STOP calling people "a Karen"

[PaperwhiteTheFriendlyGhost]

Why are people so lazy and ignorant? Ironically they use it in some instances to berate someone for a perceived insult. Maybe this should be on Pedants' Corner, I don't know.

I can tell you're trying to hold back "Cowardly internet inspired insults".

I do not have this issue myself

And no I am aware that at times calling out racist behaviour is not so straight forward (we should all be aware of this) its a way of saying I recognise your behaviour

and as I said before its not for me to decide when someone has been on the receiving end of racist behaviour how they should address this

That's fine

I don't think personally I can tell someone how to deal with racist behaviour directed at them I feel its for them to decide. Its not something I have to deal with

And that was Keith Waterhouse.

Sorry can you elaborate what you mean?

Great so if a gay man calls me a racial slur, I can call him a homophobic slur? I had no idea I had this get out jail free card! What else am I allowed to do, on the grounds of it being up to me to decide how to deal with racist behaviour directed at me? Can I egg his house? Key his car? Train my dog to bark at his mum?

Or, should racist behaviour and misogynist behaviour be considered equally unacceptable and the one not an excuse for the other?

Its calling out/recognising a particular type of behaviour its not about using direct racist words

Racism isn't always so direct is it

I do not feel it is my place to tell people who have to deal with racism towards them in many different way how they should deal with it

Calling a woman a Karen isn't calling out racism. It doesn't even really have that connotation in this country. It's about insulting women, especially middle aged or older women. Of the examples in this thread where posters have justified using the term Karen, were any of them even about race?

You don't deal with racism by insulting and belittling another minority. That's not dealing with anything it's just putting women down.

I am not sure what is hard to understand.

it is not my place to decide how people who are having to deal with a particular type of racism should deal with this. For some the term used in the US is relevant to them here in the UK as they are having to deal with this particular behaviour

I am not sure from your posts if you have to deal with racism, if you are its not up to me to tell you how you should.

I am not going to tell a young black man who has just had to deal with underhand racism that he can not use the term Karen as if offends many middle aged women or advise him on how to

Maybe others feel it is their place to that's down to them

I'd love to know what this poster thinks of Rachel Reeves then.

Stop using the name of millions of innocent women as a slur and insult.

HTH.

Absolutely fine, at least you are using more accurate vocabulary instead of following the stupid herd.

Women are not a minority.

Oh come on the "I want to speak to the manager" hair cut has been a thing for YEARS now.

Numerically no but culturally yes, women are a minority as men are viewed/ treated as the default human. Just like heterosexuals are, and white people are (in the West).

Oh right so women with a specific haircut all behave the same way. Like Hassidic Jews, they are all the same as each other right? And men with dreads, they all act the same, and teenage boys with fades. Or would that be a lazy offensive stereotype?

My oldest sisters name is Karen.

It's had a real affect on her mental health. She lacked confidence anyway, titters and sideways glances when she has to respond to her name in public haven't helped. (And yes, some grown adults and teenagers really do that, I've seen it myself). She feels people have judged her as unreasonable, difficult or a racist judged solely on her name.

I hope whoever started the term goes to hell.

Look. Stereotypes don't just fall out of thin air, they exist for a reason. Most stereotypes if not all have truth behind them and are recognised by many people. White middle aged women with a bob were the most likely people to give me shit when I worked in retail as a student. My own mother and aunt behave like this and it's mortifying, I have walked away from them in public a few times.

@SailorSerena so does that mean then that any middle aged bobbed hair woman cannot speak up for herself, complain about poor service or send inedible food back, politely and firmly? It sounds like you've decided that any instance of the above will definitely be unreasonable, unjustified and entitled.

Stereotypes don't just fall out of thin air, they exist for a reason.

How bizarre to use the exact phrase used by most racists to justify their actions, to justify using a term for a woman in an insulting way.

Who used DAREN?
I’ve never heard that used ever, anywhere.
Sadly I hear the insult Karen far too often - I feel for those lovely women out there with the name.
I hate that it’s just another way to try and shit down women, and annoyingly often by other women as well.

How does a handful of American woman acting badly justify a woman’s name now being used as an insult to other women for anything someone else disagrees with?

Fair enough to call out those women, and men, for acting badly, for being racist, etc. but why does that justify using a woman’s name as an insult?

Such a weird obsession with bobs 😳

The human brain evolved to make judgements and see stereotypes as a survival method. If you can guess how someone is going to behave by looking at them and the way interact with other people you have a better chance of surviving die to avoiding risk and finding your tribe where you belong. It's part of being a social species that is good at spotting patterns. That is why Stereotypes are most of the time correct, if they weren't they would serve no purpose. Stereotypes aren't just for racists and it's ignorant to assume so.

Yes it is 😀