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?

It's a politically correct term, you're thinking of the other one.

"Karen" to me is a busy body woman, young or otherwise, causing fuss when there's no need

Nothing to do with menopausal women in polyester slacks

That's not an answer. I've no idea why a woman's name, generally in use by older women, is a term of abuse.
If someone is being racist, call them out, don't call them "Karen". One of the loveliest people I know is called Karen and she's spent her whole life campaigning against racism and injustice.

It's my understanding that many black people have abandoned it precisely because it's been co-opted by white men to abuse women.

I don’t agree.

I wouldn’t use Karen for someone complaining about something valid.

I would use Karen for someone:

• Calling someone out for not being “disabled” enough to use a parking space
• Saying they don’t want a non-white person to serve them
• Calling a company about their adult child and raging / complaining when they say they can’t talk to them due to data protection
• Trying to use an expired coupon and kicking off when it doesn’t work
• Having a set seat in a cafe and kicking off if someone sits there.

etc etc. all real examples!

To me ‘Karen’ means someone who is privileged and not being used to being told “no” kicking off about it. Often a power dynamic/issue of race/class etc.

Nothing to do with the name and I know some lovely Karens who would never do the above!

You can understand it any way you like. If you search UK social media you will only find it used to describe bossy women and crap hairstyles. It's sexist and ageist.

The fact that the famous example in Central Park is five years old, happened on another continent and featured a woman named Amy might illustrate that in fact your favoured usage has never been common here and indeed US social media now uses the bossy bitch trope too. Search tiktok for 'Karen videos' and get back to me.

So just call them unpleasant. Tell me what's the name you would call an unpleasant man.

I know the origins of the slur but it's not become something to shit women up

Pretty much agreed on the misogyny implicit in the term. But misogyny is rooted in the need to sustain power. So if we push against it we're scary surely?

What term do you apply to men who behave that way?

So you think using billions of womens birth given name is OK? You're essentially saying that every white woman called Karen is a racist.

You can't even see through your own hypocrisy 🙄

Karen came about due to white women using their white female vulnerability to get what they want. .

Men are called gammon, but i think that's more of a British thing, rather something that come over from US

That's not what it's about, it's specifically used to describe women who are being unreasonable and rude.

For example,

Asserting yourself in a cafe because someone bumped into your table without apologising and spilled your coffee = reasonable, not Karen.

Loudly complaining the waitress isn't very bright because she forgot to bring you extra sugar with your coffee = unreasonable, Karen.

It's like "Ok boomer."

"A Karen" is totally different to a person called Karen. Isis is a nice name, a flower. It's also a terrorist group. Totally different.

It's been co-opted by men of all ethnicities. Search 'Karen videos'.

Gammon is based on political views though, not general unreasonableness like Karen.

Think again:

People of Colour
This is primarily used in the USA and has not been fully adopted within the UK although it has become more popular.
Some perceive it as a more positive term than 'BAME' or 'BME'.
However, others see it as similarly problematic, in that it groups together people of great ethnic diversity and different shared experiences and identities

That's clearly not how its used though. I come across it fairly frequently on local facebook pages. Its used by white people (its a hugely majority white population where I live) against white women who have the temerity to post about anti-social behaviour. Plenty of men post about anti-social behaviour too and they never get this response, or name calling at all. Its a word that has very much moved on from its origins.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-53588201.amp

I did post this earlier but may have gotten lost in all the comments.

How about changing the name Karen to Laquishua? Would that be ok?

The "oRigiNs" indeed....🙄

Gammon isn't a man's name, so your brother Gammon is unlikely to be included in that generalisation
.

Useful!! If someone is racist call them racist!!

Female racists don't need a "special name"

Having worked in a public facing job where people think 'I pay your wages' I can state that the rudest, most argumentative, unreasonable demographic is the 60-70 male. Middle aged women are generally nice as are the 70+.

It means "a woman that should be ignored and dismissed, in my opinion."

This might be based on an informed opinion and evidence the woman is racist. This is the US phone calls to the police. Shame we don't have a term for the just-as-common US white men that just straight out shoot a black man if he seems out of place.

More often it's used because the person doing the dismissing is sexist and stupid and inhales US online culture with no context. I saw a woman volunteer at the zoo telling a bunch of thugs not to lean right over to touch the hippo and there was a chorus of "Karen's" to shut her up. Every one of the morons thought they were being funny and clever (most watching were hoping the hippo would bite them).

It's not a mainstream, middle aged woman's name, used as an insult and a stereotype.
If someone is a racist, bully or rude, call them that. Not "Karen".

Yeah......

You're the racist here.