To think the name 'Karen' is only considered misogynistic because it refers to white women?

[FloofyCushion]

I saw a tweet that said something along the lines of black women were referred to as Shaniqua for years, Hispanics as Maria or Guadalupe, and Asian women as Ling Ling. The only reason the name Karen is considered so offensive is because it refers to white women.

Whenever the term Karen is mentioned on here, posters will fall over themselves to say how misogynistic it is and that it silences women. But it doesn't refer to ALL women, only white women. A certain type of very entitled white woman that derives pleasure from getting people she believes to be beneath her into trouble with authority. Its also used for racist women that attempt to get black people arrested for simply existing in close proximity to them.

All of the stereotypical names for ethnic minorities were never considered misogynistic, although they were racist. Obviously calling someone a Karen for simply speaking up for herself is horrible, but isn't it more prejudice than misogyny? It seems like stereotyping women's names according to their race was never a problem until it happened to white women. Interested to hear what other people think.

Ironically I only joined Twitter because my dc's school use it a lot.
I'm not daft enough to post anything there but it is interesting to see what is out there.

I might ask Karen Davis about this. One of my favourite Karens. And she is black. Lovely name IMHO.

@SnottyLottie

I have seen Asian and Black women being referred to as a ‘Karen’ locally, but it does tend to be a white middle class label. Saying that, someone said ‘Okay Karen’ the other week when he was complaining to a waitress about a non-issue, which made me laugh. I just wish there was a more relevant and prominent male equivalent.

Boomer? Or 'trash' if he's a white man .

@Abhannmor
They aren’t male equivalents. They are both used against women too

Perhaps better not to bother with twitter

Moving away from Twitter doesn’t stop the misogynistic opinions. Besides they’re all over YouTube. Like it or not, they are part of our world now and reflect what people think.

There will always be some young lad who is cross that a sensible older women who is black or white is telling him not to break rules or the law. Those people are just going to have to put up with it because in all cultures we slightly older women are wise, take charge and keep people in check. That is one reason men tend to behave better with us around. They know a 14 year old girl won't tell them what's what but an older women will and also why it can be dangerous to have large groups of young men roaming around (who tend to be ruled by their hormones and their peers at that age). If we black and white wise older women are called Karens so be it but the real insult needs to be for those whom we keep on the straight and narrow. I have seen that as much in the Caribbean as in the UK.

However if Karen means someone picking on someone because of their colour then I don't agree with that at all.

@Lessthanaballpark

Perhaps better not to bother with twitter

Moving away from Twitter doesn’t stop the misogynistic opinions. Besides they’re all over YouTube. Like it or not, they are part of our world now and reflect what people think.

I don't bother with that either tbh unless it's a fitness video.

I do like mumsnet though

Well said Xenia

I don’t agree that personal names should be used to stereotype or insult. How this is still acceptable and so widespread in 2021 is beyond me. Curious too as to why ‘Karen’ was the chosen name especially as it is essentially a foreign name- Danish version of Katherine as well as an Armenian man’s name. Additionally, the name of an ethnic group in Myanmar. It is almost as though English speaking countries are happy to denigrate names from other cultures without even realising that this is what they are doing. From what I have seen it seems to be white people on social media that are the most enthusiastic users of the name ‘Karen’ as an insult and have seen people from all political positions use it as a way to insult those they disagree with. Definitely, retains its misogynistic overtones for all the reasons already mentioned on this thread.

DD1 (13) just called me a 'Sharon' (I think she was aiming for Karen but the use of Sharon even more clearly shows what it has become in the UK: a class based, ageist and misogynistic term). I asked her what she meant and she said I was a bossy middle aged woman (i.e. her mother telling her to do something).

Oh dear that's disappointing 😥

I wonder what the equivalent name is for a bossy, know it all stroppy teen? It used to be Kevin-the-teenager...

Hmmm. It's not a term I like or use myself. But I think it depends on how it's used and by whom. I've mainly heard it being used by white men in their 20s about women who they disagree with - and that bugs the crap out of me (in the UK anyway). When it's used by POC about white women being racist, well - I guess I think they're entitled to use whatever terms they want to talk about their experiences. It's not a conversation in which my feelings are hugely relevant. White men coopting it to to use as another stick to beat women with - nah.