ON THE GENEALOGY OF WOKENESS
Most people misunderstand the origins of contemporary "woke" ideology
It was not produced by academia, but by teenagers on Tumblr. The internet, and fragile, impressionable young people birthed something so viral it captured American politics
In the 2010s young people were both finally very online, and the platforms advanced enough to promote high speed interactions at scale. A far cry from Myspace and even Facebook that promote interactions with people you *know*.
The feed, and the ability to scroll were recently invented, and teenagers had no defense against it. This takes place right after the victory of Obama, and surging optimism to put the racial divide behind us
Tumblr surges to popularity specifically among young girls. It was a place for girls to participants in "Fandoms". A fandom is where fans of a particular type of media (Harry Potter, Twilight) gather to share their love of this content. It also became interested in social justice.
These interactions began to take over the lives of a segment of young women who were more active online than in real life
While they came to the website to fantasize about Edward and Jacob from Twilight, they became constantly bombarded with social justice messaging in the dawn of the endless scroll
Now where did these ideas come from? The concepts they were exploring came from early Marxist academics from the 60s and 70s who were part of the "long march through the institutions". I use Marxist literally, not rhetorically, they were literally Marxists
It's crucial to recognize that while Marxist philosophy influenced these ideas, the express form of wokeness we have dealt with is not academic or even marxist in origin.
It is fundamentally *teenage* in origin. It is a teenage philosophy, and even a female philosophy. I say this with care, not to provoke gendered resentment.
But one cannot understand wokeness without understanding teenage girls. This is not of the mind of a teenage boy.
To be a teenage girl is many things, and many more I cannot understand, but one thing is to be socially permeable. Teenage girls are not designed to sense social demands and pressures and *then reject them in place of their own well formed ideals*. They are fundamentally susceptible to social pressure in a profound way.
And so what you observe on Tumblr is a type of chain reaction. A Lord of the Flies Island where an ideological virus is allowed to incubate into its most viral form.
When this ideology finally spreads to American society, is when these Tumblr girls attend college. This is why people commonly associated wokeness with academia
But they have the direction of causality inverted. The teachers did not indoctrinate the students. The students infected and terrified the teachers. Now, some of those teachers were all too happy to go along with it, but still it was these young people who brought it to academia.
From this point the rate of spread rapidly increased, and it starts to influence the real world. Academics have influence and students graduate.
In 2013 this ideology was raging inside colleges, I was there!
By 2016 it was raging inside politics at a national stage.
The Democratic party became profoundly infected. And this has continued to this day, although it started weakening post COVID.
Cancellations became prominent in even corporations. Again, a cancellation is a fundamentally female method of social organization. Men do not cancel other men for saying an idea which is outside the norm.
They either argue, or fight.
Cancellation is yet another example of how, respectfully from my part, we are dealing with a feminine ethic from Tumblr. Girls cancel other girls. Look at any middle or high school. It isnt hard to see.
Why is it important to recognize the origins of wokeness?
Because the Left must fundamentally understand they have been led by teenagers. And they must turn to adults yet again if they seek a future in American politics
nostr:nprofile1qqsd2s26xy7ns3sllyagc9c0jsdje49xdfw0mwcfxsrfvrmvkvtcf8cpz4mhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejqz9nhwden5te0wfjkccte9ehx7um5wghxyctwvsq3qamnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3wwa5kuegrwllad
I mostly buy this theory, ngl.
I’m really, really pissed at progressives because I truly believe it’s quite damaged the exact issues and things we want to fight for (more protections for minority communities, more acceptance, etc)
Thank you for explaining!!! It’s very eye opening and makes so much sense! Crazy how internet culture bled over into politics which then impacted the way we relate to one another. Men are so important to keeping society sane.
I wanted to be a tumblr girl so bad but my mom kept my schedule so jam packed I had to use it for a blog. 😂😂 It was the cool thing in my HS to have a massive following and I remember thinking I was a loser for not knowing how they got thousands of followers … but to your point those “cool” girls are the ones who were shutting me out for talking about bitcoin on FB in 2019. A lot of them are also now 30 unmarried boss babes … or some sort of “wine” mom.
My first year of college (2013) I was so focused on making A’s without gaining the freshman 40 that I didn’t spend anytime online for “fun” however by graduation in 2016/2017 I feel like “woke” was everywhere and those who were actually woke were blazing trails. Gahh, my brains is reeling.
2020 everyone on my FB was screaming about “woke” being so bad it felt like a dogwhistle for anti-blackness because the loudest ones had Dixie flag backgrounds … it makes sense that it was actually the social media culture I was involved in that made it appear that way.
I really appreciate you clarifying this. I feel like some sort of crash test dummy not realizing how transformative and impactful the internet has been… especially as a teenage girl.
The idea of being woke is simply being educated on the large structural/societal/governmental challenges blacks and other groups have faced in the US. It’s been known, documented and studied for decades.
Fuck being woke- but this reads like a blatant appeal to those who resent not having many good female friendships in high school. It was those pesky TEENAGE GIRLS all along! Boohoo. The origins of “wokeness” and how it became a problem are way more complex than this divisive diagnosis.
This has a plausible ring to it, and makes a lot of sense. But do not doubt for a moment that an evil presence is and has been at work.
The left must fundamentally understand they have been led by Satan... and teenagers.
“Woke” 👀 is a perversion of “awake” which is meant to be synonymous with consciousness 🧠
In its inception, it meant to be aware of the implicit biases faced by and embodied by black people👊🏿. It was created in an effort to establish an intangible solidarity 🫱🏿🫲🏾 under positivity among the youth during the Bush-Regan crack 🪨era of the late 80s - early 90s that crippled inner cities to fund South American black-ops.
It’s a word that comes w/ high-top fades , new jack swing, college crew neck sweaters, and wooden peace ✌🏾pendants. The era of shows like “In Living Color, A Different World, & Hanging with Mr.Cooper”. Characters like Furious Styles, the patriarchal figure of Boyz n The Hood.
Sadly, it’s become a manifestation of demagoguery, a proxy for racial tension & a means of virtue signaling for cheap praise by people outside of the culture it was made to protect and guide.
Oddbean new post about login | logout 