New polling reveals half of us don’t know what ‘woke’ means

Whether its use is intended as a compliment or criticism, the amount of people who use this term without knowing what it means may surprise you.

When the Coalition reigned, then defence minister Peter Dutton decided it was time to put a stop to his department’s and serving military personnel’s “woke agenda”.

The Defence crew had been holding morning teas where staff wore rainbow clothing to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia.

Mr Dutton’s view was that Defence should not be “pursuing a woke agenda” and should instead be building up “the morale in the Australian Defence Force”.

“These woke agendas don’t help,” he added.

Australia’s new Defence Minister, Richard Marles, thinks otherwise.

Polling has found almost half of the Australian population doesn’t agree with Opposition leader Peter Dutton on use of the word ‘woke’. Picture: David Swift

As Mr Marles gradually overturns Mr Dutton’s ban, allowing some charity and diversity events in his portfolio to return, new polling has revealed that plenty of Aussies don’t even know what the word “woke” means, with data revealing most Australians are either unfamiliar with the term or would describe themselves as “woke”.

Just over four in 10 Australians couldn’t identify the meaning of the word, while only 26 per cent described themselves as woke.

Surprisingly, of those who described themselves as woke, three in five, or 59 per cent, were major party voters – more were Coalition voters than Greens voters: 24 per cent to 22 per cent.

Another assumption debunked was that city slickers are the “woke” ones, with those living in regional and rural areas just as likely to describe themselves as woke as those in metro areas.

Royal expert Angela Levin says Prince Harry and partner Meghan Markle have been ‘trying to create an alternative, woke royal family’. Picture: Matt Dunham

While the word has become a sledge hammer for some, 48 per cent of Aussies have assigned a positive definition to the term, compared to 30 per cent of us who say the word has negative connotations.

Only 12 per cent of Australians knew what woke meant, wouldn’t describe themselves as woke and defined the term as “punishing people who don’t think the ‘right’ things on social justice issues”.

Some of the world’s most recognisable figures have been branded with the searing four-letter word, including the Royal Family, Disney, the Wiggles and Pope Francis, as well as federal and state Liberal MPs and the Tasmanian Liberal Party.

The Wiggles were labelled ‘woke’ after they expanded their musical group to include women and people of colour. Picture: The Wiggles

But how long has the disputed word been around for and what was its original definition?

The term stretches back as far as the 1940s, when it was used to symbolise awareness of social issues and movements against injustice, inequality, and prejudice.

African-American novelist William Melvin Kelley first defined the word in print in an article published in the New York Times in 1962 called, “If You’re Woke You Dig It”.

While the term seemed to disappear over the decades, it came back with vengeance in the 2000s.

The word woke has resurfaced in recent years, becoming a contentious term around the world. Picture: Google

The comeback was kicked off with the word’s association with vegan food and taking action on climate change, before it also took on the concept of “white privilege” and the movement for Australia to become a republic.

Bill Browne, Director of the Australia Institute’s Democracy and Accountability Program, said it's no wonder Australians are confused about the term.

“When critics accuse everyone from the Wiggles, the Queen, the Pope and the Australian cricket team of all being woke, Australians will unsurprisingly wonder what is so bad about being woke, or indeed what actually constitutes ‘wokeness’,” he said.

“The approach some commentators and politicians take of accusing everyone they don’t like of being ’woke’ may be cancel culture finally gone too far.”