Sleepwalking Through Life

The opposite of being awake is asleep. I’m curious to understand why a person would describe themselves as anti-woke, because it seems to indicate that they’re sleepwalking through life. 

To be “woke” originally referred to being aware of, or awake to social injustices and systemic issues, especially racism, inequality, and oppression. It implied a heightened awareness, a kind of moral and social consciousness. In this context, wokeness is metaphorically the same as being awake: alert, aware, and conscious.

Now, if someone declares themselves “anti-woke,” and we follow the metaphor through, they are essentially saying they’re against justice, liberation and equality. They are against being aware of these things, against being awake to them, and if you’re not awake, then you’re asleep. And to be asleep, in this sense, suggests being unaware, unconscious, or even in denial of facts or reality. It’s sleepwalking through life, oblivious to the structures and forces that shape a healthy world.

I’m playing with this metaphor to highlight a paradox: to claim to be anti-woke could be interpreted as choosing ignorance, blindness or unconsciousness over awareness and insight. It suggests a rejection of conscious engagement with the world, which is a curious stance to take when the alternative, metaphorically speaking, is a kind of slumber.