A 2017 political cartoon by Tom Stiglich from The Week magazine depicting liberal snowflakes against Trump.
The term "snowflake" as it is used today (referring to an individual who is "overly sensitive", "too politically correct", according to Merriam Webster's Dictionary) has existed since the late 19th century, with the first recording uses being in the 1860s referring to wealthy, white (hence snowflakes) and politically more influential people opposing the abolition of slavery. However, it has only been within the past decade that it has become more embedded into political discourse and used in more mainstream and quotidian contexts, this coinciding with the rise of conservativism and the political right for both the UK and the USA. This has predominantly been by those on the political right as a derogatory term and a means of disparaging against those who value more liberal and socialist principles such as egalitarianism, freedom of expression, and individual and collective liberties. This can, therefore, present for the groups most likely to be considered as snowflakes now compared with in the 1860s to be completely oppositional. However both of these groups appear to relate to individuals that are likely to be radicalised or perhaps considered a threat to society, or would perhaps have more limited ability to take on a diplomatic tone or act willing to accept different viewpoints. This can be evident for individuals on both the left and right of the political spectrum, although perhaps mainly those with authoritarian views who are unlikely to be the egalitarian liberals and socialists that often get labelled using this term. As a result, as well as the fact that they often are unwilling to accept social progress and get offended by viewpoints they consider misguided, incorrect or inappropriate, it appears that many individuals on the far right can, ironically, very much present as having these snowflake qualities.
Moreover, the term appears to be rather ageist and stereotyping about culture and lifestyle considering that, along with liberals and leftists, it appears that millennials and Gen Z are often lumped together as the "snowflake generation". This seems plausible considering that the conservative and ideologically right wing population who have coined this term are generally from the generations before who would seem considerably more socially and economically stable and are more likely to favour traditionalist ideas. This would, therefore, prove for the term, to some extent, to almost appear apolitical and non-partisan. Anna B. Faria in her 2022 paper referring to millennials as having "traded in home ownership for avocado toast, and abandoned canned seafood and diamond rings" (all of which unlikely to be politically motivated and seem to only refer to working with their own financial situations or changes in lifestyle from that of older generations) perfectly illustrates this. It could even be argued that it had come about through older generations not appearing to relate to and being keen to poke fun at the generations after them as opposed to being about any clearly defined ideological positions or whether certain groups are more likely to appear a cause of concern to society, yet that this insult clearly became politicised so as to further categorise the population through examining defining political and non-political characteristics of individual generations.
Alyeksyeyeva, I.O, (2017) Science and Education a New Dimension. Philology, V(39), Issue: 143, 2017, Defining snowflake in British post-Brexit and US post-election public discourse, https://seanewdim.com/
Faria, A.B, (2022) Comrade Snowflake?
Why Millennials Won’t Be Socialists
Forever, V(27)2, ISSN 1086–1653
Murray, A.H, (2018), Generation Snowflake?, RSA Journal , Vol. 164, No. 4 (5576) (2018–19), pp. 44-47
Pignatero, J.R, (2017), What Is A 'Snowflake?' Origin Of Insult From Alt-Right Leaders Who Support Trump, in International Business Times 15/2/2017
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