General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI mean, really. What does "Woke" mean?
I've read various definitions, but I've concluded it's nothing more than some meaningless meme that wingnuts hurl at us in order to "Own Us." And "Own The Libs" is another piece of meaningless crap that they love to toss out there.
IMO, most conservatives just aren't very smart or original. They need to be fed prepared phrases with which to attack us. Some of them don't even know what the word or phrase means, but they know they're supposed to use it as a "verbal weapon" against us. Without these words and phrases, they'd probably just curse at us, or shoot at us. Very often, after some moron calls some Dem "Woke," it's followed by a smirk on their face as though they'd won some kind of victory.
Nonetheless, we're stuck on the same planet with them.
gab13by13
(21,487 posts)It's what I tell my Magat "friends."
Beachnutt
(7,358 posts)ck4829
(35,096 posts)It has a song dedicated to it.
"That Calls for a Wilhelm Scream"
After the song lists several movies where one can hear the scream, it then does this...
You can use it wherever you see a need
Got a problem that should probably have the proper punctuation?
Try a Wilhelm, it can emphasize any bad situation
That big jerk from accounting just stole your promotion
Your dinghy's leaking in the middle of the ocean
That eBay idiot gave you negative feedback
And the money you gave that bum was converted to crack
The lid can't be extracted from your Jell-o pudding cup
It's hard to surf for porn efficiently stuck on dial-up
All you need is a knife but there's 10,000 spoons
They're making a Michael Bay film of your favorite cartoon
The Spanish Inquisition tries to burn you at the stake
Cavity Creeps gave you a toothache
The enemy force is just outside your archer's range
That cell phone soccer mom didn't signal her lane change
Gotta pee but the urinal's unflushed
You find yourself in outer space lacking the right stuff
Frequent visits to the store net you nary a chase figure
You didn't remember to TiVo the Heroes finale now, did you?
Invaders from space leveled all the major cities
There's no more freakin' milk for your bowl of Cocoa Krispies
Whenever it seems you've been given raw deal
It's time to scream it like you mean it, let 'em know how you feel
"Woke" is just like that, conservatives can use it to emphasize their displeasure with anything they don't like, put a unified hate/other on it.
Somebody not laughing at their racist joke - Woke
Transgender person existing - Woke
Interracial couple moves in next door - Woke
Pointing out economic disparities - Woke
Complaining about the maternal mortality rate being so high - Woke
Caring about refugees - Woke
"Woke" is the Wilhelm Scream of the Right.
nolabear
(42,002 posts)Talk about immortality.
And yeah, its a knee jerk code speak response.
PuraVidaDreamin
(4,111 posts)My earlier #Post post.
To be woke is to be enlightened. In Sanskrit the word is Buddhi, meaning discerning wisdom. It is a peaceful word. Within this definition includes the ability to self-regulate. However, the term has been glomed onto and twisted by those incapable of kindness and compassion for their fellow man and who have tragically distorted it glorifying it in a way that polarizes those with differing opinions and further inciting those with violent tendencies. We must take this word back! To be Woke is Good!
So how do we reclaim it! If someone calls you woke you're in good company
Ascended masters such as the Buddha and Jesus were 'woke'
Lovie777
(12,392 posts)it is pure RW negativity that they personally own.
BootinUp
(47,211 posts)Freethinker65
(10,105 posts)Commie. Liberal. Snowflake.
Every so many years, the GOP uses a new, easy to pronounce and remember term for its base to project visceral hatred of the opposition party (Democrats).
They cannot define CRT and neither can their followers, but they can scream "woke" easily at every opportunity. .
Walleye
(31,147 posts)brush
(53,971 posts)Maeve
(42,309 posts)It started as a black term for awareness of oppression and therefore must be "bad" for white supremacists and let's face it--racism rules the right.
twodogsbarking
(9,913 posts)marybourg
(12,648 posts)sanatanadharma
(3,752 posts)... of nightmarish dreams.
"Woke", the state of awareness in which one is open to the existence of others and considerate of others' feelings and worth.
Woke implies the intelligence to learn and willingness to change and adjust and correct one's understanding.
CrispyQ
(36,557 posts)A family right winger got upset when I told him the opposite of woke was asleep, unaware, clueless.
Johnny2X2X
(19,254 posts)To me, Woke means kind, considerate, responsible. Being a decent human being as an adult is Woke.
Orrex
(63,263 posts)The person whining about "wokeness" is pissy because they can't be openly racist, bigoted, homophobic, and misogynist without being called out for it.
I just read an article about Candice Owens, the wingnut clown, who said that people needed to discrimate more against people they don't like.
Walleye
(31,147 posts)Redleg
(5,861 posts)and being sensitive (i.e., empathetic) to their needs for fair treatment with dignity and respect. The term has been laden with such negativity, partly due to the efforts of wingnut shit-posters and politicians.
Now surely there are degrees of wokeness and it is true that some people on the left played the "I'm woker than you are" game that was sometimes a minor annoyance to me and certainly a huge annoyance to fools like Bill Maher and his panels of ex-liberal misfits.
notemason
(299 posts)is simply everyone asking that the "golden rule" be applied to all.
DeeDeeNY
(3,356 posts)DeSantis' lawyers were forced by the court to define "woke." The lead lawyer described it as "The belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them." https://t.co/O5HGJuJIay
JI7
(89,287 posts)A few things I have seen are
A guy claimed some athlete was being woke because he said Simon Biles going public about mental health helped him focus on his own health .
A guy claimed a woman that wore no makeup and no filter for some video where she talked about her struggles was being woke .
Most of them are Incels .
Mariana
(14,863 posts)It means whatever the person using it wants it to mean.
RussBLib
(9,057 posts)And we know the GOP is rampantly insensitive
Diamond_Dog
(32,168 posts)It means being aware of and having compassion for victims of injustice.
I find that conservatives I run into just like to throw the word around to dismiss anything they dont like. They dont really know or care what it means. Its an easy pejorative for them.
TigressDem
(5,125 posts)VS - asleep/unconscious and allowing others to cause me to do their bidding.
VS - allowing subconscious fears of "others" to infect my thinking and cause me to hurt others
IE: Behave as a responsible adult. I own my thoughts and actions and behave in a respectful way toward others.
WOKE means I make sure my behavior is correct and keep my nose out of other people's business.
GenXer47
(1,204 posts)Even using the word "woke" is cultural appropriation unless you're a Black American.
Cyrano
(15,075 posts)So, what was originally a warning within the Black community to "Always Be Alert," was co-opted by the racist right to mean anything and everything they disagree with, or hate.
Seems to me that, for some reason, evolution left conservatives behind.
Ms. Toad
(34,126 posts)I was kind of appalled in reading the replies here that no one seemed to know the origin (and cultural appropriation) of the term.
doc03
(35,442 posts)haele
(12,692 posts)Their definition consists of "Argle-bargle Librul-Commie, I don't like you smarty-pants" when you press them on it.
It has nothing to do with actually anything. The snarky answer is maybe you should just get yourself another cup of coffee if you think that's an insult.
Haele
aocommunalpunch
(4,249 posts)Fucking disgusting racism never ends.
Scrivener7
(51,083 posts)we don't even see. It is just what has always been. We just take it for granted that this is how things are, even though we may be one of the groups who is harmed by it.
But when you wake to the fact that our whole culture really is built on sexism and racism, you begin to see it everywhere. Everywhere. In everything. And it changes your perception of the world. And it changes how you interact with the world.
That is woke.
Initech
(100,139 posts)Midnight Writer
(21,845 posts)Read the Bible. His Words are often printed in red.
P.S. Conservatives don't like this answer.
ITAL
(654 posts)Before Woke there were the Wide Awakers.
https://daily.jstor.org/abolitionist-wide-awakes-were-woke-before-woke/