Meaning of wokelash | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A backlash against media, speech, etc. deemed inconsistent with social justice principles, or viewed as perpetuating unwoke or reactionary ideas.
2. A backlash against or mass rejection of wokeness, or of media, policies, etc. deemed woke or politically correct.

Examples

“A “wokelash”, I called it, a backlash designed to denounce Friends’s ageing values. I was scathing about this wokelash at first: all those youngsters raising their voices in condemnation, so confident that the things they thought and said, felt and believed wouldn't seem preposterously outdated 25 years hence too… but then I realised you only judge⟳ a cultural property by today's values if it is still relevant according to today’s standards and habits.”

“His unguarded remarks about the state of comedy inspired a huge wokelash.”

“Over the past fortnight, in the background of the Sussex soap opera, it has often felt as though Britain has been enjoying what you might call⟳ a wokelash. The first royal of colour is quitting not just the firm but also the country, after only 18 months in the job, and the big question⟳ is who ought to feel⟳ bad about it. Much of social media, woke ground zero, has already decided that the answer⟳ to that question⟳ is racist newspapers and racist chat hosts, closely followed by their racist readers and viewers.”

“There is a solid demographic of people who are fed up with what they see⟳ as increasingly rigid progressive ideals who feel⟳ clamped by the modern liberal consensus. […] Liberal ideals are being subjected to a wokelash, and telling people what they should and shouldn’t culturally consume⟳ is not going to help⟳ build⟳ any bridges between divided factions.”

“Some centrist Democrats today say⟳ “woke” politics have⟳ gone too far and provoked the “wokelash” (causing Democrats to lose⟳ elections in 2021).”

“Fortunately, there’s early signs of a “wokelash” from institutions that won’t cower to this nonsense. When staff at publisher Hachette threatened to down tools because they regarded JK Rowling as a toxic transphobe for a tweet mocking “people” who menstruate instead of “women”, management pushed back saying they couldn’t refuse⟳ to work⟳ on a book because they disagree with the author’s views.”

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