Karen is an often-employed slang term to refer to white women perceived to be overly demanding or entitled. This often manifests through various insulting depictions such as demanding to speak to the manager, wearing particular hairstyles such as bob cuts or being racist.
1. She’s Afraid of and/or Angry at Anything Foreign to Her
If your mother throws a tantrum over something small like asking to speak with the manager at Starbucks or refusing to wear a mask when required to, she may be acting like a Karen – an identity belonging to white women who believe they have every right to do whatever they please and consider all other actions wrong.
Recently, “middle-aged white women” has become an insulting term across social media and has been used as an insult against middle-aged white women who enjoy certain rights and privileges. It has proven particularly problematic during an era characterized by widespread coronavirus pandemic outbreak and protests for racial justice.
Slamming white women for perceived slights against Black people has long been used as a way to mock and demean them; moreover, satirizing those who commit racist or sexist acts publically has also proven useful.
Attiah notes that “white privilege” originated in black American internet culture and can be seen as a shorthand way of talking about casual racism and privilege among some white women. According to Chen, assigning names would be far more problematic.
2. She’s a Noise Complaint Machine
Your mom may be an arbiter of style. She may have pet peeves about the number of cars in her driveway or the amount of clutter in your room; or even with regards to being a single parent herself. But if she continues hearing poop emojis at your front door, she could decide that its time for her to relocate somewhere else or at least challenge you and leave you.
4. She’s Entitled
“Entitled” can be defined as having an overly-inflated sense of entitlement or inadequacy, such as feeling entitled at restaurants, stores or their children’s schools. People who feel entitled can often believe they owe something back to society according to Jennifer Groner of “Entitled Parents” subreddit.
Karen is an example of an entitled person. She believes she deserves special treatment at restaurants, stores and her children’s schools due to being their parent.
Reddit user colleen-t shared this experience on the ‘Entitled Parents’ subreddit, noting her entitlement to order her Pumpkin Spice Latte the way she prefers it and taking immediate steps towards getting it. She expects everyone around her to treat her the way they would expect them to treat her and finds it unacceptable when people fail to do so, colleen-t stated on Reddit.
Karen appears to think herself superior to everyone, including Daniel and Sean – her sons by marriage. When Lisbeth attempts to place blame for Esteban’s death on Karen, Karen insists she knows nothing about it and apologizes profusely for leaving them. Karen tells Sean and Daniel she understands why she abandoned them but truly regrets having done so, since she loves them dearly and wants their lives together to flourish happily.
5. She’s a Close-Minded Black Female
If your mother seems always to find an excuse to complain about a service industry employee or her haircut, this could be indicative of Karen syndrome. These women tend to be very self-entitled and their actions may appear as using privilege to obtain what they desire.
Reddit user Karmacop9 first popularized this term and described her as an acronym: Middle Class White Woman who exhibits behaviour associated with her privilege. The phrase has seen its share of controversy recently but this term has long been in circulation in America. According to Reddit user karmacop9, middle-class white woman are frequently described by this label.
American moms tend to sport the bob-hairstyle as one of their hallmark characteristics, often featuring entitlement and the ability to throw tantrums.
As the Karen meme spread, it became a platform to criticize those who believe white people possess more power over black people than they wish to admit. Women who show signs of entitlement or use their white privilege are targeted in viral videos and social media posts as being targets.
“Central Park Karen,” as used by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to refer to Kayleigh McEnany as press secretary “Karen”, has come to represent women who use police actions against black people for reasons such as asking them to leash their dog or birdwatching in Central Park. A 2020 incident involving Amy Cooper earned this label, while Lori Lightfoot recently called Kayleigh McEnany “Karen” via tweet.
7. She’s a Close-Minded Black Male
Karens are used in the US as an umbrella term to refer to groups of women who appear, talk and think similarly. Usually white women, these stereotypes have often been perceived as arrogant, entitled and driven towards getting what they want.
Karen first made headlines in 2020 after several cases where white women had been caught behaving inappropriately in public spaces and social media, such as “Central Park Karen” who called the police on a black man birdwatching in Central Park and “Costco Karen”, who threw a tantrum over being asked to wear a face mask at Costco.
Anarchy in the current pandemic refers to women who do not comply with coronavirus regulations, such as wearing masks and getting vaccinated against coronavirus. Such behavior is very harmful when captured on video and widely shared, which has happened frequently.
Attiah notes that this slang name originated in black American internet culture – as an attempt to find humor amid real-world racism and oppression. But now, the word has taken on an additional meaning on the Internet as it has become widely recognized for being misogynistic and class-prejudiced.
