Can someone explain to me what "SJW" and "PC" mean?

This should be fun.

I've seen these two terms thrown around to describe... Well, <insert liberal anything here>. An SJW can be someone who thinks subconscious racism is a thing that exists, or Chanty Binx* (perhaps better known as "Big Red"). PC is anything from asking the president of the united states to account for incredibly sexist remarks to making a critique of a video game's art style to violently rioting to shut down opposing speech. And I basically have no idea what either term actually means.

However, because both terms are essentially ubiquitous in online culture, despite the fact that I find both of them about as useful as a spanking paddle made of studio foam, I guess I'm going to have to figure out how to live with them. So it may be, at first, useful to figure out what they mean.

So can anyone provide a reasonable definition of what these two terms actually mean?





*

PC means Personal Computer, duh.

SJW is a term trolls and assholes use to discredit the character of someone whose morality is unquestionably sound. Rather than attempt to discuss the benefits and repercussions of the topic behavior, they resort to character assassination and villainize the entire concept of standing up for what is right.

PC is a term referring to how people must be over cautious to not offend anyone whom is overly sensitive or passive aggressive.

SJW means "Social Justice Warrior" -- a person that fights for social justice.

The term is used increasingly disparagingly because the "fighting" has escalated from using words to SWATting, pepper spraying, punching, and other kinds of physical violence. In addition, the words used have morphed from persuasion to gatekeeping and abject censorship.

Meanwhile, the "social justice" part of the term which may have started with good intentions of trying to erase racism and sexism has been co-opted by anti-white, anti-men factions that openly call for the denigration of all white men. This harmful influence infiltrated the movement and is rapidly turning SJWism into the racists and sexists that they claim to be against; destroying their moral currency.

Much of the escalation in both thoughts and acts has been seen as a necessary escalation due to perceived and real attacks from "outside forces". Doxxing is the most common reported complaint.

The caricature of an SJW is a genderqueer pansexual pink-haired mtf-transgender mixed-race unemployed college student that shouts "You're a FUCKING WHITE MALE!"

The caricature of their opponent is a rich, white, business-owning male who employs sexist and racist policies to keep women and non-whites "in their place".

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PC means "politically correct" -- a style of communicating that seeks to minimize offense.

In the '90s this term rose to popularity and was used mockingly to describe the fake and inhuman word choice of (predominantly) politicians that were trying to pander to their constituency.

The term still carries some of that original essence, though is now seen as a mildly good thing. In the process of whitewashing the language, it removes slurs and epithets which forces people to argue more often in gender-neutral/race-neutral terms.

This whitewashing process is inexact and often catches ideas and words incorrectly.

The iconic ('90s) example is calling someone an "african-american" instead of a "black person" or "black american". Despite the fact that a black person in the US is about as far removed from Africa as they are from India or, conversely, failing to call a white-skinned African immigrant from South Africa an african-american.

A more modern example is the word "whitelist".
Or everywhere I used the phrase "whitewashing" in this post, even.

Social justice is the belief that the intolerant should never be tolerated. Unwilling to abide the "normalization" of intolerance, they seek to consistently lash out against and stifle intolerant viewpoints as soon as they're expressed, wherever and wherever they may occur. Despite this, the movement sees intolerance as a rising trend in the population and thus sees a need to conscript warriors of unshakeable faith to combat this trend of increased irrationality.

It sees no irony whatsoever in any of this.

both are cucks

Thanks for the replies. I think part of my confusion here is that while what Pneuma describes are probably pretty good definitions for the words, I have only ever seen them used in a derogatory manner, and I've seen them used far more often to describe things tangentially related at best to those definitions. Case in point, this exchange:

"

“You’ve called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs,’ ‘dogs,’ ‘slobs,’ and ‘disgusting animals’,” Kelly pointed out. “You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees …”

“I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct,” Trump answered, to audience applause. “I’ve been challenged by so many people, I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn’t have time either.”

Why is Trump acting like political correctness is this big evil... But Kelly didn't ask "why aren't you politically correct", she essentially asked, "Can you account for these sexist things you've said?" and he responded with "stop being so PC" and people ate it up. No idea what he's talking about.

It is, however, a significantly different definition to this:

"

ScrotieMcB wrote:

Social justice is the belief that the intolerant should never be tolerated. Unwilling to abide the "normalization" of intolerance, they seek to consistently lash out against and stifle intolerant viewpoints as soon as they're expressed, wherever and wherever they may occur. Despite this, the movement sees intolerance as a rising trend in the population and thus sees a need to conscript warriors of unshakeable faith to combat this trend of increased irrationality.

It sees no irony whatsoever in any of this.

Here's where I see the paradox. If you want to define "social justice warriors" as those who adhere to this, then sure, being an "SJW" is a bad thing. But approximately 0.1% of all people I've ever seen called "SJWs" actually fit into this paradigm. This is the key paradox I keep running into. The more tightly one defines the terms, the easier it is to make it sound like a bad thing, but the less complaints actually apply in any meaningful way. Conversely, the looser one defines the term, the more people calling things out as "PC" become right, but the harder it gets to actually complain about it.

"

Budget_player_cadet wrote:

Here's where I see the paradox. If you want to define "social justice warriors" as those who adhere to this, then sure, being an "SJW" is a bad thing. But approximately 0.1% of all people I've ever seen called "SJWs" actually fit into this paradigm. This is the key paradox I keep running into. The more tightly one defines the terms, the easier it is to make it sound like a bad thing, but the less complaints actually apply in any meaningful way. Conversely, the looser one defines the term, the more people calling things out as "PC" become right, but the harder it gets to actually complain about it.

I know a fuckwit when I see one. It also scales.