To think they call us Karen because they fear us

[InformEducateEntertain]

I absolutely hate the term Karen. It's pejorative and deeply unpleasant.

Middle aged women (of whom I am one and to whom the term is most generally applied) are bloody amazing. Putting us down for our don't give a f**k badass attitude and willingness to fight back strikes me as lazy categorisation.

I'd go as far to say that those who use it are scared by the knowledge that looking the menopause in the eye has given us the courage to have a voice at last.

AIBU?

No, I don't think it's because people are afraid, I think it's a lack of respect and ingrained misogyny.

It depends. Yes it's good to be assertive, but not when that is used as an excuse to bully others such as shop staff.

Oan yersel’ hen.

Absolutely this. I hate the term too. YANBU

Also this 😅

I thought the term Karen was a particular type of person rather than someone just being of a certain age...

I'm from London. Does this translate to you're so right?

The worst thing is how some women adopt this term to use against other women.

Karen isn't just a name for older women with attitude. It's for those being very obviously wrong. For example, calling the police on a black man sitting minding his own business in a park because 'his type don't belong there'.

Erm...no. I think they just find it amusing and don't think about it as deeply as that
I'm a middle aged woman and don't find it offensive (unpopular opinion on here, I know)

I think it's both.

No, it's hate rather than fear.

But aren't hate and fear close bedfellows?

It's misogyny, and when men use it I usually eye roll, but women using it against other women makes me sad

Then you could just - gasp - call them a bully or another term that isn't targeted solely at women.

This 👆🏼

It's used by people who don't have the intelligence to explain what they mean so just resort to insults.

Karen, hag, witch, birch, terf, feminazi. Different slurs, same hate.

I'd love someone to do a PhD thesis on how service staff are treated by men and by women respectively.

I have never in my life seen a woman click her fingers at a waiter, for instance. Some facts and figures would be nice to have.

It's misogyny, of course.

Have you ever been called a Karen? I haven't but I know i wouldn't like it.
Somebody responded 'ok boomer' to a post of mine on here once, and that irritated me.

If this is the case why use a woman's name to describe it?

Exactly

I think it's fear, hate, mysogyny, and when women use it that's even worse 😡

If anyone was being a bully, domineering, or racist, then those words should be used, not a woman’s name.

Anyone who uses the term Karen I automatically assume to be sexist and stupid. I ALWAYS call it out. It’s just a woke way of telling women to STFU.

Funny who there isn’t a term for violent men yet there’s a term for women who speak up.

But the whole “Oh Karen is just a term for women who are rude to service staff”. Having worked in service for 5 years as a student, I can assure you that the rude ones are almost exclusively men. Women usually do the over polite bumbling but men have no issues bullying a 16yo waitress because they have a slightly less warm meal than anticipated.

Exactly. The origins of the term aren't well known here I don't think.