Awokening

It could be argued that the rise of the socially conscious model reflects a very 2017 archetype: the “woke” young woman, who looks set to define femininity this decade in the same way that the lager-swilling ladette did in the 90s. It is also symptomatic of a broader cultural “awokening” that has reached the stuffiest institutions; even the royal family has recently relaxed its upper lip.

It's an epidemic of racist babies. People are so awoke. It’s the awokening to 2017. That’s good to say, this is all part of the awokening. And now, we’re completely flipping out over babies.

Activism derided as ‘cancel culture’ or ‘the great awokening’ is the only reason mainstream culture is less vicious and dehumanising than it was.

Ta-Nehisi Coates’s 2014 article making the case for reparations was obviously enormously influential on the specifics of that question, but also more broadly in the larger Awokening — such that references to redlining and other discriminatory aspects of the post-World War II real estate market are now commonplace throughout progressive circles.

The abrupt and dramatic changes in the frequency of prejudice-denoting terms in news media within the span of just 10 years suggests the existence of powerful underlying social dynamics at play. […] It is still early in the Biden presidency to know for sure whether the “Great Awokening” in news media will continue, level off, or reverse course.