Sick of being called Karen

[frog22]

Listening to Radio 4 and Caroline Hirons is on and she has already used the term Karen to refer to her followers. I'm just sick of it. It's as bad as calling a woman the B word or C word!

Why would she do it? Why do women do it to other women?

What a racist statement. Like non-white petty minded behaviour never happens, or maybe it's only a problem when a white person does it

Indeed.

@whattimeisitrightnow

Ah, I'm a white Karen and would never think of it being racist insult, I assumed people were being confused by the US use of the name. I know not one but two (HK)Chinese Karens, so hadn't even thought of it as being a predominantly white name.

@CallarMorvern

if someone were to call me a 'Karen' I would never refer to that as an incident of racism. I'd think the person was a bit of an arsehole, but calling it racism is pathetic.

Whattimeisisrightnow In America Karen is used to describe a racist, white middle class, female. Of course it's not racist, it's describing Karens as people who are racist.

And yes, it's just a word. But it's really awful for those of us who have it as an actual name. It's gone beyond social media now.

It’s presuming someone will display negative behaviour traits because of how they look, with a major part of that being their skin colour. That’s racist in my book.

@Nottherealslimshady

Karen is what women who treat service staff like shit and expect to get better service by carrying off are called. If you dont want to be called it then dont do it.

Have you thought for a moment about how tiresome this is for women actually called Karen? Presumably you don’t think all women called Karen do this?

It’s lazy, cruel, unimaginitive, misogynistic and ageist.

It's just a word for the woke groupthink to use to shut down middle aged women. They don't think their opinions count so they don't want to hear them. Fuck them. Because I won't ever shut up. However much they would like me to

That's what it is, isn't it?

Groupthink, because it's so much easier accept labels and use those instead of having to think for yourself. It seems so many bandwagonners are unable to think for themselves and so they need a groupthink approved name, hence the rise of "Karen" and the lazy memes and GIF all over twitter.

Use your brain. Use your words.

@justanotherneighinparadise

My personal experience of this sub set are they are rude, monied, pushy, shop at Waitrose and normally have a husband who has a very important job 🤦🏻‍♀️

What, people called Karen?

I find it hard to believe that I'd be eating a sausage in a restaurant.

I’m struggling to move past this.

@AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken
Firstly, it isn’t just used to refer to white people - that’s already been established on this thread.
Also, whilst people who use it might have some stereotypical ideas about the person they use it on, I really don’t think calling someone ‘Karen’ is an act of racism. It just isn’t. Imagine comparing that to the N-word, or the P-word. It’s childish and it reeks of desperation to appear as a victim. It’s perfectly fine to be upset about being called a name, that’s reasonable - it’s rude. It’s not racism, though.

@ktp100

OK, so what do you suggest we do call people who act like total Karens?

Find some suitable adjectives and lay off the lazy stereotypes.

Surely the mens version is Dick, he is such a Dick.

In the past few weeks I've seen women get the "ok, Karen" or "shut up Karen" from white men on social media for posting the following:

Mess left behind by tourists (she was part of the clean up crew)
Asking why a park was locked up
Complaining about dog poo bags being left in a hedge
Upset about how crowded a supermarket was.

It's definitely being used in the UK as a mysongyst put down.

I can't stand this 'Karen' rubbish. Everytime I say something my teenagers disagree with I get the "you're such a Karen" or "Yeah sure Karen".

For one reason, I have some fantastic and amazing friends called Karen. Also if someone is behaving rudely or entitled, calling them a Karen somehow makes light of their behaviour giving it a comical tone. I hope this fad is short lived.

Surely the mens version is Dick, he is such a Dick

you think when people say dick, they are referring to a type of behaviour exhibited by a man named dick??!

The problem is it’s not just used to describe entitled women, it’s now used as a shut down for ANY women when a view is disagreed with or doesn’t want to be heard.

I was reading some comments on a social media post and a woman was talking about domestic violence towards women and the number of deaths per week we face. She got plenty of ‘Ok Karen’ type responses.

If we don’t challenge these stereotypes before they spread, ‘Karen’ just becomes synonymous with ‘woman’ and we are back to a stage where our thoughts and opinions are no longer valid.

It's sexist, ageist shite and a really fucking lazy way to dismiss someone's point of view

@RB68

Surely the mens version is Dick, he is such a Dick.

No, because people are referring to him being a cock, not a person called Richard.

And it’s worrying that so many women here aren’t picking up on that/ don’t think it’s an issue or applies to them. I absolutely promise you that it applies to you as much as any other woman.

@mrshoho

I can't stand this 'Karen' rubbish. Everytime I say something my teenagers disagree with I get the "you're such a Karen" or "Yeah sure Karen".

For one reason, I have some fantastic and amazing friends called Karen. Also if someone is behaving rudely or entitled, calling them a Karen somehow makes light of their behaviour giving it a comical tone. I hope this fad is short lived.

It's like when my generation called everything they disliked 'gay'. Many of them would say they weren't homophobic, yet anything uncool was 'gay'. It's exactly the same with 'Karens'.

If i ever get called a Karen I'll just reply "Ok Gammon" No point trying to reason with namecallers as you'll get nowhere. May as well sink to their level.

Surely the mens version is Dick, he is such a Dick

you think when people say dick, they are referring to a type of behaviour exhibited by a man named dick??!

😂

Surely the mens version is Dick, he is such a Dick

That’s either really disingenuous or quite sweet . Either way, no not the same.

@AHF1975

It's sexist, ageist shite and a really fucking lazy way to dismiss someone's point of view

As much as I agree with that analysis lazily using one word to stereotype someone isn’t going to change the name callers intention or opinion by picking them up on it. In fact someone using Karen in that way getting a mouthful is really just enforcing their viewpoint. They’re not receptive to correction at all. The people who take this message on board are not the ones using it casually and social media means that more often than not people will congregate with like minded people and egg each other on that they’re not in the wrong.

Name calling through all of its degrees is used as a quick and lazy way to try and shut someone down and often to intentionally upset them. Maybe education can over ride name calling but tbh I don’t see it happening but think that the whole ‘Karen’ thing will be a fairly short lived fad even if the underlying sentiment remains and it’s the sentiment that’s the problem.

I've never heard this term being used in real life anyway. Isn't it basically just a social media meme?

It’s basically just a way to put middle age women in their place and put up with their lot.
It especially grates on me when younger women use it to be edgy and cool, whilst expecting to be treated equally.