Page 3 | Where did the phrase Karen actually come from?

Soubriquet · 2023-04-30T14:01:12+00:00

I know it’s a hated phrase on here, but it’s also still used a lot on social media. I know people think is misogynistic but it’s referenced to both male and female. However, what I’m wondering, is why Karen? Why not Susan, Josh, Sally, or Adam? How did it become Karen?

HRTQueen · 01/05/2023 15:45

Karen is used (or has been) used to call out underhand racism

at times it’s difficult to pinpoint the racism but it’s there and people know when it’s being projected on to them

what’s wrong with using Karen in those circumstances we all know what it can mean now

Abra1t · 01/05/2023 16:14

I frequently hear it used when the people concerned are entirely white.

Abra1t · 01/05/2023 16:14

JustAnotherPoster00 · 01/05/2023 11:13

What's the relevance?

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Referring to incidents in an American city. Not relevant to the UK.

HRTQueen · 01/05/2023 16:22

And had it silenced them

I very much doubt it

I’ve heard it being used to call out racist behaviour maybe they went home to think about their behaviour but I doubt it

StephanieSuperpowers · 01/05/2023 16:31

Just out of curiosity, not being an American, why should you not bring potato salad to a barbecue hosted by Black people?

Pemba · 01/05/2023 16:40

DojaPhat · 01/05/2023 14:51

What would you think if you or say your mother was named Karen?

The first time I ever saw my mother cry was when a white woman called her a Black bitch when she was dropping me off to school - she said it caught her completely off guard in the moment. I would rather Karen be my first, middle and last name than have ever experienced that moment with my mother in the car.

So you're saying we should all make an effort to be more misogynistic and ageist, and this will help fight racism? OK then.

Pemba · 01/05/2023 16:41

What happened to your mother was worse of course, horrible.

MorrisZapp · 01/05/2023 17:37

Pemba · 01/05/2023 16:40

So you're saying we should all make an effort to be more misogynistic and ageist, and this will help fight racism? OK then.

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100% this.

Kaz40s · 01/05/2023 17:56

As a Karen I HATE IT. 😡There are millions of lovely Karens with a slur now against their name through no fault of their own. It 100% is just a way to insult woman, to silence them, to put them in their place again, to question their own voice & viewpoint.

Also, I really wish people would step back & think would they like their own name ridiculed like this?? Mmm🤔

Empathy, a trait lacking in todays society unfortunately

RealLife101 · 01/05/2023 18:00

It reminds me of Incels with their ‘Stacey’ nonsense.

I hate all this social media sniping. Becky, Felicia, Karen. Make it stop!
The world has turned into a bunch of vicious thickos talking in code.

capitanaamerica · 01/05/2023 18:30

RatSlave · 01/05/2023 14:59

I love how you're trying to excuse racism here. She did call the police on that little girl, she also got fired for being a racist moron. She called the police on an 8 year old for illegally selling water outside her own home.

As for this reddit claim - the Karen subreddit is full of mediocre memes no porn in sight.

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Bullshit. I explained factually what happened as I don't believe the "karen" thing can be attributed to this incident, as a prev poster thought it might. Ettel got fired for her comments on social media, when she defended herself against accusations of racism instead of just saying she hadn't realized how her actions would have been taken significantly differently by a black person than by a white person, and now she knows. I'm very obviously NOT excusing Ettel, as I said in my post.

Technically what the woman was doing (obv a child isn't culpable) was illegal, which I know because I used to work around the corner from where it happened and you cannot sell shit on the street without a permit. But as Dojaphat pointed out upthread, there were also incidents around the same time where the aggressor sought out a black person to make trouble or out of complete racist ignorance. There was one case where someone (a white dude, actually) reported a black candidate canvassing during an election because she was seen in a white neighborhood. Tell those stories, but don't make up stuff up, because I promise you people who live to minimize and cover up anti-black racism will try to dismiss the whole mess if they can poke holes in any story. Which, I think, is a little bit more important than whatever boner you have over this one incident.

As for reddit, anyone can go and search "karen" on the site if they care. Last I checked it was all still up.

DojaPhat · 01/05/2023 19:32

@Pemba You just slightly misunderstood my post, I meant we should all endeavour to eat blue smarties and forgo cinnamon buns and this will help fight racism. Ok

RatSlave · 01/05/2023 23:11

capitanaamerica · 01/05/2023 18:30

Bullshit. I explained factually what happened as I don't believe the "karen" thing can be attributed to this incident, as a prev poster thought it might. Ettel got fired for her comments on social media, when she defended herself against accusations of racism instead of just saying she hadn't realized how her actions would have been taken significantly differently by a black person than by a white person, and now she knows. I'm very obviously NOT excusing Ettel, as I said in my post.

Technically what the woman was doing (obv a child isn't culpable) was illegal, which I know because I used to work around the corner from where it happened and you cannot sell shit on the street without a permit. But as Dojaphat pointed out upthread, there were also incidents around the same time where the aggressor sought out a black person to make trouble or out of complete racist ignorance. There was one case where someone (a white dude, actually) reported a black candidate canvassing during an election because she was seen in a white neighborhood. Tell those stories, but don't make up stuff up, because I promise you people who live to minimize and cover up anti-black racism will try to dismiss the whole mess if they can poke holes in any story. Which, I think, is a little bit more important than whatever boner you have over this one incident.

As for reddit, anyone can go and search "karen" on the site if they care. Last I checked it was all still up.

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911 call records have proven that she called the police.

And yes anyone can search up Karen on reddit and see the mediocre memes. Why are so many so afraid of reddit? It's not a hive mind.

aweegc · 02/05/2023 14:12

DojaPhat · 01/05/2023 11:34

It's not that white women were calling the police on black people for doing petty illegal things it's that white women were calling the police for black people existing in public. In the absence of police enforcement white people often take it upon themselves to the arbiter of law and order - they will often feel others especially black people do not belong in particular spaces without good reason. Sometimes even good reason isn't enough one such a white person called the police on a delivery driver clearly in his marked uniform and van. But on mumsnet apparently white women can never wield a specific form a racism against black people because something something and it's misogynistic because something something else. Tedious but then you have to know your audience.

Yes, but this was in the US. British women were not calling the police on black women for existing. All the examples I saw online were in the US.

But the term is used in the UK. And here it's used against white women. And it's used to make them shut up. Nothing to do with them being racist. Everything to do with them being female and having the audacity to have an opinion.

aweegc · 02/05/2023 14:18

I have never even heard of white people calling the police on black people just for existing in the UK like I've seen on countless videos in the US (which are without question racist). However, maybe that doesn't mean it's not happening? I'd like to hope not. Our brand of racism seems a bit different to the American version - as in not ok, it just manifests less overtly, making it harder to directly label.

And the Karen term is used FAR more broadly than that, ie a white woman complaining that the service was slow. It's also classist. It's NEVER used against a white woman with a Home Counties/RP accent either.