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Karen is a derogatory term used in the United States and other English-speaking countries to refer to a woman who thinks they have the right or demands beyond what is deemed appropriate or necessary. A common stereotype is that of a racist white woman who uses her privilege to demand her path at the expense of others. Performances also include demanding “talk to the manager,” being an anti-vaxxer or having a particular bob-cut hairstyle. At the beginning of 2020, the term will is increasingly used as a general term of disapproval for middle-aged white women.

ORIGIN

The phrase may have started as a hashtag on Black Twitter, “used to describe the white people who call the police on kids selling lemonade.” Identified often as coming from black women but co-opted by white men.

Karen has gone by different names, but all mean the same.

Earlier in the ’90s, when ‘Baby Got Back’ came out, it was Becky.”

“Karen’s name has derogatory connotations that predate the Internet trend, including Lorraine Bracco’s portrayal of Karen Friedman Hill in the 1990 film Goodfellas and Amanda Seyfried’s ditzy schoolgirl character in the 2004 film Mean Girls. Many well-known uses of Karen as a satirical punchline include Dane Cook’s 2005 parody “The Girl Everyone Likes” from his album Retaliation, and a 2016 Internet meme about a character in the Nintendo Switch Marketing Console, who displays antisocial behavior and is dubbed “antisocial Karen.”

Kansas State University psychologist Heather Suzanne Woods, whose academic preferences include metaphors, said that Karen’s distinguishing traits are “entitlement, selfishness, a willingness to lament” and that Karen “requests the universe to live according to its expectations with no respect for others, and can endanger or demean others to achieve its ends.” She’s trying to possess the authority that, yeah, maybe somewhat different from that of a white male, because she’s asking. So the sense of superiority is what makes her a Karen.

The Karen misconception holds many myths, the most prominent of which is the assumption that Karen would claim to “speak with the boss” of a fictional service provider. Specific stereotyping characteristics include anti-vaccination views, bigotry towards black men, use of Twitter, and a particular bob haircut with blond highlights; images of Kate Gosselin are used to represent Karen, and her bob is often referred to as a “can-I-talk-to-your-manager haircut.”

There has been some controversy over whether “Karen” is an insult. Although the word is used primarily in a derogatory way against a person of a certain race and gender, others argued that “Karen” lacks the historical meaning to be called an insult and that naming it one trivializes real prejudice.

Some claim that the purposes of the word have enormous wealth, and that “an epithet that lacks the ability to oppress is nothing more than an insult.” Hadley Freeman argued that the use of the meme had been less about defining conduct than policing it and “asking women to shut up.”

Jennifer Weiner, writing in the New York Times during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, said that the meme had succeeded in silencing her, stating that she needed to reconcile her urge to talk about a local guy moaning in the open air, hawking, and vomiting on the pavement, with her anxiety of being named Karen.

In April 2020, writer and progressive feminist Julie Bindel wrote on her Twitter page, “Would anybody else think the Karen-slur is a woman-hating and focused on gender prejudice?” Freeman responded, saying it was “sexist, ageist, and classist, in that order.” In May 2020, Kaitlyn Tiffany, writing in The Atlantic, asked, “Is Karen just a woman who bothers people? If so, what is the male equivalent?” and said that the meme was called a mischievous lady. Back in May 2020, Nina Burleigh wrote tweets, “It’s just an excuse to ridicule obscure middle-aged white women.” Matt Schimkowitz, senior editor at Know Your Meme, added, “It’s just sort of taken over all types of mockery towards white people online.