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{{short description|Pejorative term for a progressive person}}
"'''Social justice warrior'''" (commonly abbreviated "'''SJW'''") is a ] term for a person expressing or promoting ] views, including advocacy for ] and ].<ref name="rozsa" /><ref name="rebeccacohen" /><ref name=WashingtonPost /> The phrase originated as a laudatory term for those engaged in ].<ref name=WashingtonPost />
{{redirect|SJW|other uses|SJW (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
'''''Social justice warrior''''' ('''SJW''') is a ] term and ] mostly used for an individual who promotes ], ] or ] views, including ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].{{refn|{{refn|name=Ohlheiser}}{{refn|name=Johnson}}{{refn|name=Heron & Belford}}<ref name=":1">{{cite news|last1=Stack|first1=Liam|date=August 15, 2017|title=Alt-Right, Alt-Left, Antifa: A Glossary of Extremist Language|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/us/politics/alt-left-alt-right-glossary.html|access-date=September 13, 2017}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Social Justice Warrior|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/what-does-social-justice-warrior-sjw-mean|access-date=2021-08-31|website=]|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Massanari">{{cite journal|last1=Massanari|first1=Adrienne L.|last2=Chess|first2=Shira|date=4 July 2018|title=Attack of the 50-foot social justice warrior: the discursive construction of SJW memes as the monstrous feminine|url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Attack_of_the_50-foot_social_justice_warrior_the_discursive_construction_of_SJW_memes_as_the_monstrous_feminine/10766381/1/files/19278821.pdf|journal=]|volume=18|issue=4|pages=525–542|doi=10.1080/14680777.2018.1447333|s2cid=149070172|issn=1468-0777|via=]}}</ref>}} The accusation that somebody is an SJW carries implications that they are pursuing ] rather than any deep-seated ], and engaging in ] arguments.{{refn|name=Heron & Belford}}{{refn|name=Ringo}}


The phrase originated in the late 20th century as a neutral or positive term for people engaged in ] activism.{{refn|name=Ohlheiser}} In 2011, when the term first appeared on ], it changed from a primarily positive term to an overwhelmingly negative one.{{refn|name=Ohlheiser}} During the ], the term was adopted by what would become the ], and the negative connotations gained increased usage which would eventually overshadow its origins.{{refn|name=Johnson}}<ref name="Massanari">{{cite journal|last1=Massanari|first1=Adrienne L.|last2=Chess|first2=Shira|date=4 July 2018|title=Attack of the 50-foot social justice warrior: the discursive construction of SJW memes as the monstrous feminine|url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Attack_of_the_50-foot_social_justice_warrior_the_discursive_construction_of_SJW_memes_as_the_monstrous_feminine/10766381/1/files/19278821.pdf|journal=]|volume=18|issue=4|pages=525–542|doi=10.1080/14680777.2018.1447333|s2cid=149070172|issn=1468-0777|via=]}}</ref><ref name="Phelan">{{cite journal|last=Phelan|first=Sean|title=Neoliberalism, the Far Right, and the Disparaging of "Social Justice Warriors"|journal=Communication, Culture & Critique|volume=12|issue=4|date=2019|pages=455–475|doi=10.1093/ccc/tcz040|url=https://academic.oup.com/ccc/article-abstract/12/4/455/5643757 | issn = 1753-9137 }}</ref>
Katherine Martin, head of U.S. dictionaries for ], said the term was previously used as a compliment.<ref name=WashingtonPost /> She observed: "All of the examples I've seen until quite recently are lionizing the person."<ref name=WashingtonPost /> Martin noted the phrase had mostly positive usage in the 1990s through 2000s.<ref name=WashingtonPost /> '']'' gave examples of its earlier positive connotation as well as examples from pop culture that illustrated the recent debate surrounding its negative connotation.<ref name=WashingtonPost />


==Meaning==
During the ] the negative connotation gained increased use, and was particularly aimed at those espousing views adhering to ], ] or ].<ref name="rozsa" /><ref name=WashingtonPost /> '']'' reported that the accusation of being an SJW implied a person was engaged in disingenuous ] arguments or activism to raise their personal reputation.<ref name=ViceAllegra /> ''Vice'' assessed the problematic use of the term: "The problem is, that's not a real category of people. It's simply a way to dismiss anyone who brings up social justice—and often those people are feminists."<ref name=ViceAllegra />


===Original meaning===
The term entered ] usage, including a ] ] released in 2014 titled ''Social Justice Warriors''.<ref name="parreno" /><ref name="technologytell" /> The game was focused around debating an ], and its creator was motivated to encourage users to engage in ].<ref name="breiner" /> For those who did not wish to view the phrase online, a ] extension ''SJW to Skeleton'' was developed in 2014 which replaced instances of the term with "skeleton".<ref name="maggs" />
{{details|Social justice}}
Dating back to 1824, the term ''social justice'' refers to justice on a societal level.<ref>{{cite web |work=] |date=September 2005 |url-access=subscription |title=social justice |url=http://oed.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=social+justice |edition=3rd |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> From the early 1990s to the early 2000s, ''social-justice warrior'' was used as a neutral or complimentary phrase, as when a 1991 '']'' article describes union activist ] as a "Quebec nationalist and social-justice warrior".<ref name="Ohlheiser">{{cite news |last=Ohlheiser |first=Abby |title=Why 'social justice warrior,' a Gamergate insult, is now a dictionary entry |date=October 7, 2015 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/10/07/why-social-justice-warrior-a-gamergate-insult-is-now-a-dictionary-entry |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126171340/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/10/07/why-social-justice-warrior-a-gamergate-insult-is-now-a-dictionary-entry/ |url-status=live |newspaper=The Washington Post |archivedate=January 26, 2017}}</ref>


Katherine Martin, the head of U.S. dictionaries at ], said in 2015 that "ll of the examples I've seen until quite recently are lionizing the person".{{refn|name=Ohlheiser}} {{As of|2015}}, the '']'' had not done a full search for the earliest usage.{{refn|name=Ohlheiser}} ] dates the earliest use of the term to 1945.<ref name=":0" />
==Origin==
{{more|Social justice}}
Dating back to 1824, the term ''social justice'' refers to justice on a societal level.<ref>{{Harvnb|Oxford University Press|2005}}</ref> Abby Ohlheiser wrote in '']'' that "social-justice warrior" or variations thereof had been used as a laudatory phrase in the past, and provided an example dating to 1991.<ref name=WashingtonPost>{{Harvnb|Ohlheiser|2015}}</ref> She quoted Katherine Martin, the head of U.S. dictionaries at ], who said, "All of the examples I’ve seen until quite recently are lionizing the person".<ref name=WashingtonPost/> According to ''The Washington Post'', use of the phrase in a positive manner continued from the 1990s through the 2000s.<ref name=WashingtonPost /> At the time of the article's publication in October 2015, ''The Washington Post'' noted Martin said "lexicographers there haven’t done a full search for its earliest citation" of the term.<ref name=WashingtonPost /> Kristina Marusic noted that prior to its usage in a negative fashion, social justice warrior had been used to refer to ] and ] describing their efforts on behalf of social justice.<ref name="marusic">{{Harvnb|Marusic|2015}}</ref>


==Pejorative use== ===Pejorative meaning===
According to Martin, the term switched from primarily positive to negative around 2011, when it was first used as an insult on ].{{refn|name=Ohlheiser}} The term first appeared on ] in 2011 and on the ] forums in 2013.<ref name="Massanari" /> According to '']'', the pejorative term "]", which describes a person who is unreasonably angry and hides behind their keyboard, may be a precursor to the "social justice warrior".<ref name="Massanari" /> The negative connotation has primarily been aimed at those espousing views adhering to ], cultural inclusivity, or ].<ref name="Selisker">{{cite journal |issn=0028-6087 |oclc=1296558 |doi=10.1353/nlh.2015.0024 |last=Selisker |first=Scott |title=The Bechdel Test and the Social Form of Character Networks |journal=New Literary History |volume=46 |issue=3 |year=2015 |pages=505–523|s2cid=146326736 |url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/download/hc:13420/CONTENT/selisker-bechdel-test-and-the-social-form-of-character-networks-pre-print.pdf/ }}</ref>{{refn|name=Ohlheiser}}{{refn|name=Johnson}} Scott Selisker writes in '']'' that the SJW is often criticised as the "stereotype of the feminist as unreasonable, sanctimonious, biased, and self-aggrandizing".{{refn|name=Selisker}} Use of the term has also been described as attempting to degrade the motivations of the person accused of being an SJW, implying that their motives are "for personal validation rather than out of any deep-seated conviction".<ref name="Heron & Belford">{{cite journal|last1=Heron|first1=Michael James|last2=Belford|first2=Pauline|last3=Goker|first3=Ayse|year=2014|title=Sexism in the circuitry: female participation in male-dominated popular computer culture|journal=ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society|volume=44|issue=4|pages=18–29|doi=10.1145/2695577.2695582|s2cid=18004724}}</ref><ref name="Ringo">{{cite news |title=Meet the Female Gamer Mascot Born of Anti-Feminist Internet Drama |date=August 28, 2014 |last=Ringo |first=Allegra |work=] |url=https://www.vice.com/read/meet-the-female-gamer-mascot-created-by-anti-feminists-828 |archivedate=January 14, 2016 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114083321/http://www.vice.com/read/meet-the-female-gamer-mascot-created-by-anti-feminists-828}}</ref> Allegra Ringo in '']'' writes that "in other words, SJWs don't hold strong principles, but they pretend to. The problem is, that's not a real category of people. It's simply a way to dismiss anyone who brings up social justice."{{refn|name=Ringo}}
{{more|Gamergate controversy}}
Martin told ''The Washington Post'' the term began gaining traction with a negative connotation in 2011.<ref name=WashingtonPost /> According to ''The Washington Post'', the term's usage in a negative connotation became mainstream due to the ].<ref name=WashingtonPost /> ''The Washington Post'' wrote "Here’s how 'social justice warrior' became a part of that debate" and described "When it was a compliment" and traced examples of its usages in positive forms and subsequently early negative forms.<ref name=WashingtonPost />


The term's negative use became mainstream due to the 2014 ] harassment campaign, where it emerged as the favored term of Gamergate proponents and was popularized on websites such as ], ], and ]. Gamergate supporters used the term to criticise what they claimed were unwanted external influences in video game media from progressive sources.{{refn|name=Ohlheiser}}<ref name="Jeong">{{cite book |last=Jeong |first=Sarah |author-link=Sarah Jeong |url= |title=] |work= |publisher=Forbes Media |year=2015 |isbn=978-1508018865}}</ref> Martin states that "the perceived orthodoxy has prompted a backlash among people who feel their speech is being policed".{{refn|name=Ohlheiser}} In ] and ], the phrase is broadly associated with a wider ] that also included the 2015 ] campaign that affected the ]s.<ref name="Johnson">{{cite web|url=http://recode.net/2014/10/10/understanding-the-jargon-of-gamergate/|title=Understanding the Jargon of Gamergate|last=Johnson|first=Eric|date=October 10, 2014|work=Re/code|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102031743/http://recode.net/2014/10/10/understanding-the-jargon-of-gamergate/|archivedate=January 2, 2016|quote=A Social Justice Warrior, or SJW, is any person, female or male, who argues online for political correctness or feminism. 'Social justice' may sound like a good thing to many of our readers, but the people who use this term only use it pejoratively.}}</ref><ref name="grauniad">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/26/hugo-awards-shortlist-rightwing-campaign-sad-rabid-puppies |title=Hugo awards shortlist dominated by rightwing campaign |last=Barnett |first=David |date=April 26, 2016 |access-date=September 29, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> A study from ] noted that "the appropriation of SJW as a memetic ] became commonplace during and following the upheaval of #Gamergate."<ref name="Massanari" />
Ohlheiser wrote that the derogatory phrase had "emerged as the preferred term among the Gamergate movement for the people they believed to be their greatest enemies."<ref name=WashingtonPost/> In ] and ] the phrase is broadly associated with the Gamergate controversy and wider ] fallout, including the 2015 ] campaign that affected the ]s.<ref name=ViceAllegra>{{Harvnb|Ringo|2014}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Clarke|2014}}</ref><ref name="WaPoGamergate">{{Harvnb|Dewey|2014}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Johnson|2014}}</ref><ref name=SlateWaldman>{{Harvnb|Waldman|2015}}</ref> Usage of the term as a pejorative was popularized on websites ] and ].<ref name="maxhill">{{Harvnb|Hill|2014}}</ref>


In August 2015, ''social justice warrior'' was one of several new words and phrases added to ].{{refn|name=Ohlheiser}}<ref name="Wagner">{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/27/435232388/can-you-use-that-in-a-sentence-dictionary-adds-new-words |publisher=] |title=Can You Use That In A Sentence? Dictionary Adds New Words |date=August 27, 2015 |first=Laura |last=Wagner |archivedate=March 20, 2016 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320210735/http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/27/435232388/can-you-use-that-in-a-sentence-dictionary-adds-new-words|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Steinmetz">{{cite news |url=https://time.com/4010748/oxford-dictionary-update-2015/ |magazine=Time |title=Oxford Dictionaries Adds 'Fat-Shame,' 'Butthurt' and 'Redditor' |first=Katy |last=Steinmetz |date=August 26, 2015 |archive-date=January 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120185422/http://time.com/4010748/oxford-dictionary-update-2015/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
The negative connotation was particularly aimed at those espousing views adhering to ], ] or ].<ref name="rozsa">{{Harvnb|Rozsa|2015}}</ref><ref name=WashingtonPost /> According to '']'', the accusation of being an SJW implies that a person is engaging in disingenuous ] arguments or activism to raise his or her personal reputation.<ref name=ViceAllegra /> ''Vice'' observed: "It's awfully convenient to have a term at the ready to dismiss women who bring up sexism."<ref name=ViceAllegra /> The magazine assessed the problematic use of the term: "The problem is, that's not a real category of people. It's simply a way to dismiss anyone who brings up social justice—and often those people are feminists."<ref name=ViceAllegra />


== See also ==
Writing in a 2014 article for ''ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society'', Heron, Belford and Goker described the motivation of those that used the term in online debate: "the ... term often employed is that of the 'social justice warrior', to imply that the target of the term is a wishy-washy left-wing liberal who seeks to engage in the discussion for personal validation rather than out of any deep-seated conviction."<ref name="heronbelford">{{Harvnb|Heron|Belford|Goker|2014}}</ref> They wrote that the term was used as an: "attempt to neutralize opposition through inferred degradation of the motivations."<ref name="heronbelford" />
{{cols}}

* ]
] advocated ] of social justice warrior as a term for women to themselves use against critics.<ref name="lauriepenny" />]]
* ]
English columnist and author ] wrote in October 2014 that the term was ineffective: "'Social Justice Warrior' just doesn't work as an insult, because a great many people care quite a lot about social justice and are proud to fight for it."<ref name="lauriepenny">{{Harvnb|Penny|2014}}</ref> In the article "Social Justice Warriors and the New Culture War", she ] the word itself, writing: "Us Social Justice Warriors—this is me, stealing that word in order to use it against my enemies—are winning the culture war by tearing up the rulebook, and there's nothing the sad, mad little boys who hate women and queers and people of colour can do about it."<ref name="lauriepenny" /> Penny concluded: "Every time they make an example of one of us, ten more stand up in outrage to hold her up or take her place. We are stronger, smarter and more numerous than anyone imagined, and ''we are not to be fucked with''."<ref name="lauriepenny" />
* ]

* ]
In a December 2014 piece for '']'' queer activist Tile Wolfe defended use of the term in a positive manner to refer to those who wished to increase progressive change in society.<ref name="tilewolfe">{{Harvnb|Wolfe|2014}}</ref> Wolfe commented: "'Social Justice Warriors'—I'm talking progressive folks here, this term's used within multiple movements—are accused of being oversensitive and overeducated, which isn’t quite right. ... Users hold each other accountable, intersectionally—it's not rare to see a lesbian blog take on racial justice in one post, and dating advice in another. They celebrate each other often. And they defend each other in a way that almost no other platform can do by policing trolls when they infiltrate the bubble."<ref name="tilewolfe" /> She concluded such activists should continue their efforts online, writing: "On the spectrum of activism, 'Social Justice Warriors' belong, to push our community on what's acceptable and to carve out unique spaces for those that otherwise wouldn't have a place to call their own."<ref name="tilewolfe" />
* ]

* ]
'']'' journalist Rebecca Cohen classed the term as an outgrowth of individuals belonging to the ].<ref name="rebeccacohen" /> Cohen defined the term as what these individuals and "Gamergaters call someone who advocates equal rights for women and minorities."<ref name="rebeccacohen">{{Harvnb|Cohen|2015}}</ref>
* ]

* ]
{{quote box |width=25em | bgcolor=#c6dbf7 |align=right |halig=left | salign=right|quote="the 'social justice warrior,' i.e., the stereotype of the feminist as unreasonable, sanctimonious, biased, and self-aggrandizing."|source=&nbsp;—'']''<ref name="selisker" />}}
{{colend}}
Scott Selisker wrote for the journal '']'' that the term was used by male participants in online discussion in criticism of feminism.<ref name="selisker">{{Harvnb|Selisker|2015}}</ref> Selisker described their behavior patterns on the Internet: "they often make personal criticisms of what they see as a type: the 'social justice warrior,' i.e., the stereotype of the feminist as unreasonable, sanctimonious, biased, and self-aggrandizing."<ref name="selisker" /> He posited that the ] was an intriguing methodology to assess equality in the media in the face of such online criticisms.<ref name="selisker" />

In her 2015 memoir ''You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)'', actress and writer ] observed that the label was directed at individuals "trying to add dialogue about feminism and diversity in gaming".<ref name="feliciaday" /> She commented: "That label was always so weird to me, because how is that an insult? 'Social Justice Warrior' actually sounds pretty badass."<ref name="feliciaday" /> She compared the ensuing controversy to a mob akin to the ], and called it a "wave of vengeful emotion".<ref name="feliciaday">{{Harvnb|Day|2015|p=240}}</ref>

Sarah Jeong wrote in ''The Internet of Garbage'' (2015) that the Gamergate movement: "brought into new prominence the term 'social justice warrior'—or SJW for short."<ref name="sarahjeong" /> Jeong commented upon the term's placement within the movement: "The SJW moniker seems to come from the belief that people who criticize video games for a lack of diversity are the enemy—a kind of cultural juggernaut with a supposed chokehold on the media, that must be forcefully opposed. Gamergate as a force is aligned against everyone they perceive to be SJWs."<ref name="sarahjeong">{{Harvnb|Jeong|2015}}</ref>

] ] said quitting activism in the face of harassment would be a form of ].<ref name="marusic" />]]
] ] ], public ], and ] activist ] and ] support group Everyone Is Gay founder Kristin Russo spoke to MTV in February 2015 about their efforts to reappropriate social justice warrior connotations on the Internet to advance the cause of social justice.<ref name="marusic" /> They were each asked about how they cope with persistence after being harassed online for their social activism.<ref name="marusic" /> Green pointed out that if she quit her activism in the face of online harassment, it would be akin to ], commenting: "if I left, I would be allowing myself to be silenced. There would be one less voice in the mix pushing us forward on these causes."<ref name="marusic" /> Russo said: "Usually when you're hearing lots of hate or negative, if you dig a little deeper, you'll find the people who support you and value what you're doing. They just might not be as loud as the people who are trying to tear you down."<ref name="marusic" />

In August 2015, the derogatory term "Social Justice Warrior" was one of several new words and phrases added to Oxford Dictionaries.<ref name=WashingtonPost/><ref name="canyouusethat">{{Harvnb|Wagner|2015}}</ref><ref name="timeoxford">{{Harvnb|Steinmetz|2015}}</ref> In discussing the term's origin, Martin outlined the similarity with the pejorative use of "]" to denigrate something, stating that "the perceived orthodoxy has prompted a backlash among people who feel their speech is being policed."<ref name=WashingtonPost/> Hussain Khan, president of a group at ] to address issues of racism and discrimination, agreed with this definition of the term.<ref name="azizi" /> Khan lamented that use of the term was a method of stopping open debate and discussion.<ref name="azizi" /> He commented: "These days, if you speak even mildly about social inequality, instead of people having conversation, people will be like, 'Oh, you're an SJW (social justice warrior) or something,' and it really just silences the conversation."<ref name="azizi">{{Harvnb|Azizi|2016}}</ref>

Upon learning in October 2015 that she had been labeled a social justice warrior, ] and co-editor of ''Ecotherapy: Healing With Nature in Mind'' Linda Buzzell reacted positively.<ref name="buzzell">{{Harvnb|Buzzell|2015}}</ref> Buzzell wrote of the development after being called the term on ]: "The term Social Justice Warrior seems almost honorable, doesn’t it? I hadn’t thought of myself as any kind of warrior at all, let alone one who stood tall against social injustice. How can this term be an insult? Who would want to be a warrior supporting INjustice? Well, apparently quite a few people!"<ref name="buzzell" /> She concluded that individuals could take back agency by reappropriating the term: "maybe we SJWs can do for 'SJW' what anti-misogyny activists have done for the word 'Slut'—wear it with pride and defiance."<ref name="buzzell" />

The groups utilizing the term changed over time, with Rawiya Kameir writing in November 2015 for '']'': "Consider, too, the way the phrase 'social justice warrior' began losing its snarky connotation, becoming an increasingly fringe insult deployed more by Reddit trolls than moderates eager to uphold the status quo."<ref name="kameir">{{Harvnb|Kameir|2015}}</ref>

In February 2016, the first QueerCon event was held at the ], with the theme, Social Justice Warriors.<ref name="belindacai" /> Event organizer Kyle Shupe explained that the theme for the event was an attempt to reclaim the term Social Justice Warrior: "we're kind of taking that idea and looking at how a social justice warrior is perhaps a positive—something people can use to combat social injustices."<ref name="belindacai" /> Panels at the event focused on topics including feminism, LGBT, politics, diversity, and social justice.<ref name="belindacai">{{Harvnb|Cai|2016}}</ref>

Writing for ] in March 2016, journalist Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen lamented the travails associated with taking a stand for equality on the Internet.<ref name="nguyen" /> She commented that this may result in being labeled or ridiculed: "Any outspoken feminist will likely tell you that it all sometimes feel thankless. Even in this supposedly progressive age, calling people out for their racist, sexist, transphobic, ableist or homophobic remarks and actions often results in being made into a pariah&nbsp;– you're humourless, too PC, a 'social justice warrior' (a term that's meant to be pejorative but actually sounds awesome&nbsp;– where's my sword?)."<ref name="nguyen">{{Harvnb|Nguyen|2016}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
In May 2014, the concept was incorporated into a ] ] titled ''Social Justice Warriors''.<ref name="parreno">{{Harvnb|Parreno|2014}}</ref><ref name="technologytell">{{Harvnb|Princess|2015}}</ref> Developed by Nonadecimal Creative, ''Social Justice Warriors'' involved the concept of debating online against ]s who make ] and other provocative comments by choosing from different responses such as" "'dismember their claims with your logic,' rebroadcast their message to be attacked by others, or go for the personal attack".<ref name="technologytell" /> Users were able to select a ]; and gameplay involved changes to user meters of ''Sanity'' and ''Reputation''.<ref name="technologytell" /> The game became available on the computer platform ] in February 2015.<ref name="breiner">{{Harvnb|Breiner|2015}}</ref> Game creator Eric Ford explained that the game was designed to foster ] and was not "intended to suggest that racist, sexist, or other offensive comments shouldn't be confronted online. The goal is to encourage critical thinking on how it can be done more effectively, and at less cost to the real-world social justice warriors."<ref name="breiner" /> He commented: "Once you’ve embarked down the path of correcting every incorrect statement an anonymous stranger is making online, the only inevitable outcomes are that your patience is exhausted by frustration, your reputation is obliterated by the trolls’ defamation or your own actions, or you give up in disgust."<ref name="breiner" />

Computer programmer Alex Hong created a ] ] ''SJW to Skeleton'' in October 2014 designed to replace any instance of social justice warrior on a page viewed by an Internet user with "skeleton".<ref name="maggs">{{Harvnb|Maggs|2014}}</ref> Hong made the extension available for free via the ].<ref name="maggs" />

2016 U.S. television series '']'' actress Caitlin Barlow described her character on the ] program to the '']'' as a social justice warrior.<ref name="ninametz" /> Barlow explained: "I play Cecilia Cannon, who is a super-crunchy hippie social justice warrior who is always trying to save the world, whether people care or not. And she's always pushing her left-wing agenda on her students."<ref name="ninametz">{{Harvnb|Metz|2016}}</ref>

'']'' journalists Lesley Goldberg and Kate Stanhope noted in March 2016 that actress Isabella Gomez was cast in the ] remake of '']'' and portrayed Elena, a character content to self-identify as a social justice warrior.<ref name="hollywoodreporter" /> Goldberg and Stanhope wrote: "A proud nerd, idealist and social justice warrior, Elena is opinionated and not afraid to speak her mind."<ref name="hollywoodreporter">{{Harvnb|Goldberg|Stanhope|2016}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal bar|2010s|Feminism|Internet|Journalism|Video games}}
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==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}


==References== ==References==
{{refbegin|2}} {{reflist}}
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{{refend}}


==Further reading== ==Further reading==
* {{cite news |last=Stack |first=Liam |title=Alt-Right, Alt-Left, Antifa: A Glossary of Extremist Language |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/us/politics/alt-left-alt-right-glossary.html |url-access=limited |work=The New York Times |date=15 August 2017}}
*{{cite web|first=Kristina|last=Marusic|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2087859/trolls-sjw-laci-green/|publisher=]|title=Sorry Trolls, You're Not Going to Win the Battle Against Social Justice Warriors|date=23 February 2015|archivedate=18 March 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318121441/http://www.mtv.com/news/2087859/trolls-sjw-laci-green/|dead-url=no}}
*{{cite web|first=Laurie|last=Penny|authorlink=Laurie Penny|work=]|title=Social Justice Warriors and the New Culture War|url=http://boingboing.net/2014/10/04/social-justice-warriors-and-th.html|date=4 October 2014|archivedate=3 March 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235205/http://boingboing.net/2014/10/04/social-justice-warriors-and-th.html|dead-url=no}}
*{{cite web|first=Tile|last=Wolfe|title=In Defense of the 'Social Justice Warrior'|work=]|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tile-wolfe/in-defense-of-the-social-_b_6398304.html|dead-url=no|date=31 December 2014|archivedate=9 March 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309135904/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tile-wolfe/in-defense-of-the-social-_b_6398304.html}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{wiktionary|social justice warrior}} * {{wiktionary inline|social justice warrior}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/social-justice-warrior|title=social justice warrior: definition of social justice warrior in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US)|publisher=Oxford Dictionaries; ]|archivedate=28 January 2016|dead-url=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128090050/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/social-justice-warrior}} * The definition of from Oxford Dictionaries


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Latest revision as of 09:29, 19 December 2024

Pejorative term for a progressive person "SJW" redirects here. For other uses, see SJW (disambiguation).

Social justice warrior (SJW) is a pejorative term and internet meme mostly used for an individual who promotes socially progressive, left-wing or liberal views, including environmentalism, affirmative action, gun control, single payer healthcare, progressive taxation, feminism, abortion, gay and transgender rights, and multiculturalism. The accusation that somebody is an SJW carries implications that they are pursuing personal validation rather than any deep-seated conviction, and engaging in disingenuous arguments.

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 term was adopted by what would become the alt-right, and the negative connotations gained increased usage which would eventually overshadow its origins.

Meaning

Original meaning

Further information: Social justice

Dating back to 1824, the term social justice refers to justice on a societal level. From the early 1990s to the early 2000s, social-justice warrior was used as a neutral or complimentary phrase, as when a 1991 Montreal Gazette article describes union activist Michel Chartrand as a "Quebec nationalist and social-justice warrior".

Katherine Martin, the head of U.S. dictionaries at Oxford University Press, said in 2015 that "ll of the examples I've seen until quite recently are lionizing the person". As of 2015, the Oxford English Dictionary had not done a full search for the earliest usage. Merriam-Webster dates the earliest use of the term to 1945.

Pejorative meaning

According to Martin, the term switched from primarily positive to negative around 2011, when it was first used as an insult on Twitter. The term first appeared on Urban Dictionary in 2011 and on the Something Awful forums in 2013. According to Know Your Meme, the pejorative term "keyboard warrior", which describes a person who is unreasonably angry and hides behind their keyboard, may be a precursor to the "social justice warrior". The negative connotation has primarily been aimed at those espousing views adhering to social progressivism, cultural inclusivity, or feminism. Scott Selisker writes in New Literary History that the SJW is often criticised as the "stereotype of the feminist as unreasonable, sanctimonious, biased, and self-aggrandizing". Use of the term has also been described as attempting to degrade the motivations of the person accused of being an SJW, implying that their motives are "for personal validation rather than out of any deep-seated conviction". Allegra Ringo in Vice writes that "in other words, SJWs don't hold strong principles, but they pretend to. The problem is, that's not a real category of people. It's simply a way to dismiss anyone who brings up social justice."

The term's negative use became mainstream due to the 2014 Gamergate harassment campaign, where it emerged as the favored term of Gamergate proponents and was popularized on websites such as Reddit, 4chan, and Twitter. Gamergate supporters used the term to criticise what they claimed were unwanted external influences in video game media from progressive sources. Martin states that "the perceived orthodoxy has prompted a backlash among people who feel their speech is being policed". In Internet and video game culture, the phrase is broadly associated with a wider culture war that also included the 2015 Sad Puppies campaign that affected the Hugo Awards. A study from Feminist Media Studies noted that "the appropriation of SJW as a memetic straw man became commonplace during and following the upheaval of #Gamergate."

In August 2015, social justice warrior was one of several new words and phrases added to Oxford Dictionaries.

See also

References

  1. ^ Ohlheiser, Abby (October 7, 2015). "Why 'social justice warrior,' a Gamergate insult, is now a dictionary entry". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 26, 2017.
  2. ^ Johnson, Eric (October 10, 2014). "Understanding the Jargon of Gamergate". Re/code. Archived from the original on January 2, 2016. A Social Justice Warrior, or SJW, is any person, female or male, who argues online for political correctness or feminism. 'Social justice' may sound like a good thing to many of our readers, but the people who use this term only use it pejoratively.
  3. ^ Heron, Michael James; Belford, Pauline; Goker, Ayse (2014). "Sexism in the circuitry: female participation in male-dominated popular computer culture". ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society. 44 (4): 18–29. doi:10.1145/2695577.2695582. S2CID 18004724.
  4. Stack, Liam (August 15, 2017). "Alt-Right, Alt-Left, Antifa: A Glossary of Extremist Language". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  5. ^ "Social Justice Warrior". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  6. ^ Massanari, Adrienne L.; Chess, Shira (July 4, 2018). "Attack of the 50-foot social justice warrior: the discursive construction of SJW memes as the monstrous feminine" (PDF). Feminist Media Studies. 18 (4): 525–542. doi:10.1080/14680777.2018.1447333. ISSN 1468-0777. S2CID 149070172 – via Taylor & Francis Online.
  8. ^ Ringo, Allegra (August 28, 2014). "Meet the Female Gamer Mascot Born of Anti-Feminist Internet Drama". Vice. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016.
  9. Phelan, Sean (2019). "Neoliberalism, the Far Right, and the Disparaging of "Social Justice Warriors"". Communication, Culture & Critique. 12 (4): 455–475. doi:10.1093/ccc/tcz040. ISSN 1753-9137.
  10. "social justice". The Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005.
  11. ^ Selisker, Scott (2015). "The Bechdel Test and the Social Form of Character Networks". New Literary History. 46 (3): 505–523. doi:10.1353/nlh.2015.0024. ISSN 0028-6087. OCLC 1296558. S2CID 146326736.
  12. Jeong, Sarah (2015). The Internet of Garbage. Forbes Media. ISBN 978-1508018865.
  13. Barnett, David (April 26, 2016). "Hugo awards shortlist dominated by rightwing campaign". Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  14. Wagner, Laura (August 27, 2015). "Can You Use That In A Sentence? Dictionary Adds New Words". NPR. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016.
  15. Steinmetz, Katy (August 26, 2015). "Oxford Dictionaries Adds 'Fat-Shame,' 'Butthurt' and 'Redditor'". Time. Archived from the original on January 20, 2016.

Further reading

External links

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