What is Woke? The Five Types of Woke?

March 8, 2024 is International Womens Day.? It is great day for celebrating and supporting women in all ‘walks of life’, worldwide.? Alas, it is also a day and a movement that is seen negatively by some people and labelled ‘woke’.

Over the last few years the use of the word ‘woke’ has become common in ‘Western’ countries such as Australia and the USA, amongst many levels in society, from prominent people such as politicians, business leaders and journalists to common people. I feel that the original meaning of the word has been lost and has been replaced by a ‘catch-all’ derogatory term aimed at marginalising any group that one does not identify with.? This is despite the many changes in the world for the better, that have taken place only because of the courage and persistence of subsets of people, usually minorities, in some cases with the support and empathy of the majority.

It would be a sad day and a major backward step for the world if we reverted to accepting lies, obfuscations and gross generalisations as truth, to prosecute agendae against many minority groups.? That is not to say that all minority groups are righteous and tolerant of others.? There clearly are many exceptions. Nevertheless, we should apply critical thinking and look objectively at the present day and the lessons of history, before being quick to judge whether a policy is good or bad.

When we do look objectively it becomes evident that so much of what we take for granted in the developed world today, could have once been considered ‘woke’. Civilisations have a lot to be thankful for the great ideas and ingenuity that have enabled transformations out of barbarism, poverty and hardships. Going forward, we as professionals in our fields of expertise, have great responsibility to ensure that good design, good policy and good practice is not prevented by egoic identity politics.

What is ‘woke’ though? There appears to be five categories for the meaning of the word ‘woke’.

1.???? The original meaning with a positive connotation - for people who were awake to injustices towards and disadvantages of minority?groups in societies.

2.???? A derogatory term for situations in which the pendulum was believed to be, though not necessarily was, over-corrected, and the (formerly) disadvantaged minority was perceived to have been given an unfair positive advantage, rather than simply a fair and equitable playing field. An example is quotas for reduced barriers to entry based on gender, religion, skin colour, socio-economic disadvantage and so on.? This category of woke, pays no heed to common situations in the world today, in which there are complete barriers to freedom of expression and to employment and career advancement, based on religion or ethnicity, in theocratic and autocratic nations. ? Another example is protective tariffs or subsidies for the benefit of a subset of industries, products or services.? However these are not considered to be woke, if they are considered essential and necessary for national security, economic prosperity or simply applauded based on egoic identities of nationalism.

3.???? A derogatory term for situations in which any attempt at raising the plight or position of any disadvantaged group towards parity (not above parity), is seen as woke. Those seeking equal rights for women to vote, work outside the home, drive a car and many other so-called women’s issues, would be considered ‘woke’. Diversity, equity and inclusion policies in workplaces would be considered ‘woke’. This woke is very selective, depending on one’s egoic identities.? Hence the Australian Football League’s (AFL’s) Indigenous Round and Pride Round are woke, but the spectacularly successful, annual Anzac Day match since 1995 at the MCG is not woke; though each are showing empathy, respect and gratitude towards a minority subset of society who are often “doing it tough”.

4.???? Concepts, beliefs, behaviours and institutions - which today?represent a “majority” position that were (most likely) previously a minority position and are symptomatic of a different set of entrenched beliefs aimed at marginalising a group.? The above women’s issue examples could also be this 4th category. There are many examples of good ideas by design, that were invented or used by a minority group, but are today widely accepted, utilised by the majority and are changes for the better. The mobile phone and smart phone are two prominent examples. In my profession of engineering, equitable access provisions in public spaces comes to mind, such as ramps, escalators and lifts instead of stairs, automatic doors, wheelchair access to public transport and principles of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). Numerous labour-saving devices such as home appliances, and widely accepted design inventions such as electricity, refrigeration and air-conditioning, would also fit into this category.

5.???? A 'nonsense woke' category, that is a derogatory term for things that have little to do with the above, but are simply things that some subsets of people do not like, are ignorant of, or choose not to understand about other subsets of people, and label them woke, out of laziness, arrogance or ego. This 5th type of woke is arguably for anything that you choose not to find a better description to defend your dislike of. Professional tennis player Jordan Thompson’s outburst at the Australian Open in January 2024 is an example of this 5th type; Jordan believed that it is woke to permit the disturbance of allowing spectators to move from their seats at the end of each game, instead of every 3 games, as had previously been the rule.? Conversely?one could argue that the tennis?players are the woke ones, who insist on silence during play, unlike most if not all other professional sportspeople in football, rugby, cricket, basketball, netball, hockey, swimming and so on.

Ron de Santis in Florida?last year in the lead up to the USA Republican primaries, had a slogan of “this is where woke comes to die” despite having many ‘woke’ categories of 3, 4 and 5, amongst his constituents and "base" that he was appealing to; despite them being massive beneficiaries of numerous things today that were created for the benefit of a minority; such as women voting, women working outside the home and material benefits such as air conditioning, equitable access provisions such as automatic doors, and many labour saving devices.

Perhaps categories 2 and 3 are the same? However, I believe they are separate and the crux of the matter.? People’s initial reactionary response was due to a perception of unfairness and over-correction.? Type 3 has since morphed into 4 and 5.

Below is a list of a 100 ‘woke’ things; from transformational, large and significant to small and mundane, (in no order) that are mostly type 3, 4 and 5, that people have been benefitting from or accepting willingly for years, centuries/millennia or are relatively new to the world.

I am sure some of the items can be combined or expanded and that you can think of another 100.

Next time you hear someone make a disparaging remark about something being 'woke', listen and then evaluate what they say. What type of 'woke' are they referring to? Does it really stack-up? Hold them to account.

1.???? The invention of the wheel

2.???? Travelling in a car instead of a horse/bullock cart

3.???? Having time off work on weekends

4.???? Having time off work on public holidays, and for annual leave and sick leave

5.???? Women being allowed to vote

6.???? Women having paid work outside the home

7.???? Black or brown skinned people being allowed to vote

8.???? Objection to slavery

9.???? Contraception rights

10.? Abortion rights

11.? Rule-of-law and a judicial system

12.? Free press / Independent media

13.? Workplace health and safety laws

14.? International Womens Day

15.? Valentines Day

16.? Anzac Day and any initiatives to acknowledge and support war veterans

17.? Queen’s/King’s Birthday

18.? National Day / Australia Day

19.? Any religious holiday

20.? Believing or not-believing in an external God

21.? Setting a condition for receiving unconditional love from humans, animals and failing that, from an external God

22.? Going to (or not going to) a church, temple, mandir, mosque …

23.? Believing or not-believing in astrology or similar things

24.? Footballers and cricketers having concussion substitutes on the playing field

25.? Batters in cricket wearing protective equipment such as a helmet, pads and gloves

26.? Sunscreen for your skin

27.? Sunglasses for your eyes

28.? Wet suits for cold water

29.? Stubby holders for cold beer bottles

30.? No smoking inside planes

31.? No smoking in restaurants, bars, and pubs

32.? No smoking in various public places such as offices, railway stations and sports stadia

33.? Wearing seatbelts in cars

34.? Having traffic signals and lane markings on roads

35.? Public roads

36.? Having a “working with children” police clearance for any leadership positions with children

37.? Professional tennis players insisting on silent spectators when playing tennis

38.? Telephones and telegraphs

39.? Mobile phones

40.? Smart phones

41.? Nappies for babies and/or elderly incontinent people

42.? “Total Fire Bans” in hot, dry summers

43.? Seating at stadia instead of standing room only

44.? Public transport – trains, trams, buses, ferries

45.? Public health care

46.? Social security

47.? Public hospitals

48.? Any hospitals

49.? Fire brigades

50.? Ambulances

51.? Houses (as apart from living outside)

52.? Public housing

53.? Public toilets

54.? Clean water and public water supply systems

55.? Public sewerage systems and sanitation

56.? Public electricity services

57.? Public gas services

58.? Public prison (corrective services) systems

59.? Frequent Flyer programs and lounges

60.? Escalators and lifts

61.? Wheelchair access to public transport

62.? Automatic doors

63.? Labour saving devices such as vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, brooms, power tools, air dryers …

64.? Air conditioning

65.? Refrigeration

66.? Hot showers

67.? Shampoo

68.? Soap

69.? Lipstick

70.? Perfume

71.? Jewellery

72.? Toilet seats

73.? Toilet paper

74.? Tissues

75.? Cutlery and crockery

76.? Water fountains in public places

77.? Shade in public places

78.? Public swimming pools

79.? Concessions for the elderly, disabled, pregnant and children and infants

80.? Surf life savers at beaches

81.? Swimming between the flags at beaches

82.? Umbrellas

83.? Scarves, gloves, hats, boots, and coats for cold weather

84.? Hats for sunny, hot weather

85.? Money/Currency instead of pure bartering

86.? Currency exchanges

87.? Passports and visas

88.? Customs and border controls

89.? Progressive taxation (in which the rich pay more)

90.? Unions of any type

91.? Behaviours of common courtesy such as saying “please, thank you, good morning, goodbye, goodnight” and waiting patiently in queues

92.? Behaviours such as accepting the results of fair elections and decisions

93.? Advertising your goods and services for sale

94.? Attention seeking by displaying your name at the top of tall buildings

95.? Attention seeking by graffiti

96.? Attention seeking by writing and commenting on social media posts

97.? Cosmetic surgery and pharmaceuticals

98.? Indoor dining at indoor restaurants (in the days when nobody had heard of it) and outdoor dining at outdoor restaurants (in the days when everybody had forgotten about it)

99.? Barista coffee (in the days when nobody had heard of it - in places like Australia)

100.??????????????? Take-away food (in the days when nobody had heard of it - in places like Australia)