Social Justice Warrior?

[rowyn]

grrm has been writing about the Hugos lately, and one of his side issues has been that he finds the term "SJW" very offensive, and wants "his side" to be called "liberals" or "progressives" instead.

I am fascinated by this, for a couple of reasons. One: I rather like the term "Social Justice Warrior". I prefer "social justice cleric" for myself, but I'm fine with SJW. I find it a convenient term for distinguishing those with a keen interest in social justice and tolerance of diversity in many and varied forms. I know SJW was originally a conservative jab at us, but I thought it had been reclaimed, like "gay" or "queer". The other is that I think of myself as an SJW, but not a liberal or a progressive. So the substitution doesn't work for me. I suppose SJWs could claim "egalitarian" instead, but who would claim to be anti-egalitarian?

Then again, who wants to come out as antisocial injustice pacifists? As insults go, SJW has never had a lot of sting. n_n

EDIT: I've locked comments to this entry, 'cause I'm not enjoying some of the conversation the topic is generating. Y'all feel free to carry on in your own journals if you've more to say. :)

Comments

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

I dunno, I feel like the problem is wrapping other people up in labels. Calling your opposition 'SJWs' emphasizes that they are the mysterious 'them'... You know, the ones who keep good things from happening. We can't have nice things because of 'them'. But the argument keeps morphing, and somewhere down there you just are left with the feeling some people want to rationalize their own bad behavior because of 'them'.

So maybe GRRM's argument is that assigning the SJW labels to 'his side' is wrapping him and others sympathetic to his views in a convenient box which allows their arguments to be dismissed by strawman opinions, i.e. "other people labelled SJWs have said or done these things, you are a SJW, therefore your argument is invalid." It's shoddy thinking. Whereas if he and his side are called 'WorldCon fans' or 'trufans' or whatnot, maybe the other side will stop thinking about them in terms of 'the hated SJWs with whom we have no common cause' and start thinking 'are these actually people with whom we disagree?'

I mean, if people choose to associate themselves with a label that has a well-understood meaning, that's one thing, but assigning labels to people when they didn't choose it is another.

[rowyn]

But "trufans" != SJW, nor do any of the other alternatives GRRM offered. :/ I say this as someone who identifies as SJW but not liberal or progressive. I mean, fine if someone doesn't like a label and wants a different one. But the different one ought to represent the same traits. And liberal and progressive do not: they imply a whole spectrum of political policies that are not about social justice.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Well, he proposed that *if* people were talking about politics, *then* it would be appropriate to identify him as a liberal or progressive. *If* people were talking about the Hugos, *then* he should be identified as a WorldCon fan or a trufan. Using SJW for both is just sloppy and shallow thinking.

[rowyn]

Then those terms work for labeling GRRM. They still don't work for labeling me. And I clearly need a new label, because this post has convinced me SJW doesn't work. x_x

[zeeth_kyrah]

I find "SJW" to be a broadside cannon, full of paint to be slung at everyone in the social justice movement. Maybe it was originally meant as a jab at people who advocate social justice by mob rule (I'm still figuring this one out)... but it's turned into "anyone who likes this stuff I don't like". In other words, yeah, a strawman.

[rowyn]

Obviously, when I use the term SJW, I mean it in a positive sense. (I am one!) I could drop the W and just say "SJ folk"; people'd probably know what i mean. Truth is, I don't talk about this stuff much explicitly anyway, so it rarely comes up that I need a term for "people who believe social injustice is still a serious problem throughout the world.".

[rowyn]

But "trufans" != SJW, nor do any of the other alternatives GRRM offered. :/ I say this as someone who identifies as SJW but not liberal or progressive. I mean, fine if someone doesn't like a label and wants a different one. But the different one ought to represent the same traits. And liberal and progressive do not: they imply a whole spectrum of political policies that are not about social justice.