For years, I have been pretty disgusted with the "Woke" or SJWs, and their supposed advocacy for oppressed people of all kinds. For the uninitiated, "Woke" is a description of people who wage war, both literal and figurative, on people who transgress certain unwritten rules, which then cast them as racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, misogynistic, and so on. It's Political Correctness on steroids, with a side of BPD.

An example: A woman writes on her blog about an upcoming trip to India. She describes her excitement over traveling to an exotic place, like going to Mars. The reaction to this was mind-blowing. Dozens of people starting commenting on the blog, saying she was racist, insensitive, was tokenizing brown people, exoticizing the country and more. The comments kept coming, with demands that she not simply apologize, but should also "do the work" to realize why her words were so hurtful, and "sit in her discomfort" while she works through to realizing that she is a racist, and must do what is necessary to become not just "not a racist" but "anti-racist." The attacks spilled over into other social media forums, where the woman was a topic of harsh criticism for months. She tried to apologize, but was told that's not good enough. She had to pay her penance in internet haranguing.

Sound ridiculous? Yes, indeed. And it gets worse. Another woman came to her defense, saying that these toxic conversations were not productive in combatting racism. For that, she was likewise attacked, called a Nazi, and her home business was nearly destroyed by the bad publicity. She eventually left social media over it.

That's Woke, in action. I can give many more examples, one rather well known is Gina Carano, but there is a character limit here. What I want to address now is Anti-Woke, the people that push back against the ridiculous demands that Woke put on people, and how that backlash has some unintended consequences that will be felt by many.

Last night, the first episode of She-hulk debuted. It's getting some rather harsh criticism, especially from the Anti-Woke folks. The character of Jen Walters becomes a She-Hulk after being exposed to the blood of her cousin, Bruce Banner, also known as The Hulk (with various adjectives prepended in various comic book storylines) after they were in an auto accident.

As Jen explores being a Hulk, and Bruce tries to help her deal with it all, he tells her that she must learn to control her anger and fear, as those are the emotions that trigger the emergence of the Hulk persona. Jen responds that she is in full control of those emotions because she has to deal with them nearly every day, due to being catcalled by men, and having to deal with mansplaining and other sexist offences.

Now I'm going to leave discussion of She-Hulk, and bad writing, storytelling and dishonoring legacy characters aside, as that is not germane here. But in the conversations and criticisms I have seen surrounding this, especially from men, is that they don't want to hear about women's anger and fear over being catcalled, and how we feel vulnerable and afraid in some situations, with the kicker that if we show it, we are being emotional.

I've read that Jen talking about this is "annoying, narcissistic, and heartless," because she failed to recognize or acknowledge that Bruce has a past that would have him fearful and angry. She can't possibly have had any experiences like he's had, so hers doesn't matter.

Other comments:
--Bro we’ve ONLY been hearing this shit for the past decade
--God, if only it was the first time we'd heard it
--She womansplained
--so stunning, so brave, so what
--I hear this everyday on twitter...while they are reeeeeing

As a woman who has experienced not just catcalling, but outright harassment and threatening behavior, what I hear from this is, "Shut up, we don't care, other people have it much worse, so it doesn't matter." The objection is to any portrayal of oppression or victimizing as fodder for the Woke.

The Woke poisoned the well of communication over these things, so having these conversations is like walking through a minefield. Now the Anti-Woke poured gasoline down the well, lit a match, and now we cannot even approach these topics any more.

I posted in that thread, "There's no doubt that catcalling does happen, and yes, it pisses us off. So, gentlemen, what do you do when you see another guy being rude to a woman? Or worse ... "

That was ten hours ago, and not a single response. Not one. The OP has almost 150,000 followers, the post has 77 replies, and many more threaded beneath those. But not one of those men could describe what they would do if they saw a woman being catcalled or harassed.

Is "Nothing" truly the answer from these men?

Are men really that concerned with being denigrated as a "white knight" for coming to the aid of a woman? Are woman truly expected to either put up with it without complaint, or come to their own defense on their own against harassers? Is chivalry really finally dead?

Look, I get it. Men have been under fire from feminists, the politically correct mobs, and Woke SJWs for decades now. It pisses me off to no end to see that happening. Men are yelled at for common courtesy behavior, like holding doors for women. "The Patriarchy" is a snarl on the lips of every feminist, followed shortly by a discourse on "toxic masculinity."

The twitter thread I quoted from above was in response to one such Woke-type saying "She-hulk might genuinely be the first time some young men hear a woman speak candidly about experiences like this." Ironically, it is chivalry, borne out of the patriarchy, that used to give women protection from boorish behavior by ill-mannered men. Now they have stomped that flat, and those protections are gone.

Way back when, I was in 7th grade. We had just moved across the country and I was in a new school. One day, I was at my locker, and a group of boys started harassing me. I was terrified. Then a boy I barely knew came up, put his arm around my shoulders, told them to stuff it, "She's with me," he said, and he walked me away from them.

If that happened today, my rescuer would be called a white knight, and denounced for claiming me as "his," like I was a possession. I would be told I need to be a "strong, empowered woman" and stand on my own, because I don't need a boy/man to rescue me, like a damsel in distress.

Then if I talk about the experience of being harassed, the Anti-Woke would tell me all about how much worse someone else has it, as if it is a contest. Just shut up about it, because talking about it, apparently, is Woke.

And this is why we can't have conversations about important things anymore.

What do I want? I want men to be free to be men, REAL men. Men are hard-wired to be protectors. I want men to be able to acknowledge that some among them are bad actors, without being made to feel that when women talk about bad actors that we are saying, "All men." I want women to be able to look to men for defense and protection, without thinking that it diminishes us or makes us lesser for doing so. I want us to be able to be less fearful, knowing that the good men will come to our aid against the bad.

Feminism, political correctness, SJWs, Woke, and now Anti-Woke have stolen from men and women the ability to communicate with each other honestly, without fear, to say what we are feeling and what we need from each other. Our society is so much worse for it.