I was called a Karen because I have a corgi dog.

Hell if I know.

It would. Besides I was called the queen when I was a teenager, by my own family. Plus I love Queen.

My life in a meme, with a corgi dog.

thought, too.

It's that it takes a perfectly good name and makes it essentially a curse word.

Shall we do that with some men's names? Okay, john is out there, but it's been out there for generations. So let's call white supremacists all Bill or Joe.

Do you get it now?

sometimes a name is a name.

period.

a particular kind of hateful white woman. Let's do that with a man's name. Let's start calling all the cops who kill, Bill. Or Joe. Let's make those names -- or some other perfectly good man's name -- into something to be despised.

Are you fucking really serious?

you must be new here

i just thought that was funny as people curse like sailors around here.

Jody is the name of someone a significant other of a service member cheats with while they are overseas.

a certain kind of British military officer :-D

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Rupert

Bubba.

And we name hurricanes after people. Do you complain about that, too?

Men, even if they behave identically, are not similarly labeled.

(As for John, people named their child "john" knowing all of the negative implications associated with it. It's not fair to the child, but it is not like the name they were given was suddenly turned into a curse word. The same is not true of women named Karen.)

It's not sexist to acknowledge that white women are the handmaidens of white supremacy and some of its cruelest soldiers.

It is currently being used as a derogatory label for any white woman you disagree with, whether or not they are exhibiting that kind of behavior.

Whatever it's intent was originally, it is now just being used as a generic insult that is directed at women, exclusively.

the semi-negative connotations.

The recent denigration of the name Karen is vastly different.

at some point became associated with something derogatory.

This is Karen's time for entering the spotlight.

People who don't like them can just as easily choose to be Ricks or Bills.

Karen is a given name for which there are no commonly used nicknames.

I also wonder if people will gradually slip into using it as a word for a woman who is "overly" assertive.

So yes, there are male equivalents in current meme culture.

“Don’t be such a Chad.”

Apparently the rock I live under is vastly larger than I realized.

And I've never used it. I don't even call guys donalds.

I’d rather swim in piss than spend any time there.

I am a frequent redditor, however. Chad and Karen have been terms there for years. Now Karen has gone mainstream. It’s very funny to me.

The gnashing of teeth over a meme is just . . . a very Karen thing to do. “We’re the real victims because of a word!” Not the privilege, entitlement, or fragility it calls out. No, the word is the woorrrrst.

Please. So silly. Let’s get some self-awareness in this discussion.

Chad, btw, means a white male douchebag who is kind of oblivious to how much of an asshole he is. He thinks he’s cool. Everyone else hates him.

I thought democrats were better than this.

They think of "Chads" as frat boy types. They want to think of themselves as all that in bed and calling them, "Chads" or "Kens" as I have heard some calling them too, is only feeding their ego trips and their power trips. "Kens" and "Chads" they are not. More like "Bubbas," but they see that as a compliment too and get an ego trip about it.

Why not call them, "Karens" too and be done with it? They'd hate that more than anything. Their culture is very sexist. Calling them "Karens" would actually bother them and hit them in their egos. To be compared to women or gay people would actually hit them in their egos. They hate that more than anything.

They see women as inferior. So, to be compared to a woman is the worst insult you can give them.

Right now, they are proud of themselves for being bigots, because they are actually being called names that build up their ego even more. It keeps them in their power trip. I'd rather see their power trips and egos busted so they will stop terrorizing the rest of us. Call them "Karens" and bust them.

Karen meant a complainer to lower placed service people. Now people are changing these to suit their personal agenda.

I know this is all new to people who don't spend a lot of time within meme culture (usually older users of the internet). But as a relatively younger sort, I promise you that Chad is in no way a complimentary term as it is contemporaneously used.

Karen hasn't changed. It definitely had origins in the service industry. In that case, it was a class distinction. Usually older, middle to upper class, (and almost always) white women who used their status to belittle and harass lower class service workers.

Applying it to racial minorities doesn't change the use. It's leaning on one's status to put someone "in their place." The racist incidents apply.

I love that people are spending so much time on this. It shows that privilege can go deep even on our side. Were black people hogging the victimization spotlight or something? People got jealous and decided they, too, needed to feel oppressed, so now this word that's been around for ages is the ultimate evil of the week?

I hope people realize how silly and privileged they look with all this. Black people are dying in this country, but no, it's "OMG, you guys. Let's do Ivanka!" "Right?!" "It's just so sexist. I'm so offended." "Why don't people care about my feelings?!"

There's a word for this behavior. Tip of my tongue.

What good is it doing? Karen is a common name for the late baby boomer generation and a lot of them are complaining about being labeled. I have about 10 in my high school class. Yeah it's not like being a slave or a victim of genocide, but then most people don't experience that. I see on DU we are not to call a woman a "bitch" and now a common name is used to say essentially the same thing.

Hogging the victim spotlight? I see. It's great to be a victim. Then you can guilt everyone else. I guess that's the payoff? And in groups, not as individuals.

Black people are not dying en masse. Look at the number of police shootings per contact and they are rare. Black men disproportionate true, but it's not so common that you can say "Black people are dying" as if it's a common thing. A few videos of "Karen" shown as if every black person encounters such a white person every day. No, it's rare, that's why someone whipped out their phone.

A problem, but what is the point of exaggerating it, thus giving it less credibility with the average American. Exaggeration does seem to be part of our culture generally.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/

https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=6406

nt

As he's always said, try being named after a toilet.

What do you do when your name is Richard and people call you Dick?

There is also the matter of John, which has two not so complimentary references.

Are the names Richard, Dick, or John being stolen after they were already named one of those, and turned into a curse word?

No one named their child Richard, Dick, or John without knowing the alternate meaniings.

became associated with something unpleasant. John had always been one of the most common Christian names.

And yet all those Johns survived the experience.

But then again, I’m not that sensitive. Calling Trump Bunker Bitch didn’t bother me at all but some people here got weird about it.

or in the 60s. Names like Lisa, Linda, and Mary were more popular.

2. Plenty of strong, "entitled" women of that era, including Karens, kept up the fight for work equality, reproductive rights, and smashing gender stereotypes. It was women of that age, and maybe a few a little older, that became astronauts, scientists, etc.

Personally, I don't think a personal name should be used to demean someone. It isn't fair to everyone who actually has that name. Who will the Jennifers be? What will Laurens look like? Is Karen being used to take the place of bitch? If it is politically incorrect to say bitch, why is using a woman's personal name any better?

You expressed this much better than I have.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Name, like entitled bitch? "Karen" doesn't mean that. It is from Katherine, and means strong. Names like Regina actually mean entitled.

I have a few friends named Karen and they don't like their name being abused.

Bishop Talbert Swan calls racist or clueless white men Chad.

One item is gut wrenching and heartbreaking. The other is a nip-it-in-the-bud. Despising racism doesn't justify another generalization or name-calling.

This is what I could find from dictionary.com

Karen joins a trend on the internet in the 2010s of using a first name to make fun of certain kinds of people. A Becky, for example, is a stereotype for a “basic” young, white woman, while a Chad, in other corners of the internet, stands in for a cocky, young “dudebro.”

But, why the name Karen? Karen has widely been credited to Black Twitter in the 2010s. Another suggestion is that it comes from a 2005 bit by Dane Cook called “The Friend Nobody Likes.” (The friend was named Karen.) An additional explanation is that it comes from the character Karen in the 2004 film Mean Girls, who’s the subject of the popular quote: “Oh my God, Karen, you can’t just ask someone why they’re white.” It’s even been put forth that Karen comes from the even earlier 1990 film Goodfellas, in which one of the characters is named Karen.

Whatever the origin of the slang, the name Karen, apparently, is popularly thought of as a generic-seeming name for a middle-aged white woman of a certain generation. According to Social Security data, Karen was indeed the fourth most popular name for newborn girls in the 1960s, peaking at #3 in 1965.

(snip)

Karen further spread in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic and protests for racial justice. White women in viral videos—engaging in what was criticized as selfish or racist behavior—were shamed as Karens. The mayor of Las Vegas, for example, was called a Karen when, in a TV interview, she pushed to reopen casinos without social distancing despite warnings otherwise. Another notable instance was “Central Park Karen,” the epithet for a white woman who called the police on a Black man who was birdwatching in the Manhattan park, falsely accusing him of threatening her.

https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/karen/

I don't use it but I understand that most people that use it are calling out racism.

against women with that name.

Nobody names their kid "Adolf" anymore because even if they are good, the initial impression is not.

but we are not seeing the attributes of women from that era in this one, are we?

All I see from the Karens of this ear is self entitlement and brazen white priviledge.

It's no accident there aren't dozens of threads about Chad, Matt, Kevin or any of the other names people think are equivalent on DU. It's not a coincidence it's not one single name for men.

Like Barbie and KEN.

See ya' Ken!

where we can call upon structural racism to save us, if we choose to. White women know our whiteness can be used as a weapon in confrontations with Black people and other POC. I am a white women of that age who chooses not to do so and I have not been called a Karen. This is not a coincidence. It makes people uncomfortable but hopefully that makes us look at structural racism and the ways it benefits us. I'm much more concerned about structural racism than people being called Karens.

Exactly. In fact, in another thread must now, a poster referred to a racist white guy as “Mr. Karen.”

Same problem - different manifestation. Someone made a great post a few weeks back about the male/female division of white supremacy. The woman historically instigates the violence (e.g., calling 911) and the man perpetrates it. That's what the "Karen" label means to me. It can be misused, but I call it out when it is.

is that it is truly a gentle, charming name. Karen Carpenter, Karen Valentine, etc, bring a lot of smiles to some of us older peeps. And then when you see Karen juxtaposed with the ranting, raving, crazy women that keep debuting in these videos, it adds a little layer of funny to something that its truly horrifying.

You are an unknown woman named Karen, and people make assumptions about your character based on your name, even though you've tried to live a good life. How is this not another form of discrimination?

Who is making assumptions about someone based on their name? That strikes me as ridiculous. When was the last time you met someone named John and immediately assumed he patronizes hookers? Or someone introduced himself as Dick and you assumed he must be an asshole?

I don’t think it works that way.

names like Adolf when naming their child? A name makes a difference in impressions like it or not.
So wtf back at you.

Perhaps you ought not give that type of person the time of day.

Impressions to make where point systems are not used. For example, democratic politician named Karen would now have an additional obstacle to overcome. Names make a difference in the real world. It's just another way to belittle a group of people, including those who don't deserve it. There's no high road here.

Yes, Black women are named Karen, so it really doesn't doesn't even make sense, does it?

I’m not sure if you noticed but about her poster here linked some comments from a black woman (named Karen) who is all for the term. I see the term used frequently on twitter by black people when they’re calling out abhorrent behavior.

It is a very specific label used to call out a very specific behavior. If the term Karen begins to see widespread use in a misogynistic way we will have to step away from it and come up with a new label.

We didn't make this label. Twitter or Reddit or something did. Probably people younger than most of us. We aren't in charge of it and can't make it go away. We can discuss whether its a big deal or not, but we can't get society to step away from it, because we aren't in charge of it.

There are a lot of people saying it is - that it has a place - and some saying it isn’t. Discussions like this are healthy.

And discussions that force us to look at how white privilege manifests in our society are healthy, so I agree.

the definition of racist entitlement or very specific behavior. Instead of referring to her idiotic behavior, a gender-biased slur was used.

I think until misuse becomes commonplace we don’t have an issue. But we should be wary.

I’m not even sure that story wasn’t a creative writing exercise.

Glad to know it.

You discounted it, as if it is meaningless, or doesn't apply.

The vet story seemed odd to me. It might be true - it might be an exercise in creative writing - but the poster’s use of Karen within the context of that story was inappropriate. The story’s veracity (or lack there of) has no bearing on the appropriateness of the poster’s misuse of Karen. It was just an aside.

Many women are also telling you the opposite.

These folks are often doing it at the expense of a minority in a racist way.

No one has made a compelling argument why we should not use the Karen label to describe this behavior. The closest compelling argument I’ve seen the recent development of this label has left some folks named Karen feeling uncomfortable. I have yet to see how their experience is any different from those of folks named Dick, Felicia, John, Randy, or any of the other names that also have other meanings.

Yet you will ignore it the same way you didn’t even see it to begin with.

You don’t care to address any of my points?

hang out with people who would judge someone because of their given name. I grew up blonde, but I never worried about blonde jokes because they didn't describe me. Being called Karen wouldn't bother me either.

BUT, I do understand that it could cause people with the name discomfort if they are sensitive and think it's commendable that you are so thoughtful about it. I don't think that this genie is likely to go back into the bottle though...

My cat Silver is a big big tabby cat and he was sick so I took him to this *new* vet.

He doesn't go to the vet often (if ever) and he was yowling up a storm. I mean a loud loud moan and then some.

The new vet is a total "Karen" of a woman and she got out this bottle of Feliway and began spraying it around the room which made my Silver moan ever louder. She was SCARED, SCARED to death of my Silver (and he's actually a nice fellow)!

I told her to put that bottle of crap away as it is frightening Silver.

She didn't know what to do!

So, I paid the bill and my Silver and I left that dump, never to return ever!

HA!

How about something like, the vet was a total idiot.

And I’m one of them.

It's easier to shift the discussion away from the real issue and turn it into yet a other opportunity to make the people who are causing the problem in the first place into the "real" victim.

Let's not talk about the long pattern of some white women abusing, demeaning and threatening black people and instead talk about how the language black people and our allies use to talk about it victimizes white women.

Let's shift the topic to those poor white women being called a woman's name rather than focusing on their behavior.

Which helps to explain why so many white women voted for Trump - the racial solidarity is hard to break.

Not using it offends no one. If the choices are offending no one or offending someone, why not choose to offend no one?

It doesn't offend every Native American but enough say it offends them so the name should be changed.

It's also why I despise the Tomahawk chop of the Atlanta Braves and other racist symbology.

It's childish at best.

Just as a strategic thing. There might be a number of so-called Karens you would want to poach away from Trump this year. That is the demographic that is likeliest to defect.
Otoh I am not sure how stable someone's support is if their voting decisions are impacted by a meme .

100,000 ‘Karens’ but gain the vote of 1,000,000 people sick of folks abusing their white privilege in racist ways?

One is not dependent upon the other.

I suggest that while we may lose some (and really, how many racist white privileged women do we really have to begin with??) we will gain many more than we lose by standing tall and proud.

be made to feel uncomfortable ... But black people need to stop being so sensitive, angry, impatient, and demanding because we all need to get along?

and even from an electoral standpoint, who are more reliable voters? Whom should we be getting out to vote more?

It seems like some folks are now beginning to accept discussing white privilege and those who abuse it, but they draw the line at actually confronting specific acts and actions.

You really think that any white women named Karen who would have otherwise voted Democratic would decide not to vote for Joe Biden because some random people somewhere referred to privileged white women as a "Karen"?

Be serious.

You really would trust anyone that snowflaky and easily-triggered to vote Democratic but for the term Karen when they obviously are likely to let anything that happens on any given day - something read on a billboard, a mean tweet about dog owners who let their pets poop on the sidewalk that they were sure was directed at them, an insult from the guy babbling on the park bench, etc. - influence their vote?

Black and brown people get insulted every day all day by our fellow Democrats- sometimes on this very discussion board. I can only imagine if we started whining about how we can't ever say anything that might possibly in any way be considered offensive by even ONE black person because that could mean they won't vote.

This whole thread is an illustration in the pathology of Kareness ....

because of the term "Karen?" Really?

are generally seen as more important than confronting and discussing racism. Yes, the term Karen causes discomfort. Is that more important than discussions around how white privileged women sometimes weaponize systemic racism?

Using the term "Karen" is a tool to bring those issues to light - a social media tool that helps these discussions happen.

I'm an old white woman. I do not care about "white fragility." I care about black people in this country being treated as less than - in public, on video, over and over again by these poor fragile snowflake white people who fall apart when they are called "Karen."

Black people are being treated like crap by these people. That is the issue - not the fragile feelings of a few women who I highly doubt would vote D anyway.

I think I intended to reply to the same post you were replying to

Women who do not fit the stereotype.

Every time I hear that name tossed around, I feel bad for the good Karens.