Woke movement has shifted our tolerance of cruelty in chasing perfection in competition

The woke movement is an evolving phenomenon. It originally meant being alert to racial prejudice and discrimination. It's use expanded to encompass awareness of various social inequalities including sexism, homophobia and other forms of oppression.

In 2024, 'woke' is often associated with social justice activism and progressive politics. Focusing on identity politics and systemic issues like white privilege and advocacy for marginalised groups and challenging social norms. 

The word "woke" has become divisive. Some people dislike it; others support it passionately. It's an important concept and it has altered society in Western countries. Supporters emphasise its importance in highlighting injustice while critics view it as promoting excessive sensitivity or political correctness.

But in my view, its meaning has broadened and it's influence has broadened to encompass the lowering of acceptance of abuse and cruelty in chasing perfection in competition.

This can be seen in various ways currently with the castigation of Charlotte Dujardin who used a lunging whip to abuse a horse when training in dressage. It was horse abuse, no doubt about it and objectionable but the horse was not hurt and Charlotte Dujardin's achievements have been trashed. She's been banned from competing in the Paris Olympics, she lost the chance to achieve another gold medal and she has lost her funding by the UK authorities.

What she did was not unusual. Deploying a long whip to train a horse to raise its feet in a stationary trot called the piaffe is not unusual but she overdid it. There are other aspects of dressage which are today probably deemed unacceptable such as the position of the head which is alleged to damaged ligaments and impede breathing. This was seen as a fair practice; now it is not.

As an extension of that, in the Paris Games, modern pentathletes will ride horses for the last time. At Los Angeles in 2028, the equestrian event will be replaced by an obstacle course of high walls, rope swings and scramble nets. The change came about because in 2021 a trainer punched a horse called Saint Boy. A scandal followed and Los Angeles threatened to drop the whole sport. This ended the 19th century concept of the pentathlon using a horse.

We can extend the concept of woke further because in the UK, the BBC's most popular show, Strictly Come Dancing, is going through an existential crisis because three professional dancers have been implicated in abusive treatment of their amateur, celebrity competitors when training them too hard. One complained and then another complained and the professional dancers are being investigated. They've lost their contracts with the BBC and their careers are harmed.

At the moment there's been no findings by the investigation and therefore these are allegations but the cultural change brought about by the woke movement has, I believe, infiltrated areas such as this BBC show and altered the mindset of the competitors to the point where they will no longer accept what they perceive as bulling and abuses, as inequality, as unfairness, when seeking dancing perfection. It's a change in societal norms in the competitive areas of life and entertainment.

The argument is that people in general and those that watch these competitions should be prepared to accept lower standards in the interests of protecting the welfare of horses in the case of the Olympics and the celebrity competitors in the case of Strictly Come Dancing. It's a fine balance between seeking excellence and how far you go in that quest and how much you put competitors through in achieving excellence.

In the case of people they will do it voluntarily initially. In the case of horses and other animals it's even more important because they do not give their consent. 

I would argue that the Dujardin alleged abuse is more fundamentally wrong than any abuse against a person in seeking perfection and that would apply to many other Olympians such as those representing China. 

Chinese gymnasts are picked at a very young age. The take them young and shape them as children putting through highly rigorous training programs leading to physical punishments and injuries. China can do this because it's a quasi-dictatorship. People do what they're told to do and they become accepting of it.

But in the West, in democracies, they have the power of self-expression due to equalities bestowed by the democratic process emboldened by the woke movement.

Postscript: in the paper today there is a story about Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man. It actually concerns one of his offspring, his boy who transgendered to become his daughter and who has named herself Vivian Jenna Wilson. Musk said that his son "had been killed" by the "woke mind virus". He claims that he has lost his son and that he is dead and he blames the woke movement. His daughter, Jenna, blames him for being an absent and cruel father who criticised her femininity and queerness. An example of the way that the "woke" concept polarises people's views including within a family to the point where the family is broken.

Key Points:

• There's no single, universally agreed-upon definition of "woke."
• Its usage is often subjective and depends on the speaker's perspective.
• The term has become a lightning rod in cultural and political debates.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.