I suppose no one in the U.S. or elsewhere can live these days without a fad, whether that be hot yoga or “being woke.” It seems that women are particularly drawn to such fads. If you don’t know what being “woke” is, there are many descriptions of the term, but here is one I found at Dame magazine that seemed to fit:
Writer Charles Pullium-Moore at Fusion, outlines the history of the word and traces its first use to Erykah Badu’s 2008 song “Master Teacher.” In 2011 the word had gained popularity by the socially conscious black millennials, activists, and scholars. The term slowly entered mainstream media since it has been linked to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, which gained traction in 2012 after the news that George Zimmerman was acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin. Twitter users grabbed the #StayWoke hashtag to keep others up to date about systemic racism, the industrial prison complex, and police brutality.
Thus initially the word “woke” was used to look beyond the portrayed narrative of black people in the media, and, when necessary, to check your own (white) privilege. The trickle-down effect of black slang ensures that the media and corporate entities are quick to jump on the latest hashtags in order to feign cultural relevance. In January, woke reached the number 5 spot in MTV’s top ten list of teen slang words: “You need to read some Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Or listen to some Beyoncé. Stay woke, dude.” Jezebel launched its “How Woke Are You” quiz where you can test your consciousness with questions such as “How familiar are you with current events and social issues,” “Are you a feminist,” and “Who is bae?”
White allies have used the word to proudly demonstrate that they are indeed woke by our society’s standards. Well-intentioned public figures such as actors Penn Badgley and Matt McGorry have shown that they’re socially conscious and aware, thus they’re being crowned woke baes. The musician Macklemore created an eight-minute track where he raps about his white privilege and details his learning curve on social and racial injustice. Complex chose four female celebrity crushes who are woke, because they’re either “dismantling the patriarchy or protesting police brutality”.
I would love to have the stats on “women who are woke.” My guess is that the majority of them are single, divorced or in a bad relationship with a man, or had a bad one in the past with Dad or some other male authority figure. I wonder how many of these women are using political causes as avenues for their anger or frustration and to get revenge for the bad male relationships in their lives. Instead of taking any responsibility or realizing that all men are not the enemy, these “woke” women use the government to do their dirty work and don’t care how many innocent men they hurt along the way.
If a man gets fired after being accused falsely of sexual harassment, no worries, he was probably guilty anyway. Guy at college can’t get his degree because his date accused him of sexual abuse without proof and of course he had no due process rights? No sweat — somewhere out there, a “woke” woman is smiling. A man like Aziz Ansari had a bad date and is humiliated as a result? He’s just another statistic in a long line of men being victimized by “woke” women.
If you are male and on a date with a woman who says she is “woke,” tell her you are hitting the john and make a beeline for the bathroom window — or you could become her next revenge fantasy, and not in a good way.
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