What does “being woke” actually mean?

The term "woke" started in the 1960s in the Black community, to refer to someone who understood how systemic racism affected them. It sort of means the same thing today, but has morphed into a generic insult referring to liberals who think LGBTQ and minorities should be respected and accommodated. A company that has DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accommodation) policies is "woke." Apparently, anything other than acknowledgement of white people's superiority is "woke."

The term has been overused to the point that many people don't actually know what it means, other than "liberal stuff I'm against." Even Donald Trump is saying it's overused by people who can't even define it, although that could be his way of pushing back against Ron DeSantis who is really beating "woke" to death.

There is a hilarious video of a woman who wrote a book about how bad "woke" is who was being interviewed, and when she was asked to define "woke," she couldn't do it.

[media=https://youtu.be/0hsg5mz18ew]

As many have pointed out here, being "woke" originally meant to be aware of social and political issues, especially in regards to injustice.

So, for example, if you understand how the private prison industry actually traps people in a system of poverty which in turn leads to more crime, you would be woke, at least when it comes to the private prison industry.

But Republicans don't want people to be aware of things like that, because then they would vote Democrat. So the Republicans decided to demonize being woke.

For left wings woke means inclusion awareness and for the right wing it means a made up nonsense for attention.

Why bother?

The OED is written by educated professionals and any definition they might write is likely to be seen as coming from the vast cabal of globalist intellectuals Trumpists hate.

I see others are trying to answer your question less sarcastically, so I'll shut up, other than to say, at this point, trying to understand the bullshit that comes out of their mouths in a rational way is really frustrating.

Using other people’s money and resources to fight made up problems.

Caring about people instead of property 🙃

It’s means… bunch of (W)anchors 😁

In this context it is a slang term used by the GOP and their affiliates and supporters and means nothing, so disregard it as unprofessional slang.

[quote] aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woke[/quote]

Woke being bad is entirely dependent on where you stand on issues. People drawing attention to systemic racism is considered woke/bad by people who want to make excuses and defend how things have always been.

Being inclusive to LGBTQ people can be seen as woke/bad. And why wouldn't it? It flies in the face of what a lot of socially conservative Christians believe.

As we can see in the replies to this the word "woke" has become a buzz word for statists. If someone on the "right" uses woke i understand and if someone on the "left" uses woke i also understand, even though both interpretations are polar opposites.

Woke is a word used to divide us imo as it has taken on a binary, paradoxical meaning depending on who says the word and to whom.

It's the collection of beliefs, opinions and positions anyone who did not vote for Trump, or is not planning on voting for him or DeSantis, has.

The meaning is relative to your political ideology. If you are liberal, being woke means you are conscious and informed about the socioeconomic constraints and racial dynamics that are present. If you are conservative, it means you have subscribed to progressive ideology and radical leftism.

Coca Cola telling white employees to act less white

I think now it means different things to different people... The easiest explanation is it's used to denigrate whatever argument your opponent is putting forward... That's my 2 cents worth

Its like when you tape your eyes open really wide and dump cold water on your head then have a cup of coffee. This is how you really wake up.

Canada is woke: respectful, inclusive, diverse...not everyone’s cup of tea!

Well, anti-woke basically means bigoted.

Here's an example of what I call PC or woke from the NY Times about highschool plays. I don't think this is an appropriate use of being inclusive. I think it's horseshit.

From the left there have been concerns about depictions of race in “South Pacific” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and gender in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Grease.” And at individual schools there have been any number of unexpected complaints, about the presence of bullying in “Mean Girls” and the absence of white characters in “Fences,” about the words “damn” (in “Oklahoma”) and “bastards” (in “Newsies”) and “God” (in “The Little Mermaid”).

It should just mean stupid shit the left does like trigger warnings. Now it's used for too much, though.

I see I'm too late to define it for you, but the good news is, there's a lot of people who have good definitions of it.