This week, at the height of the flu season, a group of Anti-Vaxxers came forward with a special request, though the request wasn't to get caught up on their vaccines.
Twitter has been pushing back at the group since Sunday when they requested to retire the term "Anti-Vaxxer," claiming that it was a derogatory term that didn't tell the whole story.
Crazy Mothers is an informational site on all things anti-vaccination, leading with the tagline, "The Rebellion Starts At Home."
The team requested that the term "Anti-Vaxxer" be exchanged with "Vaccine Risk Aware," claiming that the prior term marginalized women and their experiences.
Crazy Mothers tweeted:
"Dear Media,
Please retire the use of the term "Anti-vaxxer." It is derogatory, inflammatory, and marginalizes both women and their experiences. It is [dismissively] simplistic, highly offensive, and largely false. We politely request that you refer to us as the Vaccine Risk Aware."
Within moments, the responses were rolling in, with a resounding "no."
Followers reminded Crazy Mothers that "anti-vaxxer" means just that: someone who is against the use of vaccinations.
Some went so far as to say that the term was meant to be derogatory and judgmental, because the rejection of following standard medical procedures has led to real problems, including the widest spread of measles in decades.
This whole conversation caused an immediate spike in the use of the "OK Boomer" response, adapted just for this occasion.
Some are reminding the Anti-vaxxers of how basic terminology works, stating that "anti-vaxxer" is a perfectly reasonable term to use for someone who is against the administering of vaccines.
But most are taking the opportunity to create their own names for Anti-Vaxxers.
Even leading physicians and scientists started coming up with their own suggested names.
After all of this push-back, it doesn't seem very likely that the name "Anti-Vaxxer" is going to go away any time soon.
Whether or not all of this push-back will lead to deeper, more meaningful conversations about vaccines, and what it truly means to be "aware" is yet to be seen. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem likely.
