To be bummed to be "Karen"?

[Shortstrawname]

Name changed because this could be outing. I'm in my late 20s and my name is Karen. I feel sad that my name has now become a huge meme. Amongst a sea of Katies in my year at school, I was kind of glad to have a unique name. Now, I feel mostly embarrassed due to the sea of Internet memes. There is an 'anti-Karen' group on Facebook with 127k likes! What do you all think of the name and do you immediately now associate it with the meme? I know there is nothing I can do but suck it up, but I wonder if there are any other Karens feeling the same out there? 🤔

I’m a Karen. Couldn’t give a tiny shiny shit

I happen to know a truly awful woman called Karen. I also know one who is totally normal 🤷🏻‍♀️

Karen is a great name! Don’t be cast down OP. If I were you I would get a t-shirt printed ‘My name is Karen’ and just own it. Fuck them! 😁

The meme is about a certain type of person not about the name. I work in hospitality and have come across many "Karen's". If I meet someone called Karen then I wouldn't think of the meme but if I meet someone who is arrogant, entitled and rude to customer service staff then I think of the meme, I think "oh its a bloody Karen". And I don't think it's misogynistic, plenty of arse hole men like that too.

Form a Karen club on FB ... to support each other... i know of several where people find their namesake dying out / no longer popular etc joining forces...

I know four Karen’s they are all lovely!! Well three are really lovely the fourth not so lovely!! All in there late fifty’s early sixties.

I think the meme will pass!!

People just love taking the piss out of us middle aged ladies that just don’t put up with any shit, Because once you hit fifty you are suppose to become invisible and because we have the check to say excuse me I’m not putting up with this people think it acceptable to have a go at us.

Trouble is girls that were born in the 1960’s just aren’t going to be as submissive And invisible as those bore in the 1950’s

F**K that for a game of soldiers!! That’s what I say !!

I don't associate the real life Karens I know with the meme. In the 80's it was Sharon and Tracey, the Karen phase will end.

My late Dad was called Wally so I'm sure he would have sympathised OP.

Are you sure it’s really necessary for you “to be bummed to be Karen ?“

Is that really what he told you needed to happen for you to be just like her ?

Don't be sad because a sexist internet meme casts you as a silly woman who everyone should ignore.

Embrace the early warning that the older you get, the more the fact that you are a woman will invalidate your voice.

"Karen" isn't about a name, it's about a demographic. Most Karen's are in their 50s.

So Karen = middle aged women are ridiculous and silly and nobody should listen to them.

If you think that middle aged women are, in fact, incredibly smart and resourceful, you should embrace being "Karen" and recognise that the people trying to do you down for having that name are sexist and really, really stupid.

I also would not associate someone called Karen with the meme. The only Karen I know irl is an amazing woman, extremely diplomatic and good with people, about as far from the meme as you can get

I've know one Karen and she was awesome!

I just heard my governor refer to careless asymptomatic spreaders as "Covid Marys"(as opposed to Typhoid Marys).

Now I'm feeling quite contrary.

I have only ever known two Karen's, both of whom are truly lovely lovely people who I look up to. I always thought the name didn't fit the meme at all and it should be a Sharon or a Linda (apologies to all of the lovey Sharon's and Linda's out there but all of the ones I have met have been less than pleasant and more than a little entitled)

The only Karen I know irl is an amazing woman, extremely diplomatic and good with people, about as far from the meme as you can get

Nope, she and all the Karens like her, are the reason for the meme.

Making middle aged amazing women seem ridiculous is not a new thing.

If someone says "OK, Karen" think of the Karens you know and then think about the person using a nasty, sexist meme.

Then decide who is ridiculous and not worth listening to.

it should be a Sharon or a Linda

WTF???

No it shouldn't.

It should be an Andrew or a Nick.

The overpromoted mediocre males who only got their jobs because Karens, Sharons, Lindas, Kareems, Tariqs, Anjalis, and Des's were excluded for being ridiculous and not fitting the mould.

Exactly.

I knew a Karen, late 40s, who was vile.
I know another, 50s, who's OK.
I know one in her mid-20s, she's lovely.

I think it's vile to use a name as shorthand for something unpleasant - nobody chose their own name! (well, almost nobody). Just glad they're not using MY name!!

I've only read about these memes on here, but then I keep a tight rein on Facebook.

People just love taking the piss out of us middle aged ladies that just don’t put up with any shit,

Nanalisa60 There is a difference between not allowing people to walk all over you and being rude, entitled and inappropriate. The latter is a Karen.

In my late 50's I have several friends called Karen. I have other friends of the same era called Sharon and Tracy who have had similar stereotype piss-takes based on their names.

I certainly wouldn't associate the stereotypes with the people that I know and ordinarily wouldn't take a lot of notice of such things but I can see that there is a subtle ageism in using names reflective of a particular generation.

YABU in a way, as the name is a popular one for the age group that the Karen in the meme belongs to, it's just shorthand for a particular type of person.

It's no different really from the use of Wendy on here, to represent a particular type of woman, and Wendying and Wendied becoming the verbs from that behaviour.

Thank you all... You are all lovely!

I do - most of the time - take this in good humour. I guess it just became more apparent when people started tagging me in "Karen" memes on Facebook. I get at least 5 a week at the moment! I know this is totally a first world problem, anyway. I've had a massive glass of gin and the only manager I'll be speaking to is my sister (who happens to be one ).

I’m a Karen. I really hope I’m one of the lovely Karen’s beings described in here!

Re the pronunciation issue: it is normally always pronounced "Karen" in certain countries, certainly in South Africa, where it was as popular in the 60s and 70s when I lived there as it was here. When an Irish teacher habitually pronounced my friend's name "Karren" it used to make us all giggle!

@flouncymcflouncerson I bet you are.

normally always pronounced "Kahren"* Sorry, post makes no sense otherwise!