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Woke means reducing individuals down to classes (race, gender etc). And then reducing those classes down to either oppressed / oppressor. It’s a highly reduct

Woke means reducing individuals down to classes (race, gender etc). And then reducing those classes down to either oppressed / oppressor. It’s a highly reductive and juvenile way of looking at the world.

jcranmer 2y ago
A couple of months ago, there was a curated list of "woke" games circulating around. One of the games was considered woke solely because an avatar you could pick was of a creature in a wheelchair, something that has literally 0 gameplay impact, but that much of acknowledging that people with disabilities exist was too much for someone to bear. GP is right, most of the people complaining about "woke" are complaining about things they don't like, rather than having a particular, coherent theory as to why they don't like them.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
janalsncm 2y ago
That might be one definition but I think the “anything I don’t like” definition is more congruent with the article. In other words, it functions more like a generic slur than a coherent criticism of a thing.
- charliebitme 2y ago
  Exactly. A lot of people use it as a dog whistle too. "I'm okay with diversity and representation, when it's not forced down my throat!" Then fails to elaborate on how you accomplish diversity/representation without forcing it down their throat.
  - scarab92 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - raxxorraxor 2y ago
      Whenever you force solidarity, the backlash will consume the rest of it. You also have no legitimacy to do that, so people might be inclined to take action against you and it would even be justified.
  - maximus40483 2y ago
    It's easy, you look past silly shit like race and gender and treat people like you want to be treated. We were starting to make progress before the picked fences elitists that were the most isolated from actual diversity decided it would be a good idea to ram wokness down everyone's throats. So far all it's done is make everyone hate each other for no good reason...oh and we all seem to be a lot poorer to.
    - raxxorraxor 2y ago
      Pretty much what happened. HR department or government described solidarity.
- scarab92 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - hex2 2y ago
    Not calling Trump a nazi, but if there were a nazi in the presidential seat, he would disregard the fundamental checks and balances of the US government. He would call anybody different than him "vermin". He would install a bunch of billionaires to his cabinet.
charliebitme 2y ago
The irony of saying "It’s a highly reductive and juvenile way of looking at the world." You can say the same thing about people who scream "woke" about any and everything. And that's your definition of the word. Going by other people who use it unironically, you can't come to a consensus on what it means. Literally anytime there's any sort of representation, people scream woke. Person who use American Sign Language in a video game? That's so woke! But let's go with your definition of the word. If you're treating everyone equally, while acknowledging and celebrating our differences, what's the issue? People, who are obsessed with seeing woke in everything, apparently want to view everyone as amorphous blobs.
- maximus40483 2y ago
  Why do you need American sign language in a game? Can the def person not read? It wouldn't be to help the disabled as much as it would be to show how inclusive the team making the game is. And it's more of a purity test then a representation of real life.
  - charliebitme 2y ago
    A character in the game that uses ASL, not the person playing the game.
locopati 2y ago
Alternatively, woke means being alert to a variety of systems that have developed to keep one group in power/control over another (where the groups vary with context). It's not so much reductive and juvenile as Wizard of Oz exposing the man-behind-the-curtain. Without being able to see clearly, it's not possible to change things to benefit more people.

jcranmer 2y ago

A couple of months ago, there was a curated list of "woke" games circulating around. One of the games was considered woke solely because an avatar you could pick was of a creature in a wheelchair, something that has literally 0 gameplay impact, but that much of acknowledging that people with disabilities exist was too much for someone to bear. GP is right, most of the people complaining about "woke" are complaining about things they don't like, rather than having a particular, coherent theory as to why they don't like them.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

janalsncm 2y ago

That might be one definition but I think the “anything I don’t like” definition is more congruent with the article. In other words, it functions more like a generic slur than a coherent criticism of a thing.

charliebitme 2y ago
Exactly. A lot of people use it as a dog whistle too. "I'm okay with diversity and representation, when it's not forced down my throat!" Then fails to elaborate on how you accomplish diversity/representation without forcing it down their throat.
- scarab92 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - raxxorraxor 2y ago
    Whenever you force solidarity, the backlash will consume the rest of it. You also have no legitimacy to do that, so people might be inclined to take action against you and it would even be justified.
- maximus40483 2y ago
  It's easy, you look past silly shit like race and gender and treat people like you want to be treated. We were starting to make progress before the picked fences elitists that were the most isolated from actual diversity decided it would be a good idea to ram wokness down everyone's throats. So far all it's done is make everyone hate each other for no good reason...oh and we all seem to be a lot poorer to.
  - raxxorraxor 2y ago
    Pretty much what happened. HR department or government described solidarity.
scarab92 2y ago
[flagged]
- hex2 2y ago
  Not calling Trump a nazi, but if there were a nazi in the presidential seat, he would disregard the fundamental checks and balances of the US government. He would call anybody different than him "vermin". He would install a bunch of billionaires to his cabinet.

charliebitme 2y ago

The irony of saying "It’s a highly reductive and juvenile way of looking at the world." You can say the same thing about people who scream "woke" about any and everything. And that's your definition of the word. Going by other people who use it unironically, you can't come to a consensus on what it means. Literally anytime there's any sort of representation, people scream woke. Person who use American Sign Language in a video game? That's so woke! But let's go with your definition of the word. If you're treating everyone equally, while acknowledging and celebrating our differences, what's the issue? People, who are obsessed with seeing woke in everything, apparently want to view everyone as amorphous blobs.

maximus40483 2y ago
Why do you need American sign language in a game? Can the def person not read? It wouldn't be to help the disabled as much as it would be to show how inclusive the team making the game is. And it's more of a purity test then a representation of real life.
- charliebitme 2y ago
  A character in the game that uses ASL, not the person playing the game.

locopati 2y ago

Alternatively, woke means being alert to a variety of systems that have developed to keep one group in power/control over another (where the groups vary with context). It's not so much reductive and juvenile as Wizard of Oz exposing the man-behind-the-curtain. Without being able to see clearly, it's not possible to change things to benefit more people.