What exactly is a SJW ?

[Deleted]

I know the basic definition. If I am not mistaken, it would be someone who takes too much in consideration social injustices and may focus on irrelevant, overexagerated or even inexistant issues. At worst they fight injustice (real or not) by reversing an inequality, blaming the white heterosexual man, witch hunting etc...

I saw a bunch of articles on the matter with quotes of labeled SJW and indeed those comments can be really ridiculous : Sexism in witcher 3 for example.

But I don't really see many of these comments or articles. However I read a bunch of comment on the theme "SJW ruins the world" but I hardly see anyone besides exceptions who fits the description. So I wonder if I am blind to the problem and may well be myself a SJW or if the definition is a lot more blurred than it seems.

When I read a comment section on youtube (I don't know why I do that, i know it's toxic) I can easily found a bunch of anti-SJW comments but no SJW comments or even something adressing social issues. I used to think that people were just doing a bigger deal than it really is but when I look closely I wonder if some people use the term SJW to reject any social issues as an excuse.

There are extreme everywhere and we should not see it as representative of a group. Nobody will deny that they used to have a huge gap in gender equality in the 60s but I am not going to summarize every feminist group based on the SCUM manfesto (women can be funny, check it out) but I fear it is happening currently. Social issues still exist and a very small minority seems to be used in every internet discussion to reject the debate.

But it might be just me. Paranoia is a SJW's trait after all.

And sorry for my poor level in English.

Edit : I should not make fun of Valerie Solanas, she might come back from the grave and attempt to murder me.

[Dug]

You're essentially right on the money. People use it to lash back at the very people who claim everything is racist/sexist/___phobic. It's the exact same shit but they think they're somehow different.

[s_bushido]

The best part about the term is that the people who dislike the word "feminist" being smeared with the "death to evil cis-het white men" or "literally everything is sexist" crap, also dislike SJW being used as the pejorative of choice instead. There's really no winning.

[PACOX]

Some see "SJW" as a label you throw at you enemies, to hurt them, to demoralize them.
But one does not become a "SJW", you're born one or earn the title through blood, sweat, and tears spent battling hoards of shitlords on college campuses and internet forums.
Its a badge of pride, a badge of strength, one that isn't taken lightly. But not with too much pride, or you might have to check your own privilege.

[IntellectuallyChallenged]

It's too broad of a term to define. To some people it's one thing. To others it means something entirely different. In a nutshell, it's a term used by one person to degrade another that has a different opinion about humanity than they do. Even if, no especially if, that opinion has moral value.

For instance: I am considered a SJW because I believe all human beings are equal. From the vagrant living on the streets to the millionaire in his luxury, we are all equals. There are no exceptions. Superiority doesn't actually exist. My boss isn't my superior, he's just a guy that has a little more responsibility than I do. I do my job because I have a good work ethic and I take pride in my work, no matter what I'm being paid. For that, my boss gives me respect. As I do for him for accepting my point of view.

[masterhorus8]

I was called an SJW by someone who thinks that cynicism is their best trait and was trying to ruin other peoples' harmless fun in WoW. So apparently it means different things to different people. :\

[kail]

At this point, anything. It's another derogatory term that has lost meaning to me based on how I've seen it used.

[Deleted]

I am a true SJW. We want to make everybody in the world the same. The poorest guy in Africa or where ever in this world should have the same conditions of life than all others. Even if that means a complete collapse of the 1st world. We are absolute justice.

[Grummgug]

For a broader scope, there are people on the left that do NOT believe in social freedom. They strongly support social controls (from a left wing point of view). These people get labeled a variety of ways but SJW is one of them.

A person who supports both economic and social controls would be considered an authoritarian, or perhaps imperial is a better word. There are quite a few imperials in the left-wing that think the economy should be strongly controlled and social freedoms should be rolled back.

economic controls and social controls = imperial
economic controls and social freedom = liberal
economic freedom and social controls = religious conservative
economic freedom and social freedom = libertarian / anarchist

However I don't think a society with economic controls and social freedom will exist for very long because social freedom flows from economic freedom. Once the government controls the economy, it doesn't take long before it starts imposing its will on social issues to help run the economy. You might think Europe is economic controls and social freedom, but once they have a lot of control over all aspects of society, they start to do things like import immigrants from other countries and force everyone to accept it because they think those immigrants can help fill jobs or something and they really don't give a crap if there is social unrest over it.

[THE Bigzoman]

A SJW is someone who uses social justice causes or concepts to rationalize violations of the harm principle, mostly for reasons that most rational people would find benign and dumb.

Pretty much the only type of people I don't hesitate to call faggets.

Harping on White people wearing dreads or disrupting speakers being an example.

[Skillslam]

It's all about the high of feeling morally superior to someone else no matter what the cost. It's easy and accessible because you don't have to do shit besides pay lip service on the internet and occasionally change your Facebook profile flag.

[Independent voter]

Black people as a group need help, it's hard for a black man to get a job in this country for one and a job means everything in this country.

So people advocating for black people, that's fine.

All the other groups should shut up until black people reach some kind of parity with the rest of us, once blacks reach some kind of parity we can look at LGBT, Hispanic, Asian, etc, etc, etc, causes.

[Grummgug]

Black people as a group need help, it's hard for a black man to get a job in this country for one and a job means everything in this country.

So people advocating for black people, that's fine.

All the other groups should shut up until black people reach some kind of parity with the rest of us, once blacks reach some kind of parity we can look at LGBT, Hispanic, Asian, etc, etc, etc, causes.

What's interesting is that the way to erase color lines is to stop focusing on everyone's differences. Unfortunately we take the exact opposite approach with race. If everyone stops talking about something, it does in fact go away.

We could create reminders of the millions slaughtered by communists in the USSR all the time, making new films and creating new ceremonies to never forget. The result would be that tensions between Russians and other groups would increase. We could create reminders of slavery in America for decades and create new ceremonies to never forget, and the result would be that racial tensions would rise. We could never talk of the Russian Gulag and the result is it and its meaning completely drops out of the global consciousness to the point where people don't even associate the far left with death camps. We could never talk of slavery again and the result would be complete integration of blacks and white and racial peace.

[Dhrizzle]

Well I was branded an SJW for saying that death and rape threats sent over Twitter don't count as valid criticism, but in general it seems to be applied to anyone who leans towards the left/progressive/liberal side of social politics.

[Bigbazz]

People who have become professional at being offended, often at the expense of other people and largely by using prejudice themselves to fight the chosen cause. Quite often they have nothing to personally be offended by so they take up the role of being offended on behalf of others. Irrational, immature and anti-social behaviour to be expected.

[Kraenen]

Black people as a group need help, it's hard for a black man to get a job in this country for one and a job means everything in this country.

So people advocating for black people, that's fine.

All the other groups should shut up until black people reach some kind of parity with the rest of us, once blacks reach some kind of parity we can look at LGBT, Hispanic, Asian, etc, etc, etc, causes.

Oddly enough if you're black and gay you can get some pretty good treatment (source: https://psmag.com/the-high-salary-tr...e-4a9b36658e9c)

Trans people arguably have it harder than black people (excepting black trans people) with their suicide and poverty rates, etc...

[Deleted]

A SJW is someone who uses social justice causes or concepts to rationalize violations of the harm principle, mostly for reasons that most rational people would find benign and dumb.

That's actually a very eloquent way of putting it, even though it does rely on a bit of extra knowledge, really good phrasing there B

Simply put:

SJWs are the left-wing version of right-wing religious fanatics, with the same level of authoritarianism and puritanism and hatred of free speech, but motivated by a marxist-feminist-class-warfare-inspired victim narrative rather than a religion-deontological-ethics-inspired victim narrative

Since these days the right-wing religious nuts have no power, no credibility and are basically just a bleating annoyance -- SJWs are the worst people out there and the current most dangerous threat to free speech and rational discourse in the public domain

Well I was branded an SJW for saying that death and rape threats sent over Twitter don't count as valid criticism, but in general it seems to be applied to anyone who leans towards the left/progressive/liberal side of social politics.

At this point it's pretty much a derogatory label for anyone who suggests minorities might actually still be discriminated against and thinks we should do something about it other than shrug our shoulders and go "oh well," used by a bunch of hyper sensitive people whose jimmies are perpetually rustled and think people actually care enough about them to try to oppress and subjugate them.

Also see above, SJWs use strawman arguments like this a lot, attempt to claim the intellectual high ground, and try to hand-wave away all criticism by attacking the source - pretty standard stuff

[poser765]

Realistically? In it's popular usage form the term "SJW" is a way to hand wave away someone's argument that you don't agree with. When someone reads something, or hears something from someone else they don't like in regards to social issues they can simply label them a Social Justice Warrior, which is enough reason to not take them seriously anymore.

It's a meme at this point, and honestly, people who use it without irony look just as foolish as those who use the word "sheeple."

[Deleted]

I have a feeling that if I contributed to this discussion and gave a definition of how I see what a SJW is, I'd get infracted for "minor flaming" or something similar. So, I'll just say that a SJW, or a "Social Justice Warrior", is not a label that just means someone who fights for social justice. It's a sarcastic label given to certain kinds of people.

[Wilian]

SJW is an authoritarian whom wishes to control and impair free speech through pretense of defending social issues, in short taking advantage of misery of others so that their own, "I choose what is right speech" attitudes may be implemented upon others.

It's a big play of pretense so that speech may be controlled into 'personally more favoured tracks'.

Nowdays the term has been overtaken by far-right loonies however, adding it against anyone whom they think have wrong idea, which is ironic in itself as that makes them many times SJW themselves but of different sort.