The term “snowflake” is a politicized insult from the right targeted at the left

The argument

The term "snowflake" is one that is used in a derogatory manner to describe millennials and students alleged to be overly sensitive and underly interested in differing opinions. On this argument it should be understood as a political weapon rather than as a description of anybody. The timing is the first reason. Whether the snowflake generation exists or not, it is undeniable that the rise of this terminology came in time with the resurgence of conservatism in the United States and Great Britain, a rise characterized by the election of Donald Trump and the referendum in favor of Brexit. A word that describes a genuine and enduring feature of a generation would be expected to appear when that feature did; a word that appears precisely alongside a political realignment is better explained by the realignment. The pattern of use is the second reason. From this root, "snowflake" became a term used by politicians on the right to target liberals of the left, criticizing liberals, particularly the young, in one fell swoop. That last property is what makes it useful: the term applies to an entire political side at once, so it does not require the speaker to identify a specific claim or engage with it. It functions as a verdict on a person's disposition rather than on anything they have argued. The content of the insult confirms its origin. It falls in line with the right's interpretation of the left as a sensitive group, constantly concerned about safe spaces, trigger warnings, and political correctness — an interpretation that existed before the word did and that the word simply compresses. Understood this way, "snowflake" carries a political position rather than a neutral observation about young people.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Generally, the term “snowflake” as an insult does not fall along political lines, but along lines of age. For example, in Britain regarding the EU referendum, “snowflake” as a term became popularized by the older generation commenting on the “hysterical” reaction of the younger one. Boomers and other older generations interpret the current generation of young people as soft, but it does not always come with political connotations.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] The counter reads the line of attack as generational rather than partisan: in Britain around the EU referendum the term was popularised by older people characterising the younger generation's reaction as hysterical, and the charge that the young are soft does not always carry political content. [Rejecting C] On that reading the word is not best understood as a right-to-left insult, since the division it marks runs between age groups and can be used without reference to the political positions the argument places at its centre.