Kittenfishing flatters the surface — old photos, an added inch, a better job title. Wokefishing falsifies values, performing beliefs you do not hold in order to attract someone. One embellishes the packaging; the other fakes the conscience.
Side by side
Aspect
Kittenfishing
Wokefishing
What's faked
Looks and stats
Beliefs and values
Depth
Surface details
Core identity
Found out
On the first date
Once you're invested
Read as
Mild vanity
A serious breach
What each one means
Kittenfishing
Kittenfishing is presenting a mildly exaggerated, overly flattering version of your real self on a dating profile — old or heavily edited photos, an inflated job title, a couple of added inches of height — without inventing a fully fake identity.
Wokefishing is when someone falsely presents themselves as more socially or politically progressive than they really are in order to attract a partner — then reveals their true, less-progressive views once a connection has formed.