'The year of Karen' - Guardian article

[ArabellaScott]

More tedious pish on the 'Karen' phenomenon.

An article that directly equates women calling the police (however unjustifiably, all they did was call the police, hardly an illegal act) with a policeman murdering a man. Because of course the two are equivalent. In fact, I think the article's logic is that the woman who has called the police has actually directly caused the death of the man - it's almost as though the policeman disappears and is absolved, the blame shifted neatly from the (utterly fucking monstrous) actions of the policeman to the (perhaps racist, presumably highly-strung) actions of the woman. (Of course these were two completely unrelated incidents, but never miss a chance to use the correlation = causation fallacy when it helps your argument).

Quoting the last particularly nasty paras so you don't have to read the article:

'Complaints about Karen being sexist were noteworthy mostly for how neatly they re-enacted the Karen dynamic. Confronted with evidence of their own agency and complicity, some white women responded by reasserting their victimhood.

What I’ve found especially useful about Karen memes is the way they’ve given willing white women a tool with which to assess their own behavior and, if they want, improve it. My own mother, who is white, has on rare occasions demonstrated behavior that verged on the Karen-esque. This summer, for the first time, she acknowledged some of those Karen tendencies to me and stated her intention not to act like that any more – a conversation I’m not sure we would have had absent the meme.

Williams recalled similar conversations with white friends, and offered three simple rules to avoid being a Karen. One: recognize the privilege and history of being a white woman in this society. Two: avoid calling the police on people of color unless someone is in imminent danger of harm. And three: “Understand that it’s just not always about you, period. People are not out to get you for the most part, people are not trying to hurt you or harm your property or make you uncomfortable,” she said. “You’re not that special, Karen. You’re not that special.”

By people, presumably the writer means 'men', but it seems striking to me how men have been absolved of all responsibility here. The demon is clearly the writer's mother, and all women who dared to think they were 'special'.

This is pure, naked, misogyny. I would not want to be a woman or girl in the US at the moment.

I hate the use of the name, I know some lovely Karens

From what my DC have shown me via YouTube a Karen can be male/female/black/white/Asian etc

It's just an overly entitled person who likes to yell as the preferred method of communication, who is generally in the wrong (often they turn out to be extremely racist too), very likely to have low self-awareness.

I never fail to be amazed by the pure, unadulterated hatred, prejudice, and arrogant bigotry displayed over and over again by those who claim to be woke, progressive, tolerant and ‘kind’.
It’s quite incredible.

It may be used more generally but everyone knows it's a nice coded stick to beat women who don't agree with you.
Get ready for DC accusing you of lateness when they don't like one of your parenting decisions ( hint: they won't accuse dad of being a Karen, no matter how unfair they deem his parenting decisions).

Not lateness karenness stupid autocorrect.

@Vermeil

I never fail to be amazed by the pure, unadulterated hatred, prejudice, and arrogant bigotry displayed over and over again by those who claim to be woke, progressive, tolerant and ‘kind’. It’s quite incredible.

Why are you surprised? Going after women unlike race or sexual preference isn't a hate crime. It's the double whammy of being the only 'fair game' group and also one of the least power.

Complaints about Karen being sexist were noteworthy mostly for how neatly they re-enacted the Karen dynamic. Confronted with evidence of their own agency and complicity, some white women responded by reasserting their victimhood.

This is particularly repulsive. The usage of 'Karen' is rarely to do with racism. It's a way of putting women down, and not necessarily white women.

It might not be long before some wokey blokey or other misogynist disagrees with the author and calls her a Karen!

a Karen can be male/female/black/white/Asian

It's used to put women in their place. Maybe it is or was different in the US, but the way it's used here is nothing to do with systemic racism or even race; it's a term of abuse for women who complain. That's it.

@NotTerfNorCis

Complaints about Karen being sexist were noteworthy mostly for how neatly they re-enacted the Karen dynamic. Confronted with evidence of their own agency and complicity, some white women responded by reasserting their victimhood.

This is particularly repulsive. The usage of 'Karen' is rarely to do with racism. It's a way of putting women down, and not necessarily white women.

It might not be long before some wokey blokey or other misogynist disagrees with the author and calls her a Karen!

I think the US usage is very much linked to race.

Here it’s just a way of telling (particularly older) women to shut up.

Read it last week, hoping for a smidgen of originality, but no, the same old claptrap. I’m calling it out everywhere now. I’ve had enough, especially from my DCs and their uni mates. As a PP said, it's the wokest who seem most keen to throw it around, utterly oblivious to the fact it’s ageist as well as misogynistic.

Huge irony that this is a generation raised by parents who were schooled to criticise the behaviour not the child.

Complaints about Karen being sexist were noteworthy mostly for how neatly they re-enacted the Karen dynamic. Confronted with evidence of their own agency and complicity, some white women responded by reasserting their victimhood.

Both Helen Lewis and Sarah Ditum pointed out this problem in their articles on the Karen phenomenon - the more you protest about being called Karen, the more that is seen as evidence that you deserve to be called a Karen.

I am really starting to despise the Guardian. To think that this was once the paper of Jill Tweedie and Mary Stott.

It's most definitely a sexist way to put women down, and there is not way for a woman to resist this without being a "Karen" herself.

Other than that it's one of those situations where society is different in the UK and the US, trying to pretend both societies are the same leads to more confusion.

the more you protest about being called Karen, the more that is seen as evidence that you deserve to be called a Karen

To paraphrase the late, great Magdalen - I'd rather be a Karen than a fucking liar.

Calling someone a Karen is just the latest way of telling women to shut up, sit down, etc. Is there even a male equivalence?

Not that I know of.

A policeman kills an unarmed black man, and the country explodes with anger at ...

... a woman calling the police. Why not 'the year of murderous police' or - what even was the policeman's name? It wasn't fucking Karen.

My DC would absolutely call their dad a Karen if he acted in an overly entitled way and threaten an argument as repercussion. Their generation see it as applying to anyone with that mindset. My DD and DS both have explained this to me as I was interested in how ubiquitous it has become.

@CranberriesChoccyAgain

Calling someone a Karen is just the latest way of telling women to shut up, sit down, etc. Is there even a male equivalence?

Is there a male equivalence? no.

My mate's prick of a husband claims that people call men karen too as there is no male equivalent and it can be used for anyone. my arse they do. Either call men karen, or tell them to shut up

Funny that eh

It’s no coincidence that the bloke who was killed by that policeman was a scumbag who held up a pregnant woman at knifepoint.

I've seen 'Karen' applied to an animal, a wildcat defending her cubs.

It is frustrating to see misogynists pretending it's about racism.

Wasn't there a similar internet phenomenon concerning 'Chads'? Supposedly good looking but dim jocks who everyone took the piss out of?

That's horrible NotTerf.

It wasn't similar FestiveStrop - that was incels and MRAs who were resentful of the alpha males ('Chads') getting all the women.

No one else used 'Chad' as an insult.

Those who say it's used against men as well, can you get screenshots to demonstrate this?

I think I might have finally had it with the Guardian.

You know, I never complain at restaurants etc. I've been hounded by unfair complaints myself so don't like to rock the boat.
But if you are rude and shit at your job, without even trying to engage with potential problems then perhaps you deserve to have someone speak to your manager.
This automatic siding with those whom which a complaint is made is moronic. Yes, some people do complain about ridiculous things. That doesn't mean complaints in general are socially unacceptable.
Also, of course women do more of the complaining, as a lot of the time we do more of the donkey work.
I'm in no way defending racist women in America, but I resent being lumped in with them as having some kind of invisible privilege. My valid complaints should not be diminished because of who I am.