To me......being called 'woke' is a compliment

biglouis

To me "wokery" has become intertwined with lots of rubbish about pulling down statues and people of my generation being made to feel they should apologize for what their grandparents did in the empire, as well as white privilage. My parents did not feel very privilaged in their tiny two up two down with no bathroom and Ive done more than my share for society so I have no patience with all this trendy garbage.

Easy for you to dismiss because as white people, we walk around, mostly unharassed on the street/in the shop/in public because of our white skin.

I see the other side too as a white person, because my family are of colour. I literally fear for my brown-skinned grandson growing up because I know what he's got coming. And he's an amazing kid.

So if people are 'woke' it means they can see him not just his colour. And he deserves to be seen and appreciated.

Thanks for the Brownie groups Fanny. Now I understand why I’ve always been self conscious and worried about impact!! I was an elf ‘think of others not ourselves’ 🥴

The vast majority of people in the world have darker skin than northern Europeans. Claiming they're all represented because a few people with darker skin are in parliament doesn't work.

Galaxy

When I wrote that I knew someone would pick on the words rather than try to address the complex issues with regard to education. It was quicker than I expected.
So is representation meaningless then growstuff, it has to be the right kind of person with black skin?

What are you on about?

I never even claimed anything about the "right kind of person with black skin".

I know what you mean, GagaJo and those terms are often misused. But if you have been on the receiving end of a narcissist’s behaviour (and it does follow a pattern) it is unreasonable not to be allowed to describe it as such.

I agree, wokeness is a good thing. Particularly if you're advocating for something that doesn't benefit you or your particular circle. It shows social conscience.

What I don't like, is the wholescale adaptation of whatever psychological theories are trendy. Because they're transatory.

Narcissism
Toxic
Gaslighting

I know these are real things. But not to the degree which they're currently being applied to people and situations. Everyone thinks they're a psychologist now, based on reading a quick paragraph off the internet.

Callistemon21

maddyone

I don’t want to be called woke. I don’t want to be called not woke. I know language changes and develops all the time, but I dislike the way this word has developed to either insult people, either for being too woke, or not enough woke. It would be nice if we could all be nice to one another and leave the virtue signalling and the shaming of other people out of it.
Live your life, be nice to other people, contribute to charity of you can afford to, be polite, support the underdog when you can, and don’t worry about it all. There are plenty of other words to describe kindness, understanding and compassion.

👏👏👏

The voice of common sense!

I don’t want to be called woke. I don’t want to be called not woke.
Me neither. There are plenty of other words to describe kindness, understanding and compassion I agree, and woke is rather a daft word as it has become misinterpreted in different ways.

It’s now become a verbal tool for the bullies.

Quote : "The phrase “woke” and to “stay woke” is not new — it began appearing in the 1940s and was first used by African Americans to “literally mean becoming woken up or sensitised to issues of justice”, says linguist and lexicographer Tony Thorne."
Apparently the word didn't become truly politicised until the birth of the "Black Lives Matter" movement in the U.S.A. As the B.L.M. movement then took root in the U.K., the word then started to be used here in a positive context, referring to being politically, socially and culturally aware. Sadly the word was quickly weaponised by those on the far right, and used with a negative connotation to characterise so-called "loony left" behaviour. Frankly, the word has now become so toxic, that even those who perhaps previously used it positively have been forced to revert to more specific descriptions, such as empathy, tolerance, social justice et al. I wouldn't use the word myself these days, as I'm afraid that its original meaning has been irrevocably corrupted to the point where it has become totally ambiguous, and hence it is practically useless as a descriptive word. On that basis, I couldn't possibly take it as a compliment if it was applied to me. It's actually meaningless now. Other examples? Snowflake? Politically correct?

I'm sure many of you have seen this but I had to post it here
www.facebook.com/thejohncleese/videos/woke-support-group-tracey-ullman/184984414253922/

I should say that I am completely against any form of discrimination as most people are but it did make me laugh. Maybe it shouldn't?

maddyone

I don’t want to be called woke. I don’t want to be called not woke. I know language changes and develops all the time, but I dislike the way this word has developed to either insult people, either for being too woke, or not enough woke. It would be nice if we could all be nice to one another and leave the virtue signalling and the shaming of other people out of it.
Live your life, be nice to other people, contribute to charity of you can afford to, be polite, support the underdog when you can, and don’t worry about it all. There are plenty of other words to describe kindness, understanding and compassion.

👏👏👏

The voice of common sense!

I don’t want to be called woke. I don’t want to be called not woke.
Me neither. There are plenty of other words to describe kindness, understanding and compassion I agree, and woke is rather a daft word as it has become misinterpreted in different ways.

When I wrote that I knew someone would pick on the words rather than try to address the complex issues with regard to education. It was quicker than I expected.
So is representation meaningless then growstuff, it has to be the right kind of person with black skin?

It’s not used here. I think many would have heard of it through tv etc but that is about it. Just another four letter word.

Farzanah

It seems to me that “woke” and “political correctness” are generally weaponised terms used by the political right, to attack those who are on the political left. In which case I don’t mind being referred to as “woke”.

The latest term is "new elite".

But maddyone you're assuming that people with non-white skin are all the same. Rishi Sunak's experience of growing up is totally different from somebody with a an Afro-Caribbean background in (for example) London.

For that matter, Kemi Badenoch's experience is very different. She comes from a well-educated middle class family in Nigeria, but spent many years of her childhood in the US, where her mother lectured at Harvard and her late father worked for the WHO. Her mother flew to London to give birth to Kemi, who has automatic British citizenship. She has absolutely no right to speak on behalf of people affected by the Windrush scandal - just because she has black skin doesn't mean that she's had the same experiences.

Doing the wokey-cokey! 🍄

It seems to me that “woke” and “political correctness” are generally weaponised terms used by the political right, to attack those who are on the political left. In which case I don’t mind being referred to as “woke”.

Galaxy

But again not in education for example where those from Asian backgrounds outperform white working class pupils by miles. This isnt denying white privilege it's just saying discrimination tends to be complex, and in the identity politics hierarchy discrimination by class isnt really considered.

People from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds also have Asian backgrounds. I assume you mean Chinese or Indian. Asia is a big continent.

As a diversion; I was a Brownie, a fairy. I distinctly remember dancing around a large wooden toadstool as part of my induction, and singing the song I'm a fairy, bold and gay, doing good deeds every day

Cripes. That should ruffle a few non wokeys on here.

I hate the way the word 'woke' has become some sort of sneering insult, usually by people who have absolutely no idea of the true meaning. So, on that basis, I am proud to be 'woke'. If I get under the skin of people like Sarah Vine then I am getting it right.

Brownie groups

volver3

biglouis

To me "wokery" has become intertwined with lots of rubbish about pulling down statues and people of my generation being made to feel they should apologize for what their grandparents did in the empire, as well as white privilage. My parents did not feel very privilaged in their tiny two up two down with no bathroom and Ive done more than my share for society so I have no patience with all this trendy garbage.

That's what they want you to believe biglouis.

Seems like you've fallen for it.

I'll be back later to explain white privilege, because that's not what you think it is either.

biglouis
Get ready to be educated 😂 I hope you’re sitting comfortably and going to take notes. Questions will be asked at the end. 😱

Anyway, putting my own head above the parapet, I would describe myself as 'woke', as I am (or try to be - let's not get into 'white fragility' :grin neither racist, sexist nor homophobic, but there are Some People on here who would say that I am definitely not, as I don't support self-id as being something that should give men an automatic right to enter women's spaces. I could argue that they are not woke to the rights of the women being denied those spaces. And we've all seen where that leads .

It's the same with other similar concepts. Whether it is 'kind' to tell someone their bum looks big in their favourite dress is debatable, and my idea of 'beauty' is not necessarily the same as that of others.

So there's the rub. 'Woke', as with 'kind', has no fixed meaning when in use, and pretty much lives in the head of the user, even though the concept of 'woke' has a firm meaning.

halfpint1

I haven't heard a french person say woke yet, hope it stays that way.

Ah, bon?

www.independent.co.uk/voices/french-woke-blanquer-trump-b1958903.html

When I was born, there was barely a black or brown person to be found, so of course the rules were set by white people. However it is not the case now. Our Prime Minister and many of his ministers are not white, not is the Mayor of London or the First Minister of Scotland. There are many others in all layers of government up and down the country. Rules are now set by people from a variety of ethnicities in this country, and that certainly is not very evident in other countries as far as I can see. In fact I can’t think of a single European state with a leader from an ethnic minority.

But again not in education for example where those from Asian backgrounds outperform white working class pupils by miles. This isnt denying white privilege it's just saying discrimination tends to be complex, and in the identity politics hierarchy discrimination by class isnt really considered.