Interracial relations In the 1860s, "snowflake" was used by
abolitionists in
Missouri to refer to those who opposed the abolition of slavery. The term referred to the color of snow, referring to valuing white people over black people. This usage was not believed to have extended beyond the state of Missouri in the 1800s. In January 2017, Palahniuk directly claimed credit, adding that young adults of the 2010s exhibit "a kind of new
Victorianism". In a short essay for
Entertainment Weekly, Palahniuk later clarified that while writing the novel in 1994, he did not intend "snowflake" to be an insult, and said it had nothing to do with fragility or sensitivity. Rather he was consciously reacting against the constant praise he had encountered in the education system, which he said had rendered him an "idiot" and poorly equipped him for the world. He said "A lifetime of disingenuous, one-size-fits-all praise had kept most of my peers from pushing hard to achieve any actual triumphs, and therefore we had no internal sense of ability or potential." The metaphor has been used positively with students to celebrate their individuality (and teamwork). Following
Fight Club, the terms "special snowflake" and "
special snowflake syndrome" were applied to individuals with a negative connotation. Such terminology refers to people who believe their status as a unique individuals means they are destined for great success, or deserve a special career, with abundant praise and admiration. According to
Merriam-Webster, in the 2000s snowflake referred "mostly to
millennials who were allegedly too convinced of their own status as special and unique people to be able (or bothered) to handle the normal trials and travails of regular adult life". The term "snowflake generation" was one of
Collins English Dictionarys 2016 words of the year. Collins defines the term as "the young adults of the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations". The terms "generation snowflake" and "snowflake generation" are frequently used in reference to use of
trigger warnings and
safe spaces, or to describe young adults as anti-
free speech, specifically in reference to a practice referred to as
deplatforming. It has also been used to refer to a reported increase in
mental health issues among young adults.
Politicization Following the referendum result in favour of
Brexit in the UK and the election of
Donald Trump as 45th President of the U.S., "generation snowflake" was often shortened to simply "snowflake" and became a politicized insult. A November 2016 article from
The Guardian commented: "Until very recently, to call someone a snowflake would have involved the word 'generation'." A 2017 article from
Think Progress commented: "The insult expanded to encompass not just the young, but liberals of all ages; it became the epithet of choice for right-wingers to fling at anyone who could be accused of being too easily offended, too in need of 'safe spaces, too fragile'".
Jonathon Green, editor of ''
Green's Dictionary of Slang'', points out snowflake is an unusual insult in that it calls someone weak and fragile without using
misogynistic or
homophobic references. Actor
George Takei extended the metaphor to emphasize the power of snowflakes, saying: "The thing about 'snowflakes' is this: They are beautiful and unique, but in large numbers become an unstoppable avalanche that will bury you." and CNN commentator
Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones called Trump "President Snowflake" based on his response to the
FBI's Russia probe in May 2017. Shelly Haslam-Ormerod, senior lecturer in mental health and wellbeing at
Edge Hill University, strongly criticised the use of the term, arguing in
The Conversation that it stigmatises the mental health challenges faced by today's young people in an uncertain world and noting that even children aged under 10 have been unfairly labelled "snowflakes" in tabloid articles. In 2017, a U.S.
marketing company created a "snowflake test" to be used in its hiring process to "weed out overly sensitive,
liberal candidates who are too easily offended". Many questions were designed to assess a candidate's stance on America, police, and guns. However,
psychologist and
academic from the
Manchester Business School at the
University of Manchester,
Cary Cooper suggests it is a poor strategy for attracting talented younger workers. "Broflake" (from "
bro" and "snowflake") is a related derogatory term which the
Oxford Dictionaries define as "a man who is readily upset or offended by progressive attitudes that conflict with his more conventional or conservative views". It has also been applied to women, in the more general sense of someone who claims to not be easily offended, yet often is. ==In popular culture and other languages==