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Originally Posted by Adder
This is a phrase that never had a terribly good use anyway but regardless has become entirely useless aside from signalling that the person using it does not care about whatever issue is being discussed.
I don't think you don't care, so maybe it's not the best word choice.
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In other words, "virtue-signaling" is anti-virtue-signalling?
I disagree with you. The phrase suggests that people are saying things for the purpose of having appeared to have said thing and how it will reflect well on their intentions, rather than because the thing is particularly true or useful or likely to lead to some useful outcome. When you said that everything she said was fair, you didn't actually mean that you actually agree with what she said. You just approve of her cause, directionally, even if you don't agree with specific things that she says. Probably you think that it does the world some measure of good if men like yourself support her, even if they don't really always mean it. The phrase "virtue-signaling" is not entirely fair here, because it seems like you probably think that the public act of agreeing with her will somehow have some effect on the world apart from telling everyone here that you are on the side of feminism, although I confess that unless underpants gnomes are involved, I don't get it.
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Voting for women and taking a step back sometimes seem like pretty concrete ideas of what's to be done.
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Sure, but now you're qualifying your agreement with her in a pretty significant way. If you take her words seriously, and I'm not sure you do, then you wouldn't vote for a male Democrat running against a Republican. "Taking a step back sometimes" sounds great. Who doesn't want a vacation? I'm thinking of taking a step back in a few weeks and going to Tahoe or Paris (or ideally the place in Utah that TM recommended, but my wallet can't do that). But that's not what she was saying either.
