Board 8 > Is "SJW" a valid insult?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I keep seeing people at other communities say that people who use SJW unironically have nothing of value to say (was it ever used ironically?) But I think it definitely applies in some cases. For example, those who got worked up over Mario wearing a sombrero in Mario Odyssey are SJWs.

What do you think?
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I think it's a term that some individuals will revel in and others will believe is a signal of stupidity. I believe there are many good and important things so-called "SJWs" are doing and there are many wastes of time as well. I believe that it is like most every label throughout human history -- varied. And I believe that, as with most labels, the majority of the individuals who will discuss the term and its meaning will not take that into account.
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SJW used to describe people that were so far left they were parodies if themselves.

NOW however it's used almost entirely by assholes to describe everyone who calls them out for being racist, sexist, etc to the point that it's impossible to take the term seriously.
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It kinda reached over abundance due to post-gamergate internet life, but it was a viable insult before self awareness of the Casual Revolution of 2007 came into play in 2015/2016.
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Johnbobb posted...

SJW used to describe people that were so far left they were parodies if themselves.

That's a good way to put it
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I must live under a rock.
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It's sad that it's become a pejorative term because, if you take away all the bad connotations, the idea of being a warrior for social justice is very cool. But yeah, "parodies of themselves" is pretty much the common usage nowadays.
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What is SJW?

Sailor Jupiter Waifu?

It's a term that says more about the person using it than the person they're trying to insult.
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I just remembered that William Shatner calls people SJWs on twitter, and I think that's hilarious
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CasanovaZelos posted...

It's a term that says more about the person using it than the person they're trying to insult.

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I'm not sure if people even use it as an insult anymore or just use it as a term to describe someone with a certain set of beliefs.
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Zachnorn posted...

I'm not sure if people even use it as an insult anymore

Oh, they do
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Zachnorn posted...

I'm not sure if people even use it as an insult anymore or just use it as a term to describe someone with a certain set of beliefs.

Except it's a term that means whatever the individual using it wants it to mean. We once had emo, then hipster, now we have SJW as that term that lost any actual meaning and just refers to people who have different views (but where hipster was used for views on art and entertainment, SJW is used for politics).

SJW used to specifically refer to people who took social issues too far ('stop romance-coding the phrase 'in love',' etc), which most people could agree was a negative thing. Now it's essentially thrown at anyone who cares about racism, homophobia, etc. in the slightest amount.
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Yeah, not every delusional leftist is a SJW. Most don't actively attack people for having different opinions - a distinctive trait of the SJW.
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Even people on the left like Laci Greene are using it now after she got effectively excommunicated.

So the second.
The internet just makes the third look more like it.
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Vlado posted...

a distinctive trait of the SJW.

Is vlado the Steve Irwin of the internet?
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The problem with SJW is it doesn't mean anything not does it refer to any actual group or individual. It's all strawman. You can be an SJW in one context, and not in another. It has no consistent usage at all.

That being said, if you understand what the current context is and how SJW is used in that context, it can have an actual meaning.
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So why do people use it if it has no meaning? Mostly it's a keyword/virtue signaling that you are an ally of that movement
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Gatarix posted...

It's sad that it's become a pejorative term because, if you take away all the bad connotations, the idea of being a warrior for social justice is very cool. But yeah, "parodies of themselves" is pretty much the common usage nowadays.

Well, I think it has the implication of having an overinflated sense of self-importance, thinking you're some warrior of justice when you're really just some random dude ranting on the internet. Or at least that's how I've always seen it.
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The word is incredibly overused and often unnecessary. But people like that actually exist in fact I dated one in high school.

What I've realized is they don't just try really hard to defend others (which is fine), but they do it by being hypocritical and racist/sexist as well. Referencing that girlfriend again, she would go on these rants about oppression and whatnot, but then blame white people as a whole or men as a whole. Despite being white herself for example.

Her head was so far up her ass she had no clue what she was talking about half the time, and is just an all around awful person
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"SJW" is like "pretentious" or what "emo" used to be.

it has meaning, but it's ridiculously overused.
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Yeap going with the common view here, SJWs are very much a thing but the term is just applied to literally anything having to do with political correctness at all
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I dislike how it is such a blanket term now and that it also - generally on the conservative side - connotes mental illness as well.
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It's overused to the point it's lost all meaning.
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No, and it never had any validity. It's a always been word that only existed to put down others. ITT I'm seeing a lot of 'it was okay when I was the one calling others SJWs, but now that others are calling me that, the term has lost its meaning.'
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foolm0r0n posted...

The problem with SJW is it doesn't mean anything not does it refer to any actual group or individual. It's all strawman. You can be an SJW in one context, and not in another. It has no consistent usage at all.

This is true about literally every single insult
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SeabassDebeste posted...

No, and it never had any validity. It's a always been word that only existed to put down others. ITT I'm seeing a lot of 'it was okay when I was the one calling others SJWs, but now that others are calling me that, the term has lost its meaning.'

Well the thing is this is kinda true, but words/things/etc can become overused too. I'd argue that sometime during the middle/end of gamergate/rise of the alt right into the mainstream which happened sometime in early-mid 2015 (and definitely by 2016) was when term became too used to the point that now it has no meaning.
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It's a term that's overused because it should never be used at all, but saying it has zero meaning is a gross exaggeration. It still has a very obvious meaning - someone who's overly sensitive, especially about identity politics, possibly hypocritically so.

Its overuse might have dulled its impact, though.
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SantaRPidgey posted...

This is true about literally every single insult

Not at all
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LeonhartFour posted...

Gatarix posted...

It's sad that it's become a pejorative term because, if you take away all the bad connotations, the idea of being a warrior for social justice is very cool. But yeah, "parodies of themselves" is pretty much the common usage nowadays.

Well, I think it has the implication of having an overinflated sense of self-importance, thinking you're some warrior of justice when you're really just some random dude ranting on the internet. Or at least that's how I've always seen it.

Yeah, that's also a good point. Keyboard warrior-type stuff.

But I think it would be neat to reclaim (or I guess "claim") the term for actual warriors of social justice. Like there's a guy I know who spent a summer tutoring inner-city students, he volunteers bringing meals to a local housing project, he does legal work for a student advocacy group, etc. I like to think of him as "the SJW" in a good way even though I know that's never how the term is actually used.
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A lot of people do try to reclaim SJW, but I don't think it really works since there's still too many people unironically using it. Also the n-word parallel is bad.
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foolm0r0n posted...

SantaRPidgey posted...

This is true about literally every single insult

Not at all

Its so true that i would go so far to say any insult that doesnt meet that criteria isnt really an insult, instead being closer to legitimate critism
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Insults can only be invalid criticism? That's the most sheltered thing I ever heard. Did your mommy tell you that?

If you do something that is logically or intellectually wrong, you're an idiot or dumb. If you do something that is racially prejudiced, you're racist. If you hate women, you're misogynist. And so on. That's what those insults mean. It can even be mildly positive, like if you care more about some topic than is socially acceptable, you're a nerd. If you work too much, you're a workaholic. Legitimate criticism, and insults.

There are no such distinctions with SJW. I tried for a long time to nail down what specific thing it was actually referring to, and there's nothing. It's all entirely instance-specific (the same person in the same context might still use it inconsistently). The only common grouping is that an SJW made an anti-SJW mad once. And the entire reason for an anti-SJW's existence is to be mad at things, so that group contains the entire population, past present and future.
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It's a non-specific word that is horribly overused, ironically, by the same people who say "Nazi is losing it's meaning because it's overused".
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foolm0r0n posted...

SantaRPidgey posted...

This is true about literally every single insult

Not at all

Right just the ones you use.
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EndOfDiscOne posted...

those who got worked up over Mario wearing a sombrero in Mario Odyssey are SJWs.

The funny thing about this is that I've yet to see the people who are complaining about this. I saw one person go "DISCOURSE GO" (which was probably joking) followed by several people explaining, very well I might add, why it wasn't cultural appropriation.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying these people don't exist, but I haven't stumbled across them yet.

Anyways, I went with option 2. Some people honestly deserve the moniker. That being said, on the internet, every stupid action creates an equally stupid and opposite reaction, and the people who most vocally use the word think everyone to the left of Reagan counts as one.

It's a cycle of stupidity. It doesn't matter if one side does it more or less anymore. Someone does something stupid, someone on the opposite side sees it and reacts with something just as, if not more stupid, and the first person sees that and reacts by getting stupider. We're circling the toilet bowl at this point.
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scarletspeed7 posted...

Right just the ones you use.

The cool thing about insults and criticism is you can believe whatever you want. You can even make yourself believe you are a video game and any criticism of that video game is just someone specifically trying to piss you off for no reason. The possibilities are endless!
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Of course not, skeletons are awesome.
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Do people actually believe they are the games? Because I would hate for them to think I'm just trying to press their buttons.
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scarletspeed7 posted...

Do people actually believe they are the games? Because I would hate for them to think I'm just trying to press their buttons.

Topic over, scarletspeed7 wins.
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That would be if people are the controllers
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BowserCuffs posted...

cultural appropriation

Using this phrase non-jokingly means you are an SJW. Sorry.
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That's funny because I purposely live in squalor and eat jellied meats to culturally appropriate from you, Vlado.
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Vlado posted...

BowserCuffs posted...

cultural appropriation

Using this phrase non-jokingly means you are an SJW. Sorry.

Excellent example!
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SJWs are the good guys. Get over it.

How could I trust someone who has gone evil on who the good guys are?
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foolm0r0n posted...

Vlado posted...

BowserCuffs posted...

cultural appropriation

Using this phrase non-jokingly means you are an SJW. Sorry.

Excellent example!

I'm already an SJW because I've dyed my hair before, though.
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BowserCuffs posted...

I'm already an SJW because I've dyed my hair before, though.

Was it not one of the socially approved RGB values?
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foolm0r0n posted...

BowserCuffs posted...

I'm already an SJW because I've dyed my hair before, though.

Was it not one of the socially approved RGB values?

It was as black as the seal on my soul black.

Is that a socially approved RGB value?
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