Are you woke?

I can't ever see me using the word 'woke'. It wouldn't come naturally to me and I would think people would wonder why this old lady is trying to be trendy.

To me, the term ‘Woke’ and the rather smug way it is often used implies that many of us stubbornly remain ‘unwoke’.

I think it suggests a certain naivety as though early adopters assume that they are the first humans to see the world in this way!

What they call Woke, others, in times gone by would have called ‘raised consciousness’. I belonged to several consciousness raising groups in the early seventies and we were probably a bit ‘woke’ ourselves....in our own special way!

Apparently I’m not woke, I’m not too sure how far off I am though as the quiz I took just said that I was a Traditionalist. I have to confess though that I had to Google the term to see what it meant.

But I am a Pescatarian, I’m probably a potential terrorist as I support the Extinction Rebellion along with my DD and GCs and I’m pretty well informed, maybe being Woke isn’t all there is to life.

Yes, I think I am pretty woke. It’s worth noting that Vegan doesn’t only refer to no animal ingredients, but also will usually mean that no ingredients have been tested on animals, nor contains ingredients that lead to the death of animals (e.g. Palm Oil).

I don't mind 'woke'; shorthand for raised consciousness on issues such as sexism racism and animal rights. Vegan has long been used for products that could have been made from ingredients derived from animals. eg shoes etc - look like leather are not. I'm an aspiring vegan - still occasionally eat cheese and egg...I've moved to non-dairy for milk and yogurt..and am working on the cheese which I eat very little of. (I cant see that I will deny myself homemade cake on the couple of times a year I eat it because of the eggs.) So well done them. And #metoo has done a vast amount of good for women's rights. so we're getting there. Even Barbie is woke nowadays - you get her in all professions often in glasses and there is even a wheelchair barbie. And she has a female friend and a dog to go camping with. Ken has changed a lot too. It's good. It's a quick and easy word. Lets all wake up.

How do you know a person is a vegan ? ........ they tell you.

I think we were probably all 'woke' at one time - when we were young, thought we knew it all, thought we were the first to think of doing things this way or that. Then we grew up and realised there is nothing new under the sun.
I was definitely very 'unwoke' in modern terms when I went with my daughter to a vegan cafe. I didn't know it was vegan and ordered a latte. I was asked which kind of milk I wanted, oat or almond and asked if they didn't have any of the 'normal' stuff. I got out alive.

I saw a mention of ‘woke’ through the ages. Before we were woke, we were politically correct and before we were politically correct we were polite.

The word Vegan is very much overused,

Vegan this and vegan that.
I’m fed up hearing and reading how just about everything is Vegan!.
Agree with Chewbacca.

I always buy these products because they work and are so cheap, didn't know they were vegan!!

If you are vegan, then you (generic) will want to know if products are suitable for you to use/eat/buy. If you are not, then why worry?

It is five letters on a label - I honestly can't see why people get so worked up about it.

The Woke debate was stirred up recently on Question Time when the panel was made up of Journalist from the DT, a ScotsNat MP a young Conservative female Minister for Culture, Baroness Chakrabati and actor Laurence Fox. As it was from my home city of Liverpool I expected a lively debate.
Lauence Fox is not “woke” and reacted to a audience member ( a plant as later reported) who told Mr Fox that he could not possibly understand racial prejudice as he was a white, privileged male. He was not amused and made a solid argument that he had no say in how he was born but he was against accusing people of racism, sexism etc. purely to close down argument. The audience gave him a great reception and the look on Baroness Chakrabati’s face was worth watching!

I am sure we are all aware of 5he dangers of racism, sexism and other social ills, but I hate being lectured on such matters by this group of women people who see offence where none is intended.

Don’t they have eggs in doughnuts? Never made any so don’t know but if they have eggs or milk the are not vegan.

DOODLEDOG I have a GD who is vegan we all accept it as her lifestyle choice however watching her cook seems to involve a great many ingredients that are grown overseas eg soya which is grown in cleared land in the rainforest then shipped or airmiled to the uk HOW is this good for the ?

I assumed that "woke" was an ungrammatical expression meaning enlightened or aware of important things. Is that correct? I have a feeling that the use of woke may have come from " the streets" among the educationally deprived or is it a fake use to attract youngsters?

Mommawolf It probably isn't. As with so many things, it is impossible to be 100% virtuous, and unless your granddaughter is constantly telling you how she is saving the planet, then so what? I don't suppose that any diet is carbon-neutral.

DOODLEDOG I refer you to your 10.06am post yesterday "it is good for the planet if some of us do it" does your niece constantly tell you this. I have no problems with vegans who choose their lifestyle but take exception to being preached at and judged by oftan mis informed zealots. This is something my granddaughter does not do and along with many of her vegan friends totally disapproves of. It is woke gone crazy.

I thought that the word “woke” had come from African Americans. But I didn’t know it was from the sixties. Perhaps only coming here now because it has spread into white America and onto the internet. I like the word. I felt when I became a feminist in the seventies that I had woken up to things that had always been there and that were limiting my opportunities but that I hadn’t understood or been aware of before. There were no words to express it. It felt like my eyes had been opened. The sixties was a great decade for civil rights for black people in the USA so it makes sense that the word comes from then. Words like this are useful shorthand. Sexism didn’t exist in my Oxford English Dictionary in the sixties. But what a useful word it is. I wonder if “woke” has been taken away from black Americans and from its original meaning which must have been about anti-racism. But that a word spreads shows a sort of cultural power. And black Americans have offered so much to the world. Though I wish there had not been the suffering that creates the awareness and the resistance.

My husband’s step brother is vegan. I described it as “political”. I was reaching for the idea that it was for more than health reasons. His wife said to me. “It is spiritual”. That struck me. It seems right in many ways. There must be cruelty in eating meat. But it is a cruelty that exists in the world among animals other than humans too. Another person I know follows it most of the time for ecological rather than spiritual reasons. That also seems worthwhile. But veganism is not something I feel I am able to do.

Anniel. Thank you for your post. I had seen something about this debate but hadn’t really taken it in. The points you say Fox made sound right to me. Nobody can choose their birth. And it is wrong to shut down debate because of who a speaker is rather than arguing against what they are saying. But also if you are white or a man or are young or able-bodied or many other helpful things you cannot understand what it is like not to be in this position out of your own experience. Therefore you have to listen to other people with respect to gain understanding yourself.

Heard a joke the other day, as she ducks under the table...... "How do you know someone is a Vegan? They bloody tell you!"

DOODLEDOG I refer you to your 10.06am post yesterday "it is good for the planet if some of us do it" does your niece constantly tell you this. I have no problems with vegans who choose their lifestyle but take exception to being preached at and judged by oftan mis informed zealots. This is something my granddaughter does not do and along with many of her vegan friends totally disapproves of. It is woke gone crazy.
No, she doesn't constantly tell me anything. As I have said, it is others who keep expecting her to justify her lifestyle. I have never said she is a zealot or that she preaches - whatever gave you that idea?

Attended a meeting in London yesterday - everyone round the table was invited to say which pronouns they wanted people to use for them : she/her or they/them. I think I'm too old for real life now!

I am still waiting for a Vegan to tell me how you could have a varied and nutritious vegan diet if you are allergic to soya, all nuts and fresh fruit?

This is the situation of one member of my family who has developed these allergies, and carries an epipen, since being diagnosed with an auto immune disease.

As far as I can see it would be an endless diet of beans and pulses. At least as an omnivore she can eat dairy products in their many forms and meat and fish likewise.

MOnica, I understand your concerns. I'm not dedicated enough to become a vegetarian, much less a vegan. I have a close friend who became vegan several years ago. His physical and mental health are significantly improved. His diet seems varied and interesting. I can't imagine a vegan baby but maybe I'm being to traditional and judgemental