The term Karen

[Errmmmmmmmmmmm]

So today i was having a conversation with my DS about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and we were discussing the characters names. Verruca came up, he said she shouldn't be called that, she should be called Karen. I asked why and he said Karen is usually a lady who is bossy and not demanding. He's 8! I am surprised that a term such as Karen has reached his age group.

similar to Wendy and Wendied on here.

Wendy is another

I didn't even see your comment lol

And yet using the name Wendy as a slur was very popular here. I'd never seen it anywhere else but here. Double standards.

I am not surprised that an eight year old has heard of the term. It should be challenged.

The women called Karen I have known have all been considerate people.

Verruca Salt wasn’t a Karen though. Karen’s are specifically adult/middle aged, slightly overweight women with wedge Bob haircuts demanding to see the manager while being holier-than-thou and judgemental, often conservative.
Verruca Salt was a spoiled brat, end of.

My youngest used it once (he's 13) and I was furious. Especially as in my age group there are numerous women called Karen, and one of his best friend's mum's is Karen.

It's an awful, sexist way of referring to women. And it's not "banter".

Karen’s are specifically adult/middle aged, slightly overweight women with wedge Bob haircuts demanding to see the manager while being holier-than-thou and judgemental, often conservative.

There is no such thing as a 'Karen' used in this way.

It's a name, not a descriptor of behaviour.

Maybe examine your prejudice?

I always call it out and sometimes get abuse back. It’s a way of silencing women of a certain age. What a time to be alive.

I’m absolutely sick of this sexist, ageist trope and even more so when I see women perpetuating it.

There is no such thing as a 'Karen' used in this way.

Of course there aren't. I cannot believe someone is trying to defend the use of this awful slur when there are people on the thread saying their name is Karen and they find it rude/upsetting.

And people peddling this kind of misogynistic stereotyping are ignorant cunts.
Wouldn't you agree?

These things pass in and out of fashion don’t they. When I was younger there was a snobby fashion of using names like Darren, Tracy and Wayne to signpost certain class signifiers. (Urgh, it was horrible. Very condescending.)

Wendy/Wendied is a thing too.

And of course ‘Dick’ gets thrown around like confetti on here. That’s a name as well.

Karen isn’t the first and it won’t be the last.

It’s misogyny and I despise it. Yet another way of controlling women.

Someone at work labelled herself as a Karen in a meeting...

I thought it was deeply inappropriate and it also made me a bit sad that women seem to internalise this type of misogyny.

I haven't heard the term "karen" for ages - I assume it's used by those who aren't smart enough for a better insult.

Hope you teach your son accordingly

I’m seeing women use it more and more. Generally they are in their 20’s and 30’s and obviously have no forward thinking whatsoever.

Cool we'll just Chuck a bit of ageism in there, no probs

There has even been a few posters here that slip this into a thread - MN usually deletes them

As a pp said , it's an insult used to shut down women and is rarely used by those of any intelligence

I don't like 'Karen' either but this place is full of hypocrites , I've seen the backlash women get on here for expressing opinions, almost like they should be brought down a peg or two for thinking.

I've challenged the use of Karen as a stereotype a few times on Facebook, and invariably get the response "OK Karen" at some point.
I've never seen the male equivalent.

Yes, call out people behaving like arseholes, but I object to using the name Karen, and the assumption that a woman standing up for herself is wrong

Exactly. Women's names have been used in similar manner for ages, including by many women here. Negative Nancy, Sour Susan, etc. I've seen someone here tell an OP to not be such a Sour Susan and in another thread was objecting to the use of Karen.

I think the objection is more based on both the name being tied to racists and men using it against women, so objecting is seen as part of the feminist movement. I doubt it would have been a problem otherwise.

I'd never heard of the term Wendy before. Clearly i have been living a sheltered life!

What do you mean? It’s not ageism if it’s true. My point was that it is incredibly depressing to see people using a derogatory term that could be used against themselves.

But anything to keep the patriarchy happy I guess.

Everyone I know in their 20s and 30s would challenge someone using the term