Pay attention to the politics of southeast Asia, and the American use of “Karen” starts to sound more than a little strange.
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See, I am generally very sympathetic to this. But I have, upon numerous occasions, watched a Karen go Karen about Karen. So, it’s like, you had me at the beginning, but you earned it by the end…
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That’s not what a karen is though, even in this case.
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What’s the term for men who do the same thing?
Also karen.
Karen is a state of mind. Not a state of genitals.
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i agree… there’s a very specific usage for Karen as @deedub pointed out. It’s used correctly here, but I’ve seen it used poorly in so many other situations.
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A whole lot of topic splitting going on here. Frankly it’s hard to keep up!
(Let this not be construed as disappointment)
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I know, right?
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It really wasn’t that long ago when “Karens” were being named based on the situation. Like the woman in the OP, she would have been “Dozen Donut Debbie” rather than Karen. But at some point, it seems like Karen just stuck. And the actual Karens I’ve polled are OK with it. They’d rather the behavior change than the label.
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I don’t use it myself.
Not only because the Karen I know is an outspoken but overall nice woman The term is too often used to put woman down who speak up for themselves and others. Don’t Be That Way!!
Not that the stereotype does not exist but the English language is not exactly lacking in insults and other nasty words, choose on of those. I can recommend Shakespearean Insults Generator every time you need adress a bootless sheep-biting strumpet like that
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Exactly. It’s also a very old practice, one that isn’t going to go away anytime soon. It was sometimes based on misogyny, sexism, classism, or racism. Since names were involved, there have always been people who happened to already have one that matched a new or old pejorative usage.
I’ve had friends and family shrug it off. It’s not within their control, and they know it doesn’t apply to them*. The part that goes over people’s heads is the very act of complaining about the use of this particular name, used to call out privileged behavior, just doubles down on the perception that Karens (and friends of Karens) think they are deserving of special treatment.
I’ve got relatives and friends named Pocahontas, Becky, Colleen, Chip, Alexis, Sadie, Jezebel, Stacy, and Karen.
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Sure, by the internal collective (but not consistent) logic of the masses, this is a correct use of the term. Unfortunately the term is loaded with a huge amount of baggage that is not helpful at all. I think deliberate effort to use non-gendered terms is necessary to help lift unconcious biases we all have.
I don’t use the term manway (access hatch) or peckerhead (motor junction box) or manpower (personnel/staffing) among others and I really think that using a term like Karen to describe this woman’s (admittedly bonkers) interaction reinforces the idea that this is something that only women do. Call her an asshole or something else instead and stop perpetuating and normalizing the use of this term.
What if we only did it on Tuesdays and Thursdays?
Then we could use Claire and Nicola alternatively and maybe take the pressure off the middle sister a bit?
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My wife, for whatever reason, seems to have difficulty getting a haircut that isn’t a “karen haircut”. The haircut seems to have risen to the level of the trilby as negative social identifier. My daughter makes fun of her for it. I don’t really know what to tell her.
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Tell her to go find a punk stylist. Get a mohawk or an undercut or the old half-shaved, etc.
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Above all, tell her it looks great!
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Ironically(?) doesn’t the “speak-to-the-manager” haircut have roots (pun intended) in punk hairstyles? Sort of an inverted Catwoman Sue? The hairstyle was common in my teenaged peer group (back when Reagan was president). Now it seems more common in whatever peer group is between mine and my parents’.
