Lately in the Netherlands there were two big 'woke' issues. There was the #MeToo-like scandal about this talent hunt-program The Voice. And there was a book by a white man, Joris Luyendijk, about 'The seven checkmarks' of privilege, and a discussion about if he were the right person to write it. Liberal and centrist media came with endless predictable articles and linked them on Facebook. But the reactions were surprising.

True, quite a few of them were from woke feminists. But there were also others, and they weren't swamped in shaming and ridiculing. Rather the other way round: people who tried to play the 'male privilege' or 'male fragility' card without other arguments found out that it worked like a boomerang and they were ridiculed themselves. Sometimes even women posted reactions saying they had the impression men aren't allowed anything anymore when it comes to approaching women. Other similar reactions were at least liked by women. Also, in the case of The Voice, many pointed out it was up to the judge to speak out verdicts and not to the social media mob.

People (like me) pointing out, with linked evidence, that men are not especially privileged, and that differences between the sexes are partly biological, could at least do that without having to debate woke harpies for hours. My impression is that this is much different from just a few years ago. Also more rightist people joined in the discussion, but even that is not a bad thing as long as they debate seriously, which some of them do.

I think two things are happening: 1. More and more non-rightist people also start to realize there's some 'anti-racism' and 'anti-sexism' going on that is not really egalitarian or following humanist ideals. 2. People are less afraid to speak out against intersectional feminist dogmas; they see the personal shaming has become predictable, stale and lost its power. This gives the opportunity to bring new arguments and information into the debate. There isn't a snowball effect yet, but it's coming. It's even a bit tragic: the liberal intersectional elite apparently still dominates many institutions and MSM, and think they have the ideological hegemony, but the majority of self-thinking people doesn't listen do them anymore. Let's only hope the left will not totally be crushed, and a creative, undogmatic, non-feminist left will spring from this.