Karen

[strawberrydaquiari]

The use of Karen as an insult isn't going away is it?
I'm fed up. I feel silenced. I can't stand up to the insult without being accused of acting "like one" and being shut down.
It's everywhere and I hate it.

It’s classic misogyny.

Any woman standing up for themselves? Or rejecting shoddy service? They’re a Karen.

It’s so, SO rude.

I agree, it makes my heart sink every time I see it. Especially when I see young girls using it

My kids said it once and they won't be saying it again

I think it came from America. Sometimes I wish we didn't share a language then perhaps these ridiculous things wouldn't become incorporated into our culture. Do other Europeans have to tolerate stuff like this?

If anyone ever called me a 'karen' I'd just say "keep ya knickers on Nigel" because that seems like a suitable name to call an interfering male.

The recent Jimmy Saville documentary showed how much women are silenced.

Men don’t like women speaking up. It’s easier to shut them down.

It’s disgusting.

Totally agree.

It particularly grates when women use it.

I hate it. My own name is being used to insult and silence me. Why is it such a problem for mature women to stand up for themselves, and others? It is misogyny and ageism.

sexist and ageist - I hate it and challenge it whenever i hear it used

Not wanting to set the cat among the pigeons here but if you've looked an any of the 'classic Karen' clips being shown on social media, does anyone think that their behaviour is just 'standing up for themselves'? Every 'Karen' example I've seen is of a woman whose behaviour is well into the unreasonable bracket. I would be happy to have a 'Keith' category for unreasonable behaviour from men, but I don't think we should be accepting the behaviour, even if the term offends.

My husband said it once. He won’t ever say it again.

Thankfully its usage on MN seems to have dwindled.

Women calling other women misogynistic (and ageist) names is not really a good look.

I don’t like it. But actually most people I have come across using it in a negative way have been young women/ teenage girls. It’s certainly not something used mainly by men. This saddens me more that women are treating other women this way.

The circulating clips might be extreme, but the term is now used to refer to any woman who expresses an opposing opinion or expects any level of decorum.

@Dundonian - yes same, I hate it.

And I feel so disappointed when Im on social media and someone I know or follow uses that term. I dont feel I can challenge every one of them without getting the 'uh typical Karen behaviour' thrown back at me. So i just ignore it.

I'm related to a Karen so it's not a word I've ever used in a derogatory way. If I was to hear anyone else use it (I haven't!) I'd shut them down immediately.

@BIWI

Thankfully its usage on MN seems to have dwindled.

Women calling other women misogynistic (and ageist) names is not really a good look.

Yep. Anyone who has used the term on here is usually called out on it immediately. Which I always like to see.

Once the insult is used the OP often gets their arse handed to them (and their original post totally overlooked)

I'm not a fan of the term either. However. I have been shouted at several times in a terrifying way or talked down to by both very entitled men and women. There is a trope if this kind in the city where I live. I would like a non mysogonistic term for it.

I'm not called Karen but I do feel sorry for those that are!!

@Bigfathairyones

Not wanting to set the cat among the pigeons here but if you've looked an any of the 'classic Karen' clips being shown on social media, does anyone think that their behaviour is just 'standing up for themselves'? Every 'Karen' example I've seen is of a woman whose behaviour is well into the unreasonable bracket. I would be happy to have a 'Keith' category for unreasonable behaviour from men, but I don't think we should be accepting the behaviour, even if the term offends.

Really? Its an insult for any woman regardless of what we do or say.

I was at work the other day and a couple of young lads had left their stuff all over the photocopier, i asked nicely and calmly if they could not leave their papers on the copier as i needed it to print some stuff.

I got "oh ok Karen" and "there goes a Karen", so what am i meant to say to that? It was said to shut me up even though i was being nice and polite, i wasnt angry (as it wasnt something to get angry about) but i was immediately silenced which is what they probably wanted. Anything i said back would have been met with being called a Karen.

I was at work the other day and a couple of young lads had left their stuff all over the photocopier, i asked nicely and calmly if they could not leave their papers on the copier as i needed it to print some stuff

Could you have just said, "are these yours guys? Don't forget them."

I'm a young(ish) Karen and know a 7 year old with the name. I don't want her to grow up with this.
I was reading an article about women changing their name. Why should we have to? It isn't funny, it never was.

"Not wanting to set the cat among the pigeons here "

proceeds to chuck a stink grenade of ill thought out opinions into thread

Could you have just said, "are these yours guys? Don't forget them

Don’t think she was looking for tips on how to be less assertive.

@positivelypatient I challenge it whenever I see it. People don't like having their ageist behaviour pointed out, but it'll only stop if that happens. I don't think it's any different to challenging any similar ageist or misogynistic things we see.

I put it in the same category as "gammon", i.e. an insult that is meant to imply a set of shorthand characteristics, and is pretty broadly insulting / non-nuanced to the target group.