AIBU - 'Karen' is about class, why are people so class-blind?

[Beancounter1]

AIBU to hate the way people confuse racism and sexism with class prejudice? To my mind, the use of the insult 'Karen', especially popular in the USA, doesn't just mean a middle-aged white woman who is arrogant, self-righteous, self absorbed, complaining, trouble-making, full-of-herself, etc. etc.
It means a middle or upper class woman with these characteristics. You won't see a working class 'Karen'. The stereotypical 'Karen' behaves as she does because she is on a power trip. Her social class advantage has gone to her head. That is why she complains in restaurants and is rude to shop assistants.
Why are people so blind to class prejudice? Why is the world so often seen only through the lens of race or sex? Is it because the powers-that-be (the 'elite') have a vested interest in deflecting and forestalling any class-based collective action or class consciousness? We are not encouraged to talk or think about class, but it is as significant as ever.

[phoebesphalange]

Really? I opened this post thinking you were going to say Karen is a byword for working class women with a lot to say and little to back it up. That’s how I read the meme anyway.

Maybe different in different parts of the country.

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Eh?

[Scarletoharaseyebrows]

I hate the term. But in my head, here, it's far from an upper class or wealthy connotation - aimed at wannabe middle class (whatever mc is) But it's vile either way.

[RHTawneyonabus]

I assume alarm is an upper class name in the US? It’s not in the UK

[Scarletoharaseyebrows]

phoebe exactly that

[WorraLiberty]

@phoebesphalange

Really? I opened this post thinking you were going to say Karen is a byword for working class women with a lot to say and little to back it up. That’s how I read the meme anyway.

Maybe different in different parts of the country.

That's exactly how every Karen meme I've ever seen reads to me too.

[gnushoes]

Karen was never a middle class name - maybe lower MC. It's sexist and ageist though, that meme. Just putting down older women which seems to be socially acceptable for some reason and on MN.

[Wbeezer]

Yeah, not seen the "Karen" hairstyle on many upper-class women but i kind of agree with you about people underestimating the effects of class prejudice.

[IndecentFeminist]

Not intended to be middle or upper class. I interpret it as getting at the working class that they think have aspirations above their status.

[Standupthisisnotateaparty]

You won't see a working class 'Karen'

Sadly most of the videos of Karen type behaviour feature middle class people berating working class especially in resturamts and cafes. One particular one calling a person in Burger King stupid and that’s why she only works in Bk. (She was demanding a refund- the shop was on fire)

[Stannisbaratheonsboxofmatches]

Very sexist.

I think it began as a reference to a type of white person who looked down on black people and always wanted to see the manager, portrayed as a woman but logically it needn’t be. It’s been turned into something horrible and misogynistic though, so I’ve no time for that.

[Summerhillsquare]

We would rather dump on women than have serious discussions about class. Because that might lead to structural change. In our current system, we all know our place in the hierarchy and exactly who can be punched down on. What we should be doing is punching up.

[Beancounter1]

This is interesting. Yes, I can see that the insult would be used to target lower-middle class women who like to pretend they are 'higher' in the pecking order.
But however you hear or use the term, it still has a class dimension. My wider question is about why people talk so much about sex and race, and so little about class. It seems to be the invisible part of intersectional advantage/disadvantage.

[ITonyah]

No middle class woman would be seen dead with that haircut!

[Howmuchlongercanthislast]

I am in my 50s. Karen was very much a working class name.

[Haffdonga]

I'm of the generation to know lots of Karens and nearly all would probably describe themselves as working class or lower middle. I've yet to meet an upper class Karen.

Perhaps American Karens are different.

[YangShanPo]

This is why Karen doesn't translate in the UK, we don't really have that stereotype of a complaining middle class woman on a power trip and Karen is more of a working class name if anything. I'm not saying there aren't stereotypes of rich middle-class women but they are different.

[Scarletoharaseyebrows]

Around here it's used almost like a harridan or fishwife really. Inappropriate use of verbal force or "priggish ideas above their station". Vile term but definitely not upper or privileged in the wealthy sense of the word.

[Beancounter1]

Stannisbaratheonsboxofmatches - you are exactly making my point. you mention race and sex, but don't address the class aspect implicit in the insulting term

[phoebesphalange]

I think there are two different memes going on here.

There’s the pre-corona can I speak to the manager Karen - who I would pitch as a Hyacinth Bucket type aspirational upper working class believes herself to be thoroughly middle class older woman.

Then there’s the Corona Karen memes which is the working class younger mum who gets her news from the school mum’s WhatsApp group and The Sun’s Facebook posts and skims headlines, adds her own spin, and then relays this information as indisputable fact to anyone who will listen.

These are two different people.

[psychomath]

Karen was never a middle class name - maybe lower MC

Memes aside, I think the name conjures up a different stereotype in the US to here. I'm not sure what that stereotype is exactly, but I don't really have any strong preconceptions about the name in this country.

[Scarletoharaseyebrows]

bean it isn't generally used now as that though.

[Igotthemheavyboobs]

I always thought it related to women who join MLMs. Never saw it as a class, age or race issue.

[atilathehut]

What's a Karen hairstyle ?

[bee222]

Working class Karen in her 30s here. I’ve worked plenty of customer service jobs where people have spoken down to me and treated me like shit - mostly by men. I also get plenty of Karen memes sent to me, all of them sexist (“Karen you fat slag” “shut-up and suck my dick, Karen”)