach. They want schools to avoid discussing race and gender issues. In those contexts, saying that you oppose "woke" policies is useful shorthand.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:43 PM on June 15, 2023 [3 favorites]
In most of the examples, the term seems rather communicative, in the sense that I understand the point that Fox is making, even if I disagree with it. They don't want public health to consider race. They want a traditional "tough on crime" approach. They want schools to avoid discussing race and gender issues. In those contexts, saying that you oppose "woke" policies is useful shorthand.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:43 PM on June 15, 2023 [3 favorites]
Calling things “woke” is virtue signaling to other fascists.
Absolutely. And calling things "fascist" is a form of signaling to other leftists.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:45 PM on June 15, 2023
Absolutely. And calling things "fascist" is a form of signaling to other leftists.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:45 PM on June 15, 2023
Eh, no. Trust me, I am very precise in this. But nice try.
posted by Artw at 1:49 PM on June 15, 2023 [26 favorites]
posted by Artw at 1:49 PM on June 15, 2023 [26 favorites]
I assume that it's everything that the millennials didn't kill.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:03 PM on June 15, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:03 PM on June 15, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm glad to see other people hear "woke" and think "politically correct" and "sjw" and every other garbage insult that means "stuff conservatives don't like" and "you are someone I don't have to take seriously".
Also "special interest groups," by which they meant human beings demanding human rights.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:35 PM on June 15, 2023 [13 favorites]
Also "special interest groups," by which they meant human beings demanding human rights.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:35 PM on June 15, 2023 [13 favorites]
Absolutely. And calling things "fascist" is a form of signaling to other leftists.
But what about when right-wingers say that something is "fascist"? Which they do frequently, usually while also calling the thing "communist" or "Marxist" in the same sentence.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:46 PM on June 15, 2023 [10 favorites]
But what about when right-wingers say that something is "fascist"? Which they do frequently, usually while also calling the thing "communist" or "Marxist" in the same sentence.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:46 PM on June 15, 2023 [10 favorites]
Also "special interest groups," by which they meant human beings demanding human rights.
Human beings who are not like the speaker demanding human rights. The speaker's rights are essential and inalienable; everybody else's rights are "special" and an "agenda". Yep.
the use of "woke" is near the bottom
The issue has never been the words. The issue is all the things the words are denigrating.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 2:47 PM on June 15, 2023 [4 favorites]
Human beings who are not like the speaker demanding human rights. The speaker's rights are essential and inalienable; everybody else's rights are "special" and an "agenda". Yep.
the use of "woke" is near the bottom
The issue has never been the words. The issue is all the things the words are denigrating.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 2:47 PM on June 15, 2023 [4 favorites]
Learning how to spell the word "bureaucracy" without a spell checker
I feel called out. I guess that means I'm not woke enough.
posted by Quasirandom at 3:08 PM on June 15, 2023
I feel called out. I guess that means I'm not woke enough.
posted by Quasirandom at 3:08 PM on June 15, 2023
I actually think that "woke" has a pretty straightforward definition, even if conservatives couldn't articulate it.
Wokeness is empathy – caring about people who aren't you, and aren't members of your narrowly defined in-group.
Especially, wokeness is the expectation from others that you should be empathetic.
Wokeness is caring about the problems faced by Black folks and queer folks and women, when you yourself aren't Black or queer or a woman.
It's inconveniencing yourself in any way to care for the environment, when you yourself don't expect to be affected by environmental disaster.
It's bothering to educate yourself about historical injustices. Who cares? Those people aren't you.
It's acknowledging your own privilege; being sensitive and deliberate with language; caring about the fact that "Merry Christmas" excludes non-Christians; thinking about the effects that your dietary choices have on the world; owning a reusable grocery bag; being interested in other cultures; being expected to identify with a movie protagonist whose race, gender, etc. differs from yours; the intolerable inconvenience of having to press "1" for English.
To be woke is to acknowledge, in any way, that people whose needs and interests are different from yours matter, or even exist.
Whenever you hear the word "woke", just mentally substitute the word "empathetic". 99% of the time, it works.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 3:29 PM on June 15, 2023 [26 favorites]
Wokeness is empathy – caring about people who aren't you, and aren't members of your narrowly defined in-group.
Especially, wokeness is the expectation from others that you should be empathetic.
Wokeness is caring about the problems faced by Black folks and queer folks and women, when you yourself aren't Black or queer or a woman.
It's inconveniencing yourself in any way to care for the environment, when you yourself don't expect to be affected by environmental disaster.
It's bothering to educate yourself about historical injustices. Who cares? Those people aren't you.
It's acknowledging your own privilege; being sensitive and deliberate with language; caring about the fact that "Merry Christmas" excludes non-Christians; thinking about the effects that your dietary choices have on the world; owning a reusable grocery bag; being interested in other cultures; being expected to identify with a movie protagonist whose race, gender, etc. differs from yours; the intolerable inconvenience of having to press "1" for English.
To be woke is to acknowledge, in any way, that people whose needs and interests are different from yours matter, or even exist.
Whenever you hear the word "woke", just mentally substitute the word "empathetic". 99% of the time, it works.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 3:29 PM on June 15, 2023 [26 favorites]
They got an intern from the UK family that owns the Daily Mail and Mail Online, look out for the upcoming twist: "woke things now cause cancer."
posted by k3ninho at 3:52 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by k3ninho at 3:52 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
The people I've experienced to be the most "woke" by the term's actual definition could really use some sleep.
posted by East14thTaco at 4:13 PM on June 15, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by East14thTaco at 4:13 PM on June 15, 2023 [2 favorites]
The mention of Ben and Jerry's just reminds me of the saga of Star Spangled Ice Cream.
Wow, news to me, Empress. Info about the company is all in the past tense; I'm guessing they didn't even try marketing in California.
Any grammar queens with me, down on this expression because it should be 'woken" instead of woke?
posted by Rash at 4:25 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
Wow, news to me, Empress. Info about the company is all in the past tense; I'm guessing they didn't even try marketing in California.
Any grammar queens with me, down on this expression because it should be 'woken" instead of woke?
posted by Rash at 4:25 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
Any grammar queens with me, down on this expression because it should be 'woken" instead of woke?
Given that the term "woke" originated in African American Vernacular English, and that "correcting" it amounts to policing AAVE as an invalid or corrupt dialect of English (which it isn't)...
No.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 4:34 PM on June 15, 2023 [16 favorites]
Given that the term "woke" originated in African American Vernacular English, and that "correcting" it amounts to policing AAVE as an invalid or corrupt dialect of English (which it isn't)...
No.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 4:34 PM on June 15, 2023 [16 favorites]
Learning how to spell the word "bureaucracy" without a spell checker
I feel called out. I guess that means I'm not woke enough.
Same. I'm pretty good at spelling, but this is one of those words I can never get right.
posted by dg at 4:40 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
I feel called out. I guess that means I'm not woke enough.
Same. I'm pretty good at spelling, but this is one of those words I can never get right.
posted by dg at 4:40 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
(It's always seemed to me that conservatives love to wield the word "woke" as an ironic insult precisely because it evokes AAVE. How better to show your contempt for Black folks than to co-opt their own term for "being aware of racial injustice", in order to call attention to their supposedly "inferior" English? It's a one-syllable version of affecting a caricature of Black dialect.)
posted by escape from the potato planet at 4:44 PM on June 15, 2023 [21 favorites]
posted by escape from the potato planet at 4:44 PM on June 15, 2023 [21 favorites]
The only way to believe that there are no systematic injustices in American society is to have your head so far up your ass that you can't see the light of day. So the term is both well-defined and useful: it's a quick litmus test that lets you know whether someone's a blithering idiot or not.
I think anti-wokeness is not defined by the belief that there are no systematic injustices in American society. I think it's defined by the belief that it is unpatriotic to believe that there are systematic injustices in American society.
If you believe that it's unpatriotic to believe that there are systematic injustices in American society, you don't have to bother engaging with the facts on the ground. You can say, it's irrelevant how many statistics you show me about wealth or incarceration or police violence. I am committed to the belief that the Civil Rights Act fixed racism forever and America no longer has to reckon with any kind of systemic injustices. I cannot change that belief, because it would make me unpatriotic. And you're unpatriotic for believing that there are still systematic injustices.
What's the problem with "critical race theory," with honest education about Black history and Native American history? Not that the information is false, but that if children are given the whole truth about history, they won't grow up into the kind of citizens that Republicans believe the country needs.
And I'm not trying to make some kind of naive "liberals care about the truth and conservatives care about ideology" argument. Public education has always been about ideology, about shaping the body politic in particular ways. But man, have I run into a lot of conservatives whose main argument against the existence of systematic injustices is:
1) If America has systematic injustices, then America is bad.
2) America can't be bad.
3) Therefore, America doesn't have systematic injustices.
posted by Jeanne at 5:46 PM on June 15, 2023 [20 favorites]
I think anti-wokeness is not defined by the belief that there are no systematic injustices in American society. I think it's defined by the belief that it is unpatriotic to believe that there are systematic injustices in American society.
If you believe that it's unpatriotic to believe that there are systematic injustices in American society, you don't have to bother engaging with the facts on the ground. You can say, it's irrelevant how many statistics you show me about wealth or incarceration or police violence. I am committed to the belief that the Civil Rights Act fixed racism forever and America no longer has to reckon with any kind of systemic injustices. I cannot change that belief, because it would make me unpatriotic. And you're unpatriotic for believing that there are still systematic injustices.
What's the problem with "critical race theory," with honest education about Black history and Native American history? Not that the information is false, but that if children are given the whole truth about history, they won't grow up into the kind of citizens that Republicans believe the country needs.
And I'm not trying to make some kind of naive "liberals care about the truth and conservatives care about ideology" argument. Public education has always been about ideology, about shaping the body politic in particular ways. But man, have I run into a lot of conservatives whose main argument against the existence of systematic injustices is:
1) If America has systematic injustices, then America is bad.
2) America can't be bad.
3) Therefore, America doesn't have systematic injustices.
posted by Jeanne at 5:46 PM on June 15, 2023 [20 favorites]
My favorite example is a guy in a paleontology Facebook group who claimed that the BBC/Apple TV dinosaur documentary “Prehistoric Planet” is woke because (1) it showed feathered dinosaurs and (2) it showed a male tyrannosaur caring for its young.
It’s woke to care about your children.
posted by brundlefly at 8:59 PM on June 15, 2023 [8 favorites]
It’s woke to care about your children.
posted by brundlefly at 8:59 PM on June 15, 2023 [8 favorites]
I was with loquacious right up to the tomato soup.
Fascist soup Nazi! MODS!
posted by loquacious at 9:52 PM on June 15, 2023 [2 favorites]
Fascist soup Nazi! MODS!
posted by loquacious at 9:52 PM on June 15, 2023 [2 favorites]
I find it helps if you mentally pronounce it "BYUR-o-KRAS-see." Kind of like "jeopardy" is "jee-O-par-dee."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:02 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:02 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
That mental pronunciation is exactly what messed me up before I learned to spell bureaucracy (and bureau), because it makes it seem like there should be a combination of vowels before the first r, when there is only the u. A better option might be “burr-eeyaw-cracy”. Though, for me, connecting to the French “eaux” also helped me remember the vowel combination after the first r.
posted by eviemath at 5:21 AM on June 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by eviemath at 5:21 AM on June 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Re: caring for your kids as being woke: it’s highly relevant that it was a male tyrannosaurus. Because biology is an illusion and only female animals care for their young, while male animals all go off hunting and fighting and such, dontcha know.
posted by eviemath at 5:23 AM on June 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by eviemath at 5:23 AM on June 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Regarding "bureaucracy":
It's just "bureau", plus the suffix "-cracy" (as in "democracy", "theocracy", "gerontocracy", etc.)
"Bureau" itself is just "bur", plus the common French formation "-eau" (as in "beau", "Juneau", "nouveau", "chapeau", "château", etc.)
Three letters, plus two common affixes with standard spellings. It seems like people are overcomplicating it.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:59 AM on June 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
It's just "bureau", plus the suffix "-cracy" (as in "democracy", "theocracy", "gerontocracy", etc.)
"Bureau" itself is just "bur", plus the common French formation "-eau" (as in "beau", "Juneau", "nouveau", "chapeau", "château", etc.)
Three letters, plus two common affixes with standard spellings. It seems like people are overcomplicating it.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:59 AM on June 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Lots of people don’t know French though.
posted by eviemath at 6:00 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by eviemath at 6:00 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
the BBC/Apple TV dinosaur documentary “Prehistoric Planet” is woke because (1) it showed feathered dinosaurs
See, this throws a monkey wrench in my "woke = empathetic" argument.
So I'll amend that argument, and argue that there's a second dimension to "wokeness": namely, contempt and resentment for the notion that thinking should evolve over time.
The anti-woke mind wants ideas – and therefore culture, and the world – to be stable, settled, and immutable. It doesn't have time for curiosity, examination, questioning, revision, novelty, evolution, or anything else which might undermine that stability.
Growing up, they learned The Way Things Are – and they never want to have to think about it again.
That's why the metric system is "woke". And new words (especially ones which refer to new concepts!). And unfamiliar foods. And schools teaching historical facts that weren't taught when they were in school.
And the idea that human actions have effects on the environment. And new ideas about gender. And public health guidelines which expect you to change your day-to-day behavior. And learning how to accommodate new kinds of people.
Basically, any idea or discovery that has emerged since the anti-wokester turned 30 (which, given the age of the average Fox viewer, includes quite a broad swath of human knowledge).
If "new math" were still a thing, you can be sure that American conservatives would be deriding it as "woke". Because, you see, it's new. It's not part of the cultural package that they learned when they were young.
Using the word "woke" means "I refuse to adjust the perimeter of my empathy to accommodate new people, I refuse to adjust the perimeter of my intellect to accommodate new ideas, and fuck you for expecting me to do so".
Conservatism, in a nutshell.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:38 AM on June 16, 2023 [12 favorites]
See, this throws a monkey wrench in my "woke = empathetic" argument.
So I'll amend that argument, and argue that there's a second dimension to "wokeness": namely, contempt and resentment for the notion that thinking should evolve over time.
The anti-woke mind wants ideas – and therefore culture, and the world – to be stable, settled, and immutable. It doesn't have time for curiosity, examination, questioning, revision, novelty, evolution, or anything else which might undermine that stability.
Growing up, they learned The Way Things Are – and they never want to have to think about it again.
That's why the metric system is "woke". And new words (especially ones which refer to new concepts!). And unfamiliar foods. And schools teaching historical facts that weren't taught when they were in school.
And the idea that human actions have effects on the environment. And new ideas about gender. And public health guidelines which expect you to change your day-to-day behavior. And learning how to accommodate new kinds of people.
Basically, any idea or discovery that has emerged since the anti-wokester turned 30 (which, given the age of the average Fox viewer, includes quite a broad swath of human knowledge).
If "new math" were still a thing, you can be sure that American conservatives would be deriding it as "woke". Because, you see, it's new. It's not part of the cultural package that they learned when they were young.
Using the word "woke" means "I refuse to adjust the perimeter of my empathy to accommodate new people, I refuse to adjust the perimeter of my intellect to accommodate new ideas, and fuck you for expecting me to do so".
Conservatism, in a nutshell.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:38 AM on June 16, 2023 [12 favorites]
(I do think that age is a factor here. The current pace of cultural and technological change is unprecedented in human history. It's certainly not inevitable for people to lose their ability to adapt to new ideas as they age – some older folks do manage it – but it does seem to be very common. Some people, apparently – especially those who never had the opportunity to acquire certain intellectual and emotional skills – have an especially hard time keeping up. Perhaps Fox News has simply found a way to weaponize and capitalize on that sense of frustration and disorientation.
At least, that's my charitable take on the matter. I also have a number of less-charitable takes.)
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:45 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
At least, that's my charitable take on the matter. I also have a number of less-charitable takes.)
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:45 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
And calling things "fascist" is a form of signaling to other leftists.
"Not everybody you disagree with is a fascist!" is ridiculous position to take when most of them are in fact speaking and acting like fascists, and when nearly every expert on fascism says it's either already here or incipient. There's an FPP right now about how trans people are essentially fleeing the new GOP Gestapo squads, this is not the kind of academic disagreement that you want it to be.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 7:09 AM on June 16, 2023 [15 favorites]
"Not everybody you disagree with is a fascist!" is ridiculous position to take when most of them are in fact speaking and acting like fascists, and when nearly every expert on fascism says it's either already here or incipient. There's an FPP right now about how trans people are essentially fleeing the new GOP Gestapo squads, this is not the kind of academic disagreement that you want it to be.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 7:09 AM on June 16, 2023 [15 favorites]
If "new math" were still a thing, you can be sure that American conservatives would be deriding it as "woke".
While 'new math' isn't really still a thing (but Common Core is, and conservatives don't seem to like it much either), they are lining up to deride math instruction that includes anything about social justice or social and emotional learning.
posted by box at 7:41 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
While 'new math' isn't really still a thing (but Common Core is, and conservatives don't seem to like it much either), they are lining up to deride math instruction that includes anything about social justice or social and emotional learning.
posted by box at 7:41 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
"Not everybody you disagree with is a fascist!"
I think a key element here is that frequently when left-aligned folk use terms like 'fascist' 'racist' 'bigot' etc as descriptors of a person/system, they are describing the actual facets of behavior that are racist or bigoted, and identifying those traits as undesirable. When right-aligned folk use similar language applications for 'woke' 'fascist' 'the REAL racist' etc, they are identifying people they don't like FIRST, and slapping on whatever term is nearby as a pejorative just to reiterate that 'person = bad'. The actual meaning of the terms, and the specifics they try to communicate, are moot. To the right-wing troll, they're all just fun ways of saying 'bad'.
posted by FatherDagon at 7:48 AM on June 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
I think a key element here is that frequently when left-aligned folk use terms like 'fascist' 'racist' 'bigot' etc as descriptors of a person/system, they are describing the actual facets of behavior that are racist or bigoted, and identifying those traits as undesirable. When right-aligned folk use similar language applications for 'woke' 'fascist' 'the REAL racist' etc, they are identifying people they don't like FIRST, and slapping on whatever term is nearby as a pejorative just to reiterate that 'person = bad'. The actual meaning of the terms, and the specifics they try to communicate, are moot. To the right-wing troll, they're all just fun ways of saying 'bad'.
posted by FatherDagon at 7:48 AM on June 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
I think it's sad that social emotional learning has been declared woke because it was the compromise measure instituted to try to prevent violence in schools. They don't want gun control, but they don't want anything else either.
posted by Selena777 at 8:13 AM on June 16, 2023
posted by Selena777 at 8:13 AM on June 16, 2023
The point of brandishing 'woke' as a slur is to cause the alienation of its target, which empathy training...
For the Foxers, 'woke' is the 'N-word,' made PC.
posted by grokus at 9:56 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
For the Foxers, 'woke' is the 'N-word,' made PC.
posted by grokus at 9:56 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
“Bureau” stumped me on my sister’s Speak ‘n Spell in the 70s.
posted by bendy at 4:51 PM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by bendy at 4:51 PM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
On topic, I think that woke is an easy to spell four letter word that means people of color to most Republicans. It's a dog whistle everyone can hear.
posted by y2karl at 12:35 PM on June 15
see also "crime"; meanwhile the Espionage Act is not such a big deal
posted by eustatic at 8:29 PM on June 16, 2023
posted by y2karl at 12:35 PM on June 15
see also "crime"; meanwhile the Espionage Act is not such a big deal
posted by eustatic at 8:29 PM on June 16, 2023
“crime” also does duty as “visible homelessness” for liberals. Either way the solution is always “more cops”.
posted by Artw at 3:14 AM on June 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 3:14 AM on June 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Pretty sure the conservatives are driving the bandwagon on criminalization of homelessness and poverty, not that others aren't right in there with them.
The u in the French bureau is one of those sounds you make with the inside and outside of your mouth shaped like they're saying two different vowels. The "yu" sound in the English version is probably some kind of compromise
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:57 AM on June 17, 2023
The u in the French bureau is one of those sounds you make with the inside and outside of your mouth shaped like they're saying two different vowels. The "yu" sound in the English version is probably some kind of compromise
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:57 AM on June 17, 2023
“crime” also does duty as “visible homelessness” for liberals. Either way the solution is always “more cops”.
Just a few days ago I came across a Facebook commenter who claimed that something "needs to be done" about homelessness in San Francisco, in the sense of "out of sight out of mind" solutions. They disclaimed it by saying, "and I'm a latte-sipping, NPR listening liberal."
Assuming they were being honest about that, it... is not a particularly strong disclaimer.
posted by brundlefly at 1:34 PM on June 18, 2023
Just a few days ago I came across a Facebook commenter who claimed that something "needs to be done" about homelessness in San Francisco, in the sense of "out of sight out of mind" solutions. They disclaimed it by saying, "and I'm a latte-sipping, NPR listening liberal."
Assuming they were being honest about that, it... is not a particularly strong disclaimer.
posted by brundlefly at 1:34 PM on June 18, 2023
Lots of people don’t know French though.
Zut alors!
posted by y2karl at 4:17 PM on June 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Zut alors!
posted by y2karl at 4:17 PM on June 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by FatherDagon at 9:35 AM on June 15, 2023 [13 favorites]