I mean, really. What does "Woke" mean?

[Cyrano]

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]

1. My definition is intelligent.

It's what I tell my Magat "friends."

[Beachnutt]

2. We are woke to their phony bullshit and lies..

[ck4829]

3. You know what the Wilhelm Scream is, right? That scream that appears in like half of all movies?

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...

Now don't believe that the scream can only used on the screen
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]

27. Thanks for the song. I'm fascinated by the Wilhelm Scream.

Talk about immortality.

And yeah, it’s a knee jerk code speak response.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

4. Don't let the extremist far right usurp the word woke.

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]

5. Don't know but definally whatever it is ......

it is pure RW negativity that they personally own.

[BootinUp]

6. I'm starting to equate it with: educated. nt

[Freethinker65]

7. Critical thinking opposition

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]

11. Yes remember politically correct, where has that gone. Woke is so much shorter

[brush]

30. Politically aware is more like it.

[Maeve]

8. Just saw this on Facebook

"Woke" means awakened to the needs of others. To be well-informed, thoughtful, compassionate, humble and kind. Eager to make the world a better place for all people.

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. Awakened.

[marybourg]

35. Exactly!

[sanatanadharma]

10. "Woke", opposite of being asleep in an imaginary world ...

... 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]

15. Excellent! +1

A family right winger got upset when I told him the opposite of woke was asleep, unaware, clueless.

[Johnny2X2X]

12. Adult

To me, Woke means kind, considerate, responsible. Being a decent human being as an adult is Woke.

[Orrex]

13. Better than 99.99% of the time...

The person whining about "wokeness" is pissy because they can't be openly racist, bigoted, homophobic, and misogynist without being called out for it.

[Redleg]

18. very true

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]

14. Woke is actually past tense of the verb to wake. It's remedial grammar lessons theyneed

[Redleg]

16. To me it means being aware of the plight of others

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]

17. to me the woke movement

is simply everyone asking that the "golden rule" be applied to all.

[DeeDeeNY]

19. DeSantis' lawyers were asked to define "woke"

https://www.pride.com/politics/desantis-woke#rebelltitem1

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]

20. It's mostly saying or doing things which are positive towards minorities and women

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]

21. It doesn't mean anything.

It means whatever the person using it wants it to mean.

[RussBLib]

22. Being sensitive

And we know the GOP is rampantly insensitive

[Diamond_Dog]

23. My interpretation

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 don’t like. They don’t really know or care what it means. It’s an easy pejorative for them.

[TigressDem]

24. Conscious and in control of my own actions with respect to others.

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]

25. it was a term in the Black community until it was appropriated by...guess who?

https://www.vox.com/culture/21437879/stay-woke-wokeness-history-origin-evolution-controversy

Even using the word "woke" is cultural appropriation unless you're a Black American.

[Cyrano]

29. Thanks for the link

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]

33. Thank you.

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]

26. It is a universal term MAGAts use for anything they disagree with. nt

[haele]

28. I say, "Thank you?" They don't know what it means anyway.

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]

31. It's a dogwhistle for "black".

Fucking disgusting racism never ends.

[Scrivener7]

32. Our whole culture is built on sexism and racism. It is so pervasive that there is a lot of it that

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]

34. "Woke" means having an independent thought free of the Fox / AM radio / megachurch mindset.

[Midnight Writer]

36. "Woke" means practicing the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Read the Bible. His Words are often printed in red.

P.S. Conservatives don't like this answer.

[ITAL]

37. A bit of history repeating itself

Before Woke there were the Wide Awakers.

https://daily.jstor.org/abolitionist-wide-awakes-were-woke-before-woke/