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Karen advert

1000 replies

IncognitoMam · 26/08/2023 07:29

This shouldn't be allowed surely? Who comes up with this shit?
I'm not called Karen but I know Karen's that hate their name now because of the way it's used.

Karen advert
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17
ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 26/08/2023 18:29

CloudyMcCloudy · 26/08/2023 18:28

Why do you say it isn’t a slur when women know it is

Do you reject their lived experience?

Snap!

BillaBongGirl · 26/08/2023 18:41

CloudyMcCloudy · 26/08/2023 18:28

Why do you say it isn’t a slur when women know it is

Do you reject their lived experience?

I’m a woman too.

BillaBongGirl · 26/08/2023 18:43

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 26/08/2023 18:29

Karen isn’t a slur, so cannot apply to slurs
Would apply to other various derogatory names for poor anti-social behaviour by an individual. (It’s not uncommon for such derogatory names to be gendered).

Who are you to tell someone whether they have been insulted or not? Why would you dismiss someone lived experience like this?

Sorry,
But a slur is a specific type of insult. I’m not dismissing that anyone was insulted.

BillaBongGirl · 26/08/2023 18:45

A difference in opinion as to whether an insult was used per the intended usage and accepted definition is not dismissing anyone’s lived experience of having heard that insult.

It also doesn’t mean that an insult is also a slur. Slurs are a specific type of insult.

CloudyMcCloudy · 26/08/2023 18:47

BillaBongGirl · 26/08/2023 18:41

I’m a woman too.

But you feel differently to many women on this thread

I don’t think you get to dismiss their experiences and how we see the word

resipsa · 26/08/2023 18:52

n offensive term used deliberately to show a lack of respect for a particular group of people

How is Karen - used in the way we are discussing it - not a slur?

WolfFoxHare · 26/08/2023 18:54

This reply has been deleted

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Iwasafool · 26/08/2023 18:55

BillaBongGirl · 26/08/2023 17:52

People all have their own definition of a lot of derogatory terms, but we don’t try and ban those terms as offensive as a result. Do you know how many times I have seen people say a 28yr old is pedophile for being interested in an 18yr old? When that’s not pedophilia at all. That’s not the definition. But pedophilia exists, pedophiles exist and the term is still a valid term. No one is arguing omg poor menz they get called a pedo to silence and shut them up because they click on bikini pics of 18yr old Love Island contestants and Only Fans models.

Karens are entitled white women who use their privilege to do racist things…they exist they do racism. The fact that lots of ignorance exists over Karenning and what is a Karen doesn’t mean we should find the term Karen offensive. It’s the behaviour of a Karen that is offensive (and in some cases criminal).

Yet you are arguing omg poor womenz, they are being silenced by being called a Karen just for being assertive so Karen cannot exist. It can’t be used.

Just stand up for yourselves, if you’re being called a Karen when you’re not acting a Karen.

Edited

I think it isn't very fair to perfectly nice women who happen to be called Karen. I said before I have a name that was commonly used as an insult when I was young (long time ago) I use a shortening of it but if anyone calls me by my original name, even though young people wouldn't mean anything by it, I absolutely cringe. It made my life a misery when I was a kid and I think it is a shame if Karens (women with that given name nothing to do with their behaviour) are feeling like that.

Saschka · 26/08/2023 18:56

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SomeCatFromJapan · 26/08/2023 18:56

How is Karen - used in the way we are discussing it - not a slur?

Because there's a denial that it can possibly hold the meaning we're discussing, and claiming otherwise is being a racist apologist. I think that's what's being argued, anyway, it's a bit confusing.

Iwasafool · 26/08/2023 18:57

BillaBongGirl · 26/08/2023 18:41

I’m a woman too.

If you behave in a certain way and get called a Karen it is probably happening occasionally, for women who happen to have the given name Karen it is now a running joke all the time.

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 26/08/2023 19:02

BillaBongGirl · 26/08/2023 18:45

A difference in opinion as to whether an insult was used per the intended usage and accepted definition is not dismissing anyone’s lived experience of having heard that insult.

It also doesn’t mean that an insult is also a slur. Slurs are a specific type of insult.

A slur such as Karen.

Saschka · 26/08/2023 19:02

BillaBongGirl · 26/08/2023 17:12

The advert was published in Australia, by an Australian company who is likely using the Australian definition and usage of Karen. I will post it again.- as it was the 2020 word of the year for the Aussies dictionary.

So you insistence on the U.K. common misuse of the term Karen and various levels of outrage caused by such misuse here are what imho are a blocking a discussion of this Australian advert in its appropriate Australian context.

Look at the advert. Do you honestly think “For when your patient is being a Karen” means “For when your patient is being racist”? How would that even make any sense?

Or, in context, is it saying “For when some old trout is at your reception desk bitching about something and you want to get rid of her?”

Neither is exactly stellar customer service, but it seems clear from the context that they mean the second, misogynistic meaning not the first, anti-racist meaning.

Somanyquestionstoaskaboutthis · 26/08/2023 19:03

BillaBongGirl · 26/08/2023 17:12

The advert was published in Australia, by an Australian company who is likely using the Australian definition and usage of Karen. I will post it again.- as it was the 2020 word of the year for the Aussies dictionary.

So you insistence on the U.K. common misuse of the term Karen and various levels of outrage caused by such misuse here are what imho are a blocking a discussion of this Australian advert in its appropriate Australian context.

So you think this advert is referring to patients as racist? You are ignoring the rest of the words on the picture you keep posting?

I would not call it a misuse of the term Karen in the UK, I would call it another use of it.

edited to correct spelling yet again

Saschka · 26/08/2023 19:10

SomeCatFromJapan · 26/08/2023 18:56

How is Karen - used in the way we are discussing it - not a slur?

Because there's a denial that it can possibly hold the meaning we're discussing, and claiming otherwise is being a racist apologist. I think that's what's being argued, anyway, it's a bit confusing.

Nobody is denying the original meaning exists. We are saying that this advert, which is supposedly the topic of this thread, is clearly using the other meaning, and as such is misogynistic.

No amount of cut and pasted links to Emmett Till’s Wikipedia page will make that an anti-racist advert.

SomeCatFromJapan · 26/08/2023 19:13

@Saschka sorry I was being a bit ironic there.

Saschka · 26/08/2023 19:17

@SomeCatFromJapan Oh I was agreeing with you! Maybe a bit vehemently 🤷‍♀️

AlisonDonut · 26/08/2023 19:17

So Karen isn't a slur when used on other women. But when you are called it yourself it is. Otherwise you'd not have had my post deleted.

How quaint.

SomeCatFromJapan · 26/08/2023 19:18

@Saschka I think that's enough internet for me today after this thread 😂

Olives9 · 26/08/2023 19:28

My daughter’s middle name is Karen, named after my lovely, shy, gentle mother who as it happens is mortified when my father complains about anything.

When I told her, she was touched but it was quickly followed with “Oh do you really want to do that to her given what it now means? I hate my name.”

So not only am I annoyed about how my mum hates her name because of what it’s become and how I very nearly didn’t name my daughter after her because of it, it’s dismaying to see women disputing the misogyny behind it which I think is undeniable.

I’m rather glad I chose it now as an act of defiance against all the connotations as well as a tribute to my lovely mum.

Also, the advert is shit and totally unfunny.

MasterGaveDobbyASock · 26/08/2023 19:37

"Also, the advert is shit and totally unfunny."

Agreed. Not effective either. Not sure advertising how scathing and dismissive they are of potential customers is a good look.

Many companies seem to have forgotten that they need to sell a product or service to real customers. They seem to think they'll magically get money but doing increasingly poor and offensive virtue signalling.

inamarina · 26/08/2023 19:38

CloudyMcCloudy · 26/08/2023 18:16

If you’re not being a Karen, then being called one should have no power over you. It only has the power you give it.

Who else does this apply to?

Any slur or derogatory language against any group including minorities or just women?

That was my first thought too.
Would it be considered acceptable to use derogatory language towards any other (minority) group as long as one tells them not to give those offensive words any power?

DojaPhat · 26/08/2023 19:41

Imagine thinking that Karen is a slur and an offensive one at that. I do kind of understand though, it's similar to the utter consternation my toddler niece experiences when I suggest to her that chocolate buttons will not suffice in place of dinner. Apparently I'll never understand the struggle.

WolfFoxHare · 26/08/2023 19:43

DojaPhat · 26/08/2023 19:41

Imagine thinking that Karen is a slur and an offensive one at that. I do kind of understand though, it's similar to the utter consternation my toddler niece experiences when I suggest to her that chocolate buttons will not suffice in place of dinner. Apparently I'll never understand the struggle.

Imagine being so clueless that you compare women’s valid concerns about and real lived experience of a misogynistic slur, with a toddler having a tantrum.

inamarina · 26/08/2023 19:45

BillaBongGirl · 26/08/2023 18:16

I dismissed one example of usage that was clearly a misuse.

It’s not “my claim” but rather a reflection of the widely accepted and documented definition of the Karen term present in multiple published dictionaries globally. I have posted the Australian dictionary definition as the advert we are discussing was posted by an Australian company in Australia.

Yes, language, memes and slang are not always used correctly regardless of the speakers intentions.

It’s not just ‘one example of misuse” though, ‘Karen’ is being used like this quite frequently.
This is what several women on this thread keep saying, why are you disregarding their experiences?

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