We should wake up to the ‘woke’ generation

It’s easy to roll one’s eyes at the holier-than-thou younger generation and their wide-eyed woke crusades, but they might actually be right.

Grace Tame caused a media storm when she gave Scott Morrison the side-eye. But Why should women smile and turn the other cheek just to make others comfortable? Picture: Gary Ramage

NFT was the stumper. A non-fungible token sounds more like something you might find in a toilet at Revolver nightclub than cryptocurrency, or should that be crypto-goods.

Trying to keep up, or even just awake, in a woke world is tiring.

There are hordes of eye-rolling, deep sighing “oh for goodness sake what is the world coming to” types poo-pooing the younger gen and their wide-eyed Bambi crusades, but I refuse, point blank, to be one of them anymore. Anymore being the operative word.

There was a “this is 40” moment last year listening to the hairdresser declare that the skinny jean was dead.

Knowingly, as all hairdressers are, she said it was the sure-fire sign of someone, god forbid, over 40 and worse, “daggy”. The jeans we cringed at our mum’s wearing back in the day were now in (and even called “mom jeans”) and the skinny was out. Swings and roundabouts.

This was duly regaled to the gals over chardonnays (they, too, are back), although some now sipped on a soda and bitters because of the sleepless nights they had after just one glass.

But equally it was met with much horror. No one wanted a return to the low rise, others simply refused, saying they didn’t care, but deep down they did.

Defiantly wearing your skinny jeans is one thing. Holding on to your deeply entrenched morals and mores is another.

Frown lines and crow’s feet are no longer a marker of someone getting on a bit. There are injectables for all that.

No, it’s the catchcry “Back in my day,” or “What a load of rot/bullshit/leftist crap,” or the clincher, “We’re moving to Queensland.”

It’s so easy to curl one’s lip at the holier-than-thou younger gen. But what if they are, dare I write it, right?

This internal battle, the to-and-fro dialogue with that little voice inside the head, is currently at an all-time high.

There she was, that mean little bitch of a voice, reading about a workplace harassment case this week. Accomplished press gallery reporter Tegan George stood up to her employer Channel 10, lodging documents with the Federal Court on Monday in which she accused the TV network’s star political editor Peter van Onselen of undermining and humiliating her while they worked together at Ten’s Parliament House bureau, all claims van Onselen denies.

Before having even read through the claims, that vile little voice inside was saying “Suck it up, buttercup” and “Everyone knows a newsroom is not for the faint-hearted.”

I’m deeply ashamed of these thoughts. Almost as ashamed as I was after looking at that side-eye from Grace Tame the week prior.

Abbie Chatfield often comes under fire for telling it like it is. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Despite being a fist pumping champion of last year’s Australian of the Year, my first inner thought bristled, thinking even though it was ScoMo, it is our Prime Minister and she was at his house and might have at least tried a falsey smile. Double cringe.

Having a thick skin was not enough, “back in my day.” Sucking it up was to show strength. Laughing along at the man’s joke, even if it was crass, demeaning or even pointed at you, meant you weren’t a shrinking violet, or worse a snowflake. And sometimes it was actually funny.

When an editor once said the C-word in front of me I wore it as a badge of honour. I’d made it.

Finally a tiptoe into the inner man’s sanctum. He was comfortable enough to swear around me, like he did with the men.

These are systems and signals I’ve carried around my whole professional career. They are as much a part of my fabric as the skinny jeans I used to wear.

But what about taking that second thought? It may sound trite, but could it be not so much to learn, but unlearn and relearn?

Why should people shrug and tolerate a toxic workplace, thinking it’s a sign of strength, or not to look weak or insipid?

Why should we smile and turn the other cheek just to make others comfortable? Why should we worry if we are showing too much goddamn cleavage?

Last year reality queen Abbie Chatfield schooled much loved AFL veteran Robert “Dipper” DiPierdomenico on the essence of rape culture while on I’m A Celebrity, after he deadpanned to her wearing a bikini “You are not going out like that ...”.

Not dear Dipper, everyone cried. He was just making a joke, he is from a different generation. That bitchy inner voice thought “Give us a break” at the term “rape culture” being bandied about.

But Chatfield broke it down. Why are we schooling girls that they shouldn’t wear something “provocative” because we are in essence afraid of what the dangerous big bad wolf of a man might do to them?

Shouldn’t it be the wolf we are schooling instead? That is not something we should be rolling our eyes at.

What should be blindingly obvious is “We got it really wrong back in our day.”

Not understanding cryptocurrency, NFTs, sniggering at influencers and keeping our skinny jeans stash may never change.

But maybe it’s time for a rethink. What was ingrained as weak is actually what’s toxic. A toxic inner voice, which should really be roaring.

That’s mighty courageous.