What do you think of the term Karen?

This was actually a topic in a recent Social Q's section of the New York Times.

I agree that it's unfair to use a name to describe what some people regard as a bad trait. Just like this is unfair, Chatty Cathy is similar, even though my Aunt Cathy is a chatterbox I can be, too, especially when hypo/manic, and my name isn't Cathy.

I certainly can see how some people are overly critical and complain too much, but it is not fair to label everyone who expresses a grievance as "bad". As a customer, we should sometimes speak up when service/product is bad, but within reason and in a helpful, but not aggressive, way.

It's funny, what was pretty much just a meme on reddit, has transformed into everyday culture.

It's a new slur, like any other slur. It's not as serious as some other slurs are, but it comes with all the same baggage of a slur. The affect of specific slurs vary as human culture varies, but they are always damaging.

I think the thing with the Karen slur was that it was meant to be a way of fighting back against other damaging behavior, managing offensive behavior with offensive behavior in kind. But that in and of itself is bad, because it doesn't solve anything. Humans tend to fight back if attacked, so you can very quickly and easily creates a perpetual cycle of hate.

If someone throws a rock at you, you are likely to throw one back, so are they - rinse repeat, you dumb**s smooth-skin monkeys just started a war. Humans in a nutshell.

And it's not like we don't have the knowledge and intelligence needed to overcome behavior like this. We understand this hate-hate cycle well, we understand human behavior and psychology better than we ever have before, and yet, still, we never break the cycle. We just re-frame it.

My moms name is karen i called her by her first name until i was 25 now 36.

I think it's mild compared to what marginalized people go through. It was created as a way to address entitled, unevolved, and rude older white women.

It's not as bad as what Native women go through, or the police brutality against Black people.

It's certainly offensive to people really named Karen and should be stopped.

I don’t like it.

It’s misogynistic, racist and ageist. A pathetic and cruel attempt to silence (generally) white middle aged women. Just fade into the background and put up and shut up.

In an increasingly politically correct society that encourages people to “be kind”, non judgmental and accept difference, this targeting of one group of people is grossly hypocritical. Aggressively demanding to see the manager, sticking your nose into other peoples business etc are unpleasant behaviours that exist in every demographic, not just older women.

I know, like most of these things, it was probably initially a joke but it quickly developed into something nastier. And it’s acceptable because older women are unpopular.

Oh, and I also don’t like the term “snowflake” to describe people under 30 who disagree with or are offended by something. We all have likes, dislikes and opinions and should have an equal platform to discuss these issues.

I hope the 'Karen' phenomenon burns out quickly. Butter Toast and Apollite made some excellent points, and wrote them much better than I could have done.

On one hand, it strikes me as sexist. It's an attack on women speaking up for themselves when they feel wronged. But on the other hand, some people really do go too far in their protests, and behave badly, and lose their credibility in doing so, and they do make laughing stocks out of themselves. They have no one to blame but themselves for being turned into memes.

Mixed feelings. I think it boils down to how you conduct yourself when you feel a wrong has been done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed These people may have an invisible illness. Social anxiety or autism or some other type where they need the seat just as much as the wheelchair user. I’m not trying to be rude or anything these situations just annoy me sometimes

I understand what you mean but a wheelchair user deserves a seat more than someone like you mentioned IMO.

I guess If I have encountered an individual described as so.. If approached just call her out and tell her to get the F away from me. . If I was working somewhere and encountered someone like this... well working with the public is a gamble.. but I always kept my cool ... yes maam. The fact we have come to the point that we name these things people want to label is part of the problem of the larger issues why society behaves as it does....

Another thing that irks me about it is that there are many words n the English language that could be used to describe a person like that. Do they not KNOW then?