*** Welcome to piglix ***

Social justice warrior


"Social justice warrior" (commonly abbreviated SJW) is a pejorative term for an individual promoting socially progressive views, including feminism,civil rights,multiculturalism, and identity politics. The accusation of being an SJW carries implications of pursuing personal validation rather than any deep-seated conviction, and being engaged in disingenuous social justice arguments or activism to raise personal reputation, also known as virtue signalling.

The phrase originated in the late 20th century as a neutral or positive term for people engaged in social justice activism. In 2011 when the term first appeared on Twitter it changed from a primarily positive term to an overwhelmingly negative one. During the Gamergate controversy, the negative connotation gained increased use, and was particularly aimed at those espousing views adhering to social liberalism, cultural inclusiveness, or feminism, as well as views deemed to be politically correct.

The term has entered popular culture, including a parody role-playing video game released in 2014 titled Social Justice Warriors.

Dating back to 1824, the term "social justice" refers to justice on a societal level. Abby Ohlheiser wrote in The Washington Post that "social-justice warrior" or variations thereof had been used as a laudatory phrase in the past, and provided an example dating to 1991. She quoted Katherine Martin, the head of U.S. dictionaries at Oxford University Press, who said, "All of the examples I've seen until quite recently are lionizing the person." According to The Washington Post, use of the phrase in a positive manner continued from the 1990s through the 2000s. At the time of the article's publication in October 2015, Martin said "lexicographers there haven't done a full search for its earliest citation" of the term.


...
Wikipedia

...