A few days ago, a commenter dismissed the recent Women’s Strike as “useless virtue signaling.” That contemptuous comment prompted me to consider both the attitude prompting someone to post that condescending taunt as well as the definition and effect of virtue signaling.
I’m at a loss about the attitude, but I have some very definite opinions about what does–and does not–constitute behavior intended to convey one’s “virtue.”
I first encountered the phrase “virtue signaling” several years ago, when I purchased my first Prius, and a colleague–who, I hasten to say, approved of the purchase and who worries about climate change– told me that Toyota depended upon virtue signaling as a marketing tool. Making people feel virtuous for reducing their use of fossil fuel helped them sell their cars. It’s all about the bottom line, baby!
I understood his point; after all, people have been purchasing cars to “send a message” for generations. Until recently, that message had little to do with virtue or the environment–it was more along the lines of keeping up with the Joneses (or letting them know you could afford that Cadillac…)
Wikipedia’s entry on the term distinguishes between virtue signaling that is what we sometimes call “humble bragging” and the other motivations for– and effects of– communicative behaviors. The entry also included the following, very interesting, observation:
Linguist David Shariatmadari argued in The Guardian that the very act of accusing someone of virtue signalling is an act of virtue signaling in itself. The Conversation‘s Karen Stollznow said that the term is often used as “a sneering insult by those on the right against progressives to dismiss their statements.” Zoe Williams, also writing for The Guardian, suggested the phrase was the “sequel insult to champagne socialist“.
The Wikipedia article also suggested that the term is most commonly applied to online expression rather than in-person behaviors and activities.
The dismissal of the Women’s Strike (and presumably the Women’s March that occurred after Trump’s election) as useless “virtue signaling” struck me as not only patronizing but entirely wrong. It utterly misses the point of civic demonstrations, which are an important–and effective– element of social movements and social change.
The first and most immediate effect of a successful demonstration–a strike, a march, or other public display–is communication. Participation in a protest or other public display does two things: first, it tells other people that their concerns are broadly shared, that they are not alone; and second, it sends a message to those who are in a position to correct the problem that generated the event.
When a segment of the population is upset about something–racism, homophobia, misogyny, failure to fix potholes, whatever–concerted public actions that serve to tell individuals that they aren’t alone, aren’t the only people with that particular concern–are extremely important. (If you hold a demonstration and no one comes, that’s an important message too.) Brooding alone about problem X leads to feelings of powerlessness; joining with others who share your concern or anger strengthens your resolve to do something about it.
It also facilitates contact with others who agree with you, making other action more likely.
In states unlike Indiana, where the existence of referenda or the absence of gerrymandering means that legislators actually have to respond to constituent concerns, demonstrations and other public actions alert those in office to matters requiring their remedial action.
It’s true that few of these public protests get prompt positive results.
But even when strikes or marches or other displays of public concern fail to produce immediate results, over time, those expressions of opinion can and do change the culture. Little by little, they produce social change. Where would the civil rights movement, the gay rights movement or the women’s movement be today without the years of “virtue signaling” that John Lewis aptly called “good trouble”?
In any effort to effect social change, there will be good-faith arguments among proponents about the tactics to be employed. Will X be effective or counter-productive? Is this the right time to try Y? What if we plan a march and no one comes? Those are important discussions.
But they have absolutely nothing to do with “virtue signaling.”
Correct on this count. But culture is being decided on semantics. There is no longer any true debate on policy issues. The black community is sliwly being destroyed by politicians that use race as a sense of “virtue signaling” as neighborhoods lose out, are sold and developed. Federal miney is being spent on illegals andcwe are supposed to just take it
John S. Whaaaaaat? Sheila, thank you for responding to that statement. I, too, found it demeaning. Your comments are exactly correct.
“virtue signaling”? Signaling whom? The manager at Kroger’s. Nah, the real signaling is coming November 5th. It won’t be so much of a signal though as it will be an explosion heard across the land as women reclaim their god given right to their own bodies.
OK–Let’s Talk About Virtue Signaling” Is buying an electric vehicle the primary virtuous example of cutting back on fossil fuel? We live in a world that is forcing use of electronic instruments in all forms of gizmos, gadgets, watchamacallits, and things to run our lives now; we are far beyond the tipping point and we can no longer stop weather from getting worse. Approximately an hour of wind storm Tuesday night here AGAIN cut electricity to thousands of people here for overnight, and some longer. A news report recently stated that by 2035 everyone will be required to drive only electric vehicles. A more recent report on local newscasts Wednesday morning stated we are facing a shortage of electricity and the possibility here of resorting to rolling blackouts next summer. If we are to run our lives on electricity, the powers that provide the power need to find a way to keep our electric power on, or restore it much faster than they are doing now. That would be their highest level of virtue…we could all also cut back on wasting what power we do have by turning off lights and entertainment sources when we aren’t actually using them.
The end days of last August and first days of September in Indiana, thousands here suffered through terrible heat without power for many days; resulting in heat related health problems and hauling out for trash pickup many thousands of dollars of food which rotted during the outage. Racism, homophobia, misogyny, income level, electric or gas powered vehicle owners did not matter; it was an equal opportunity outage. We will not have a future if we do not have electricity available as our primary source of energy to function day-to-day at the basic level of life.
Where is the “virtue signaling” in the national monopoly strangle-hold on our utilities with the creation of more electronic “stuff” but cannot maintain the current level of energy use of our primary energy source. We are moving into a “Soylent Green” future created by “progress” which is not always improvement and ending fossil fuel use is not the answer to all problems under the current Heat Dome”.
I have a pretty good idea who the commenter was, and he is one of the problems of selective intelligence: They only comment on things that align with their confirmation biases. The semantics are always twisted by those who are trying to sound like they actually know something or are very insecure about their own intelligence.
Excellent clap back to that right-wing commenter’s ignorance.
If the Indiana government decided to force men to have reversible vasectomies at age 16 until they got married, I’d be in the street marching for my fellow man. I am not sure it would be called “virtue signaling” as much as standing up against oppression.
Virtue signaling is a broad term used against the “woke generation” and their actions to stop oppressive measures. Every time Trump says, “he’s going to drain the swamp,” isn’t that virtue signaling?
We could play this silly game all day long if we didn’t have any form of intelligent response. 😉
As an old crone, who has been in a ton of virtue signaling marches, I can’t think of anything I marched for that didn’t eventually happen. If you really want to change something, you have to start somewhere and a huge march tells the decision makers that they need to pay attention.
To expand on JoAnn’s comments regarding electricity – MISO ( the entity that manages the electronic grid across 15 states and Manitoba, Canada) and their member utilities are very concerned that the massive data centers being constructed by Google and Amazon in NW and NE Indiana will consume more electricity than our current systems can handle and may negatively affect the power supply for businesses and residents.
Of course, this concern is being used by the coal mining companies and electric utilities to request a delay in the scheduled closure of coal plants that have been supplying the fuel to create electricity. Their powerful Congressional and State lobbying against renewables has put all of us in this precarious position and the cost of electricity will continue to rise at a more rapid pace than it has over the past few years.
Here is a link to an article in the Indiana Capital Chronicle about this concern.
https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2024/04/24/the-new-gold-rush-powering-indianas-data-center-boom/
We all virtue signal, but this saying is wrong because it reduces complex motivation to a simple hollow one. That’s the way of the griping cohort. Make everything that’s complex, simple.
Many Reds live by the rule that you have to be strong enough to go after what you want. Many who resist that siren song instead think, perhaps that used to be accurate, but this is the age of knowledge and no longer the age of brute strength. To keep up, you have to be smart enough to figure out and keep ahead of the knowledge distribution curve. Things are no longer simple, and assuming that and assuming tough enough is good enough gets you manipulated and not in control.
It twas me. As I don’t know exactly what the “strikers” did that day, perhaps I was a bit trigger happy. However, where I live “virtue signaling” became a phrase when “Black Lives Matter” signs popped up all over manicured suburban lawns.
“Connotation is in the mind of the beholder; however, I would suggest that comparing this “strike” to the work of John Lewis/the Civil Rights Movement is a false equivocation. How many of those “strikers” really risked their jobs, their homes, their lives? And, while we are at it, maybe even calling it a “strike” seems a bit much when past strikes by labor resulted in lost lives and livelihoods.
Wanna protest the overturning of Roe v. Wade? Stop buying products from the companies who donate money to the campaigns of anti-abortion politicians.
After participating in several collective actions to demonstrate my support or opposition to various political policy proposals, it has become clear to me that in this state, the voices of the most likely to be negatively affected by those proposals are the least likely to be acknowledged by the politicians in power.
Now any politician who wants to claim impartiality in decisions that benefit a private entity can accept “gratuities” for services rendered after the fact of tipping the scales in favor on one entity over another. Let the games begin!
Yes, I feel more and more powerless and unheard in this state. Years of calling myself an independent, voting for policy not personality, has shown that I am almost always going to be on the outside in Indiana. I no longer try to engage with people who are out and out Republicans. What’s the point? They are so indoctrinated that anything I tell them is a “lie”. I have no respect for them as individuals. They will always act in their self-interest first. If their actions result in some good for others, they claim that it was their intent all along. Whited sepulchers, all.
Lester, you seem to think that the striking women are merely “virtue posturing” (posturing was the word you used) because strikers in the past risked their lives for striking. Women’s lives ARE at risk, as well as the lives of infants! Because of the abortion bans, women are suffering life-threatening complications, some of which damage them physically beyond repair. And the rate of infant mortality is significantly increasing. So, yes, if staging strikes and protests is virtue signaling, then I plan to virtuously polish my beacon and get out there and shine it for the world to see. I don’t believe you meant to be dismissive, disrespectful, and insulting, but that’s how your statement came across. Words are powerful things.
OK, I’m going to signal virtually (pun intended).
I have solar panels and I just bought an all electric vehicle. I am saving a ton of $$$ and I enjoy talking to people who ask about these innovations. I realize that electricity has it’s drawbacks as well but . . . . I’m happy with my choice.
And just because there are some demonstrations (that’s what we used to call them) that don’t result in bodily harm doesn’t mean it can’t happen. When I attended the January 17, 2017 Women’s March in DC, I didn’t know if I would get hurt. I sure saw a LOT of police and they were all armed. I have participated in Black Lives Matter marches and I remember watching for snipers on roofs as we went down a business district street. I organized and held a rally in my community when immigrant children were being separated from their families. I live in South Carolina which is not known for its liberal leanings. I think the possibility of violence is always present when you appear in public for a cause that people have strong feelings about.
So, Lester, you are generalizing about events you really don’t know about. So stick to your activism, which I’m sure has an impact, and please respect mine. It all adds up over time.
I am sure all the participants felt “united” and “uplifted” from giving up some time for the community sharing. That is certainly worth something (and more than posting a sign on your lawn).
On that day, we had multiple volunteers sending several hundred “last minute” emails to identified women business leaders, faith leaders, education leaders and non-profit leaders in CO 04, reminding them that registered unaffiliated voters could vote in Tuesday’s GOP primary for a reproductive rights candidate instead of Lauren Boebert – a “coincidental” postering, “our style”. Yes, it was about abortion, but also about Boebert’s very GOP-extremist NO votes (where more than 100 GOP House members voted YES) against, among other things: health benefits for veterans damaged by the burn pits in Iraq, child and housing tax credits for victims of natural disasters, etc.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead
As the world changes, a minor edit: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens TAKING ACTION AGAINST EVIL can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Tearing down or cancel culture is a way for the negative current of the Magas to deal with the vast array of reality that they don’t espouse. Imposing their domineering ways on others is their modus operandi. Also calling out “virtue signaling” is a way to try to silence/shame others working toward their goals of justifiable freedom. They seem to need the feedback that others are inferior to themselves in various ways i.e. financial worth, race, gender, education level, religion etc.
I was upset when the Indiana legislature imposed a road tax only on hybrid/electric vehicles a few years ago. Their rational was that the owners of these vehicles weren’t paying their fair share in gas tax for road maintenance and repair. I don’t think the light ride of Priuses is causing much wear and tear to the roads, instead the damage of gas laden SUV’s and trucks is the culprit. The message the Indiana legislature is sending with the exclusive road tax on hybrids/electric vehicles is usurpingly regressive. The legislature is taking the savings of hybrid owners from not having to buy much gasoline, to signal/ maintain their support the gas industry. Also, the road fee stated out at “just $50” to a few years later up to $200. How much more are they going tax the virtue signaling non gas guzzlers?
Like everything, context matters.
Yes, Toyota specifically designed the exterior of the Prius to be “different” so that everyone would know that the driver chose a hybrid. Smart marketing, but it says nothing about the actual person who purchased the vehicle.
Empty “virtue signalling”, as a slur, appropriately belongs to those people (unclear how many, but some) who had solar panels installed facing the street, even though the sun shone on the back of the house, just to let their neighbors know.
As for marching, yes, the civil rights marchers put more on the line than anyone since the labor movement. The anti-war movement, and most of Black Lives Matter marchers did not face physical danger. That does NOT diminish the importance of protest, in whatever form it takes.
My only problem is with someone who says “I’ve marched and signed a hundred petitions, but I won’t bother to vote.” That is a small, but real problem, mostly, in my past experience, on the left side of the political spectrum, but then again, I am not invited to many right-wing gatherings.
Rose, I, and the EV club to which I belonged, fought hard against that tax on electric and hybrid cars. Deaf ears. I don’t mind helping to maintain the roads (ha!), but it should not have been a flat tax, but rather based on miles driven. I pay as much each year at registration time for the 4k miles my Leaf drives annually as the 40k a Tesla drives. Completely unfair, and more $$ than I’d pay at the pump if I bought gas for those miles.
Jane, regarding road fee for EV and hybrids. We drive our Prius approximately 6K per year. I haven’t worked it out mathematically, but I think the gas tax we do pay probably covers the wear and tear of our relatively lightweight vehicle on the roads. The road fee is a penalty for the owners of EV/hybrids in the disguised argument of “fair”.