Woke Medicine Terminology, 2000-2024

Graph of the Week

Dec 08, 2025

“Woke” is a colloquial term that refers to a raised awareness of purported injustices that are said to be caused by unjust power dynamics in society. This week’s graphs show the use of Woke terminology in the titles and abstracts of articles indexed in PubMed.

PubMed, which is maintained by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. National Library of Medicine, is a digital database of millions of academic articles in the biomedical and life sciences. PubMed indexes most biomedical and public health journals. Thus, a search of Woke terminology in the titles and abstracts of articles indexed in PubMed can reveal the extent to which the philosophical underpinnings of Woke - critical theory, intersectionality, etc. - have been adopted in medical and health science. The graphs are presented in alphabetical order.

Specific notes on search strategies

Many Woke words have an inverse. For example, the inverse of “equity” is “inequity.” The inverse of “justice” is “injustice.” The inverse represents the same general concept as its counterpart. In such instances, both words were searched to represent the concept.
Many Woke words have plural versions. The plural versions were also searched using the asterisk (*) wild card operator. For example, the keyword search of birthing person* finds the phrases “birthing person” (singular) and “birthing persons” (plural).
Woke words that represent the same concept sometimes share the same root or prefix but have different suffixes. Thus, the asterisk (*) wild card operator was used at the end of word roots or prefixes to identity all relevant referrals to the concept. For example, the keyword search of misogyn* identifies articles that included the following words in their titles or abstracts: misogyny, misogynist, misogynistic.
Some Woke words have different spellings in American and British English (e.g., “decolonize” and “decolonise”). In such cases, both spellings were searched to represent to identify that concept in the titles and abstracts of articles.

Limits of search

The current report represents only a selection of Woke terminology. Many other Woke words and phrases exist. Thus, these graphs do not represent the totality of Woke words and phrase in articles indexed in PubMed. Please see the encyclopedia of Woke terminology at the New Discourses website for additional Woke terminology and for definitions and descriptions of the words and phrases included in the current report.
Only the titles and abstracts of articles were searched. Some articles will have discussed Woke concepts in the main body of text but not included that terminology in the title or abstract of the article. Thus, these graphs do not represent the totality of Woke words and phrase in articles indexed in PubMed.
Only PubMed was searched. Several other databases of academic articles exist. PubMed generally indexes journals in the biomedical and life sciences. Thus, journals in other academic areas, including many areas in the humanities, where Woke is most common, were not searched. The current graphs do not represent the totality of Woke in the academy. Instead, the current graphs represent Woke medicine and healthcare.

“Birthing People” and “Birthing Person”

The first year that the phrases “birthing people” and “birthing person” were used in the title or abstract of an article indexed in PubMed was 2019.
Use of these two phrases increased noticeably in 2021 and their use has increased every year since.
In 2024, 237 articles indexed in PubMed had the phrases “birthing people” or “birthing person” in their title or abstract.

Climate can be studied in an objective and politically neutral way. However, in recent years, climate research has become highly political. This is evident in the graph below, as increased use of critical theory narratives in climate research can be seen.
Use of the Woke climate phrases “climate crisis,” “climate justice,” and “environmental justice” has increased noticeably since 2019.

In recent years, critical theorists have advocated for “decolonizing” academic curricula, public policy, and medical practice.
The graph below confirms increased use of the words “colonialism” and “decolonize” in the titles and abstracts of articles indexed in PubMed. The years 2019 and 2020 were key deflection points in which use of these two words became more common in articles indexed in PubMed.

Epistemology refers to what knowledge is and how we obtain it. Critical theorists often reject the idea that the world can be understood objectively and through use of the scientific method. Instead, critical theorists view knowledge as dependent on one’s position as either an oppressor or the oppressed. In this view, “ways of knowing” about the world are believed to differ between groups of people who are oppressive or oppressed. One supposed oppressed group is indigenous people, who are said to have their own “indigenous knowledge.”
Because one’s position in the oppression hierarchy is thought to impact one’s way of knowing things about the world, academics now regularly write “positionality” statements in their papers. “Positionality” or “reflexivity” statements are declarations made by academics about their own “social identities—such as race, gender, class, sexuality, or other “lived experiences” —that may have shaped their perspective on the research topic.” However, as explained by Colin Wright of Reality’s Last Stand, positionality statements undermine scientific integrity.
Yet, as can be seen in the graph below, use of the word “positionality,” as well as other Woke epistemology words, has increased since 2019. Few things could be more deadly for objective science than the adoption of these components of subjective epistemology. See my article on rigged Woke “research” for a related discussion.

Various words used to refer gender identity or sexual orientation (e.g., “cisgender,” “queer”) have shown increased use over the past few years.
Of the words searched here, “transgender” was most frequently used. Between 2000-2024, the word “transgender” appeared in the titles or abstracts of 17,467 articles indexed in PubMed. In 2024, the word “transgender” appeared in the titles or abstracts of 2,697 articles indexed in PubMed.

The rise of Woke medicine has also been associated with a heightened focus on sex/gender differences. Relevant words or phrases have included “gender parity,” “gender equity,” “gender equality,” and “gendered.”
Use of all four of these terms has increased noticeably in recent years. Increased use of these terms had been occurring for many years, but between the years 2018 and 2020 was when the four terms showed a common increased trajectory in use.

Women, particularly minority women, are considered an oppressed or “marginalized” group, and focus on female victimization beyond what aligns with objective reality is a key component of Woke. Woke academics use an array of words and phrases to refer to female victimization.
Two of these phrases - “gender bias” and “gender-based violence” - followed a similar path in terms of increased use between 2013 and 2020. However, in 2021, use of the phrase “gender-based violence” increased markedly. At its peak in 2022, the phrase “gender-based violence” was used in the titles or abstracts of 466 articles indexed in PubMed.
The phrase “MeToo” also appeared in articles titles and abstracts, totalling 381 articles since 2013. Use of the phrase “MeToo” started to decline in 2023.
“Misogyny” was used in the titles or abstracts of 293 articles indexed in PubMed between 2000 and 2024.

Group differences in health outcomes exist, and these group differences are the key focus of Woke medicine. Woke medicine focuses on demographic groups rather than individual patients, and the objective of Woke medicine is to create “parity” in group health outcomes, usually by acting on the “social determinants of health.”
Because critical theory says that these group differences are due to unjust systemic or structural factors associated with the oppressor-oppressed paradigm, the ethically neutral word “difference” is disbanded with, and words like “equality,” “equity,” and “parity” are used instead.
Between 2019-2020, accelerated use of all three words was present in the titles and abstracts of articles indexed in PubMed.
Interestingly, use of the word “equality” (or “inequality”) plateaued starting around 2021, while use of the word “equity” (or “inequity”) continued to increase. The word “equity” (or “inequity”) appeared in the titles or abstracts of 61,336 articles indexed in PubMed between 2019-2024.

As universities have become increasingly feminized, academic outputs on topics associated with the safety of women and other “marginalized groups” has increased.
“Hate speech,” “microaggressions,” and “safe spaces” are words or phrases that reflect this heightened safetyism on campus.
Use of all three words and phrases has increased noticeably over the past six years. The terms “microaggression” and “safe space” have followed similar trajectories in their use in the titles or abstracts of articles indexed in PubMed.

Earlier, I presented a graph showing use of the words “parity,” “equity,” and “equality” in the titles and abstracts of articles indexed in PubMed. Those words could have been used in various contexts, such as “gender equity” or “racial equity.” In the graph below, uses of the phrases “health equity,” “health equality,” and “health parity” are displayed.
Accelerated use of the phrase “health equity” occurred from 2019 to 2020, while use of the phrase “health equality” plateaued starting in 2022.

“Intersectionality” refers to one’s multiple group identities – i.e., sex, race, sexual orientation, etc. Within critical theory, the greater the number of “marginalized” identities that a person has, the more they considered a victim of “oppression.”
The words “intersectionality” and “oppressed” (or “oppression”) have been used in the titles and abstracts of hundreds of articles indexed in PubMed. Notable increases in use of these two words were observed between 2018 and 2020.
Between 2018 and 2024, the word “intersectionality” was used in the titles or abstracts of 6,898 articles indexed in PubMed.

In critical theory, “lived experience” refers to “one’s life experiences in allegedly systemic power dynamics of dominance and oppression that shape society structurally…” (i.e., “lived experience of oppression”). A claim of “lived experience” by a person of an alleged oppressed group can then be used by that person as license to make unsubstantiated claims against an alleged oppressor group.
Accelerated use of the phrase “lived experience” in the titles and abstracts of articles indexed in PubMed occurred starting around 2019. Between 2019-2024, the phrase “lived experience” was used in the titles or abstracts of 9,676 articles indexed in PubMed.

The concepts of parity/disparity, equity/inequity, and equality/inequality are also applied to differences in health outcomes between groups of different races/ethnicities.
As seen in the graph below, a significant increase in use of the phrase “racial disparity” (or “racial parity”) occurred from 2019 to 2020.
Use of the phrases “racial equity” (or “racial inequity”) and “racial equality” (or “racial inequality”) peaked around 2021-2022 and have since plateaued.

The death of George Floyd, which occurred on May 25, 2020, was a key causal factor related to heightened Woke culture in academia. It markedly increased discussions on race and racism in the U.S.
The heightened attention on race around this time can be seen in articles published in medical and health journals. In fact, George Floyd’s name was used in the titles or abstracts of 243 articles indexed in PubMed between 2020 and 2024. Similarly, the phrase “Black Lives Matter” was used in the titles or abstracts of 333 articles indexed in PubMed between 2020 and 2024.
Words and phrases such as “antiracism,” “systemic racism,” and “racial bias” were used in the titles or abstracts of hundreds of articles indexed in PubMed over this time.
Words and phrases such as “white privilege” and “white supremacy” were used in the titles or abstracts of dozens of articles indexed in PubMed over this time.

In a previous post at The Nuzzo Letter, I discussed the politicized public health movement known as the “social determinants of health,” including the amount of money that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) invested in this area.
The crusade on the “social determinants of health” occurred prior to the modern Woke movement, which is why regular use of the phrase “social determinant” appears in the graph prior to 2019. However, from 2019 to 2020, one can see accelerated use of this phrase in the titles and abstracts of articles indexed in PubMed. This happened because the “social determinants of health” movement has, for most of its history, been associated with the concept of “health equity” and other aspects of Woke medicine.
Between 2000-2024, the phrase “social determinant” appeared in the titles or abstracts of 24,960 articles indexed in PubMed.
Between 2019-2024, the phrase “social determinant” appeared in the titles or abstracts of 18,443 articles indexed in PubMed.

A goal of critical theory is to achieve “social justice,” including in health and medicine.
The phrase “social justice” (or “social injustice”) was being used in medical and health research papers prior to 2019, but its use accelerated between 2019 and 2020.
Between 2019 and 2024, the phrase “social justice” (or “social injustice”) was used in the titles or abstracts of 3,308 articles indexed in PubMed.
The phrases “social equity” and “social equality” were also used in the titles and abstracts of hundreds of articles indexed in PubMed over this time.

The word “underrepresentation” (or “underrepresented”) falls within the Woke lexicon. It is often used in discussing group differences in positions of power or influence, when, because of supposed unjust structural or systemic factors, alleged “marginalized” groups are not equally represented in these positions. Consequently, policy changes are then viewed by social justice warriors as the way to socially engineer equal representation or “parity” in these positions.
Use of the word “underrepresentation” (or “underrepresented”) accelerated in 2019. Between 2019-2024, the word “underrepresentation” (or “underrepresented”) was used in the titles or abstracts of 15,686 articles indexed in PubMed.

“Body positivity,” “weight stigma,” and “weight bias” are all part of the Woke medicine lexicon, though weight stigma and bias have potential to be used in less politically-charged ways.
Use of the phrases “weight stigma” and “weight bias” has been on the rise for many years, but noticeable increases in use of these two phrases can been seen in 2021. Overall, these phrases have been used in the titles and abstracts of hundreds of articles indexed in PubMed.

Bonus Commentary

This scientometric analysis confirms the timeline of the rise of Woke medicine. The exponential increase in Woke medicine started around 2019 and was associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020), the death of George Floyd (May 2020), and the 2020 U.S. presidential election (November 2020). Once the Biden White House was in place, further increases in the growth of Woke medicine occurred. Substantial amounts of government funding for research on the “social determinants of health” and related topics likely facilitated the growth of Woke medicine.

The Nuzzo Letter is not the only place where Woke medicine has been critiqued. Do No Harm, Steve Stewart-Williams, and Sally Satel have all criticised aspects of Woke medicine.

With the Trump administration now in place, and with arguments against Woke medicine mounting, the promotion and application of critical theory in health science is likely to decline. This decline is probably already happening. A report by the Institute of Public Affairs in Australia, which involved keyword searches in Google, has suggested peak Woke might have already been achieved.

Finally, as I suggested in a previous paper, the ideas underlying Woke medicine have likely caused substantial misallocation of funds and thus harmed patients. Consequently, a shift away from identity politics in medicine is necessary. A focus on the individual patient, in all their physiological and psychological nuance, is always the go.

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