Where Did The Term “SJW” Come From?
The old wive’s tale is that far left Tumblr users referred to themselves this way and it stuck. Is this true?
There is a list of terms I believe make you look like a half-wit if you use unironically. One of them is SoyBoy, another is SJW. I like to use the latter in joking terms, often to refer to right-leaning individuals who act like the very people they claim to be fighting.
But what IS an SJW?
The definition is not set in stone, so it differs depending on who is using it. Urban Dictionary defines it as:
Social Justice Warrior. A pejorative term for an individual who repeatedly and vehemently engages in arguments on social justice on the Internet, often in a shallow or not well-thought-out way, for the purpose of raising their own personal reputation. A social justice warrior, or SJW, does not necessarily strongly believe all that they say, or even care about the groups they are fighting on behalf of. They typically repeat points from whoever is the most popular blogger or commenter of the moment, hoping that they will “get SJ points” and become popular in return. They are very sure to adopt stances that are “correct” in their social circle.
The SJW’s favorite activity of all is to dogpile. Their favorite websites to frequent are Livejournal and Tumblr. They do not have relevant favorite real-world places, because SJWs are primarily civil rights activists only online.
It was initially meant to represent the “Big Red” style of extremist feminists who laugh at the thought of men dying.
Now it refers to anyone who thinks anything left-leaning about politics. Like veganism? You’re an SJW. Think blacks get brutalized more by the police for no real reason? You’re an SJW. Think that transpeople deserve humanity and respect like every other human being? You’re an SJW.
Where did the term come from?
The term has been around since the 1990’s, with some books using it to describe people who work to work for social justice causes. It was used as a compliment for decades. For instance:
Baptist minister, the Rev. James Obey Sr.’s, 1992 obituary in the Houston Chronicle was titled, “Social justice warrior dies.” In 2007, “Social Justice Warrior” Monsignor David Cappo was honored with an award. And lawyer-turned filmmaker Ana Kokkinos told a newspaper reporter in 2009 that “what attracted me to law at that age was the idea of being a social justice warrior.”
So why is it used so heavily as an insult nowadays?
Well, in about 2011, SJW went from being used in a positive light to being in a negative one. people started using it as a way to mock people who have “extreme” leftist views. It is like the term Keyboard Warrior… only for the left-leaning.
Many people claim that it became really popular in 2014 due to the GamerGate scandal, but I have heard it quite frequently before then. Although Google Trends doesn’t seem to support the idea that it really started to blow up in August of 2014, the same time GamerGate really started up.
But where did this idea that it originated from Tumblr come from? To be honest, I am not too sure myself. This was something that I have heard since I started hearing the term in my early internet days.
Some people claim that a blog named SJWar invested the term. The blog owner himself claimed that he didn’t.
However, despite the evidence, I can see why this idea that it started by people in Tumblr would make sense. You know why? Because I am certain that a couple of people mentioned that they were an SJW in the typical way, and a bunch of people started to grasp this term that a small handful of people on Tumblr said, and then use it as a way to mock them.
That makes sense to me, and would not be the first time something like this happened. However, the evidence for it is scarce.
If you get nothing else from this article, try not to use the term often, it doesn’t help your argument if you call anyone who disagrees with you an SJW. Or give limelight to people who don’t deserve it, like people who think naming your boy child a boy name is cissexist.
Have a good day.
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