Should Social Justice Warriors reclaim the term Social Justice Warriors?

An observation:

The language of warfare has been invoked many times in reference to gamergate this week.

The US Civil War

WWI

WWII

Why is Ms. Penny’s act to reclaim the “Social Justice Warrior” the only instance that deserves handwringing about the vibe of the nouns of war?

full disclosure: I’m not ashamed to align with social justice warriors.

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I see you more as a badass social justice dragon.

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Not the OP, and I don’t mean to speak for them…

But I do doubt that that was the implication of what they said. Rather it was a moment of perspective, a more intelligent version of the ever annoying “#firstworldproblems” meme.

We should keep in mind that we’re rallying against basically forum trolls in the arena of first world media culture, and putting down organized state-sponsored regimes of oppression, or deep institutional discrimination. This doesn’t mean people should react, just they should realize that they are fighting a minor skirmish in a giant and bloody war, and not the war itself (to use the annoying military speak). Its still worth standing up to, obviously.

Again, not the OP… They might have meant something completely different, and this is only my (potentially very wrong) interpretation of their words.

Did you just call me a firemouthbreather?!?

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I’m fine with “social justice warrior”, but I think I’ll stick to my long-standing project of reclaiming the term, “socialist”.

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I’m not going to commit to one side or another of the gamercaust, as I haven’t played anything more involving than kmahjongg for a few years now. The larger issues are what I was speaking to, and the lazy tropes of bigotry are so toned down and coded now that they really don’t belong in any competent expression of art at all, regardless of the medium. There’s historical context, sure, but only to the extent that the POV and expectations of the characters will be something distinctly separate from the POV and expectations of most readers/viewers/players.

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Agreed fully on this point. This here extends far beyond culture struggles and very much into daily life. How we speak about a third party affects not only them but our own thoughts as well and seems to lead very quickly into the paradox of tolerance problem which essentially dehumanizes the self as well as the other.

As for your main point, if I think for a moment, my objection to the “warrior” term in the social context is that of hyperbole as well as the false equivalence you mention.

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It worked for the suffragettes.

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Found this today, thought it sounded relevant:

“The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.”
–Thucydides

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That would be an odd sentiment for him, since such a separation hadn’t really been contemplated, and it seems to be a misattribution.

It looks like the full quote is “The nation that will insist upon drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking by cowards”, from British officer William Butler.

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Peace activists do not, as a rule, appreciate being called “Peace warriors.”

Not the least for the self-defeat inherent in such a term.

What about Green Peace? :slight_smile:

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heh. But they aren’t Peace Activists so much as Eco Warriors, and as such participate in perpetuating the predominant polarized partriarchal paradigm.

You can call a lamb’s tail a leg, but that doesn’t mean it has 5 legs.

But have you played Crime Simulator?

I’m fooled by the marketing department once again!

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#Everything I Need to Know about Marketing I Learned from the Comics

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If Urban dictionary didn’t describe it in a positive light, then it’s time to abandon that phrase all together.

DocMelonhead casts Resurrect Thread

Why are you digging this up? oh yeah, that’s right…

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I’m not a slactivist, I’m a theatre-level grand strategist of social justice. You can tell by the pompous affect and cushy chair miles behind the lines.

Disturb not the sleep of ancient dead threads. Start new ones.

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