Has Woke Lost It’s Impact To Fashionable Protesting Snowflakes?
Today, I want to address a concern that I have been researching in recent weeks. Has Woke Lost It’s Impact To Fashionable Protesting Snowflakes? My motto, is a very British and traditional, ‘Treat everyone with the same kindness, patience and tolerance, that I would like to be treated with myself’. All the same, not everyone sees the world that way. In short, ‘Has Woke Lost It’s Impact To Fashionable Protesting Snowflakes? Snowflakes cancel free speech and define guilty moral judgment. Let’s call it ‘Snowflake Woke.”
Featured Image courtesy of ‘Tima Miroshnichenko’
Therefore, when I see a woke community, helping us all to understand the very real historical and present day issues of black racism, being diverted to ‘don’t offend me, or I will be upset with you’, I have to ask this. ‘Has Woke Lost It’s Impact To Fashionable Protesting Snowflakes?’
Where does the term ‘Woke’ originate from?
In 1938, an American blues singer called ‘Lead Belly’ released a song telling the story of ‘The Scottsboro Boys’, who were nine Black teenagers accused of rape in Alabama. Although evidence of their innocence existed, eight of the nine were found guilty by an all-white jury and sentenced to death. They were spared execution, but they ended up imprisoned for years.
So “Woke” or “stay woke” as a term was coined, which was used to remind the black community of the need to stay aware of the systemic injustices and inequalities targeting Black people, particularly when travelling to Alabama. For more details on this, I’d recommend that you visit and read up on the ‘Human Rights Careers’ feature here.
Evolution Of ‘Woke’ As A Term That Moves Away From The Original Issue, Towards A Dangerous Second
“Woke” as a term has become an all embracing term that for most people, means, being aware of social justice issues, not purely of racism, but also sexism and the promotion of LGBTQ+ rights, and many others. Those causes are very commendable, when their mission is to help otherwise unconscious and sub-consciously biased groups to see the damage that they are doing.
However, many see the term in a negative light, as it can also mean being obsessively politically correct and judgmental. In fact, they view ‘Wokeness’ as a tool to suppress free speech, impose control what others say, and inflict moral judgment. It is this second definition that I want to talk about today. I don’t want to support a tinting of the original definition. Let’s give it a separate name. Let’s call it ‘Snowflake Woke.’
Politically Speaking
Here in the UK and the US, left wing groups view ‘Wokeness,’ in this way, and call for a reality check. They voice concerns that focussing on ensuring that members of LGBTQ+ are not offended, actually dilutes or even removes focus from the real issue. At the other end of the political spectrum, right wing groups, have weaponized anti-woke messaging, against BIPOC, (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour), the LGBTQ+ community, and other growing but minority groups.
Evolution Of Woke Term Definition
So we started in woke with don’t call me a ‘insert name of something racist’ or holler ‘insert a phrase which is misogynistic.’ But, some groups have evolved that into don’t say Mom and Dad, as we are lesbians and so your phrase is offensive to Mom and Mom. Yet they would proudly have everyone say Mom and Mom to celebrate their parenting. I have witnessed, someone walking away in disgust because they were asked to bring cakes to a workplace, for their leaving celebration, but they felt overwhelmed, so they lodged a complaint to HR.
All of these issues, are in the opinion of many, taking the original causes to such extreme far reaches, that it is almost impossible to navigate the day without having a lawyer on 24 hour call out. It is also fair to say that the original cause has been so diluted, that it is no longer heard. Hence my case for the ‘Dangerous Second Issue.’
Effect Of Minority I’m Offended’ Statement On Majority Communities
As a white Caucasian husband and father, I am not racist, sexist, ageist, or any other ‘…ist’. I am politically balanced across the centre left and right, and have no quarrel with anyone, who generally treats others well. I feel a need to use my significant empathy to support and motivate those who are struggling with areas of their lives.
Yet, I often am exposed to reasoning that my group, community, race or origin is offensive, and I am commanded to feel guilty and to apologise for it. Why is that? Well let’s have a look?
How Does Snowflake Woke Culture Work?
I am not against woke culture, but I am concerned about ‘Snowflake Wokeness,’ and its long term effect on society as it eliminates life experiences that build resilience and tenacity. While ‘flakies’, are protected in settings that support this culture, when they emerge into ‘the real world’, they rn the risk of lacking life skills, to cope with life.
They have lower resilience to brush off that which they do not like, as they are used to being tended to , or having the road ahead smoothed out, for a comfortable day. Of course, life is for much of the time, full of discomfort, and so they can find that minor issues are like major set backs, and major set backs cause a melt down.
Forms Of Snowflake Woke Culture
Snowflake Woke culture works, based on a few principles. To name a few
One of them is being offended, we will look at the being offended process below.
Another is cancel culture, where that which we have grown up with, as a foundation platform for who we are as people is being eroded away. We lose a piece everyday. For example, I am a Dad, but I am made to feel guilty by ‘Mom and Mom’. The Virgin Atlantic TV commercial does not feature a male, white hetero-sexual, only homo sexual men or metro sexual men. I thought the idea was to keep and include everyone in Equality Diversity and Inclusiveness, not to erase the former white males, and make way for anyone but them. Am I now obsolete?
A bizarre Hollywood one is name deading? For example We can refer to Caitlin Jenner, but not Bruce Jenner, as she once was. Even though you may have spent great times with him, in or outside of work.
Snowflake Woke – Being Offended – How Does The Process Cancel The Person You Were Raised As?
Snowflake Woke ‘being offended works on the principal that:
- You said something to me, and I am offended
- I say to myself, you offended me therefore, I am right and you are wrong.
- Then I say ‘you must apologise to me as my virtues are good and yours are bad, hence virtue signalling.
- Now, I continue with my roasting of you, to point out that as a minority group representative who is hurt by your majority group, that my feelings are more important than yours. In this way, I am completely ignorant to how egotistical my attitude is, in view of my stance that you must change, because of my feelings and mine alone.
- I now expect you to make changes to your personality, and in a workplace, some level of training and evaluation maybe used. This constitutes a re-calibration of your attitude towards my minority group, and yes an insistence that y9our group is to be cancelled or at least not referred to, so as not to offend mine.
- While you are going through this process, I am likely to roast you, within my snowflake woke community, as being toxic.
- Assuming this all goes ahead I, the ‘wokee’ feel satisfied and validated and that I have achieved a victory and am likely to celebrate.
- Meanwhile you feel that another piece of who you are has slipped away and soon some more will go the same way too.
The Effect On Free Speech – Has Woke Lost It’s Impact To Fashionable Protesting Snowflakes?
Some US Universities, now have ‘free speech zones’, yet the whole university used to be a free speech zone. It is as though no one can say anything, for fear of glass like people shattering everywhere.
As my therapist used to say, ‘Simon, you cannot be responsible for what happens in someone else’s head.’ She said Simon you need to calm down, take a log off the fire and stop worrying about how other people perceive and feel about what you have said. I replied, yes you’re right, if I give a speech to 100 people, some one somewhere is going to find a reason to be offended. I cannot stop that without never making a speech again.
That was 2015, yet now, in 2024, I am duty bound by law in the UK, that when I give my speech, I must forget about what I meant by my words, it is how it is interpreted that matters in court. So, if you follow my logic to conclusion, how do I give a speech to 100 people, without scooping up a law suit against me? How do I go to work and do a days work, without fear of losing my job, as the business looks to distance itself from me, to protect it’s own reputation.
More to the point, how do I survive a day, without feeling like a doomed criminal with existential stress. That one moment, I could be happy and freely speaking, and the next, I could find myself with a 6 week investigation, a court proceeding, the loss of my income, and a criminal self perception.
Where Next?
I honestly believe that this second definition of ‘Woke’ is damaging the original, by diverting our thoughts away from the original brief.
The two topics are under the umbrella of ED&I, Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity. Yet, cancel culture is threatening to ‘Not Include’ groups which have always been here.
What are your thoughts?
Please comment below.
Further Study
In this episode of Diary of A CEO, Konstantin and Steven discuss topics such as, how ‘Wokeness’ has lost true meaning, the dangers of a victim mindset, the real reason men are struggling, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. The views of Konstantin give us a unique perspective on the pros and cons of work, and how it has had it’s original intention diverted to something off target.
While my views under ‘Build My Warrior’ may differ slightly, I feel at present that I am on a similar path of understanding the world. Whether, you agree or not with Konstantin’s views or not, it is always important in life to understand as many perspectives as you can reasonably cope with, but nit so many that you start to struggle to comprehend them all.
I suggest that you watch and pause all the way to the end, to ponder and consider the viewpoints.
As Konstantin offers the history behind each viewpoint, and how we all got here, on a worldwide ad generational level, I highly recommend that you listen and learn from this holistic interview.
