Karen is an assertive mother determined to ensure Lucas achieves his dreams. She refuses to wear face coverings during the COVID-19 pandemic and believes schools must reopen immediately.
Parents like this tend to believe their children’s lies and create issues to feel outraged over; deflating their ego only serves to further anger them.
1. Don’t Give In
Few years ago, internet trends began revealing an emerging pattern: women named Karen are often accused of being entitled and self-absorbed. Stereotypes go beyond being rude to service industry workers by demanding they speak to a manager – Karen moms can also often be racist, anti-vaccine and use false victimhood tactics in order to take advantage of service workers – but there’s more than meets the eye with this meme that has turned into an entire type of person and even viral phenomenon, according to author and attorney Sandler.
She describes Karen as middle class, typically white, married with children and living in the suburbs. She consumes organic foods and uses only natural products; her home features faux plants and candles as decor; she’s always on the lookout for bargains!
Karens are notoriously picky when it comes to enrolling their kids into advance placement classes and programs despite test scores or teachers’ recommendations against this. Karens may use arguments such as needing their schools reopened so they can afford childcare during pandemic outbreaks as excuses.
Karens of today include coronavirus variety: those who refuse to wear masks in stores, disregard social distancing measures and dismiss this pandemic as unwarranted. Instead, these people use their privilege to push back against policies that could save lives; but in doing so are harming themselves and their children in the process. “You don’t want to be one, but that doesn’t mean you have to,” notes Sandler, “and now most Karens seem content ignoring science while acting selfishly and worsening this crisis.”
2. Make Choices
Karens can be easily recognized by their inability to accept that they can’t have everything they desire, becoming angry at any rejection or creating problems for themselves in order to scare and manipulate teachers. Relying on a “squeaky wheel gets the grease” mentality, they expect their demands will be met. Unfortunately this creates an unpleasant working environment for teachers as they feel powerless against such demands from Karens who take precedence over what their students say about themselves.
“Karen” first gained widespread use through Black Twitter, and has come to refer to any middle-aged white woman obsessed with her minivan, her bob haircut, and the right to complain about every little aspect of life. These women often show entitlement by demanding to speak to managers when something doesn’t go their way or using false victimhood tactics to manipulate others or justify their actions – for instance calling police on Black men birdwatching in Central Park or forcing Costco reopen due to disagreeing with COVID-19 masks being worn by employees or demanding that Costco reopen because they don’t agreeing to allow COVID-19 masks worn by employees or demand that Costco reopen as soon as possible because they don’t like COVID-19 masks being worn by employees.
Many educators have encountered Karens at work or school. Although her concerns may be valid ones that need addressing, allowing a Karen to dominate one’s time and attention can lead to burnout for both educators and the person being addressed by her, as it teaches the latter only to listen to themselves rather than other voices – behaviour which harms all parties involved but especially those trying their hardest in a difficult environment.
3. Call the Bluff
Karen has become a common term used by slangers to refer to an entitled white woman who uses her privilege as a weapon against people of color. These women typically act like wall of moms in suburbia with minivans driving between middle-age to older, and tend to display a sense of entitlement while abusing service workers or people who disagree with them with authority. Although this term is relatively recent, its prevalence can be seen by calling the police on Black birder Christian Cooper in April 2020 (an instance which could have been avoided had this term been applied).
Many educators have observed that COVID Karens can be among the most divisive members of society. These Karens may refuse to wear masks, disregard quarantine restrictions and disbelieve that a pandemic exists. While teachers want to help both students and parents, it can be challenging for them to work with someone like Karen who will not listen or cooperate.
Father Frank, Full of Grace features Karen as one of its primary antagonists. A self-proclaimed “Karen mom,” Karen is racist, closed-minded, and loud about her beliefs – as such her sense of entitlement makes her one of the show’s most disliked characters.
Unfortunately, teachers must contend with Karens on a daily basis. From trying to thwart student education or calling police on service workers to trying to intimidate teachers in fear of career disruptions caused by Karens – these women can be hard for teachers and administrators alike to deal with.
4. Change Your Own Actions
Karen has become a meme that targets white women who act entitled and ignorant while claiming ignorance. Karens are notorious for their hypocrisy and their use of pseudoscience to justify their beliefs; these people tend to engage in sexist, racist and ageist behaviors while using victimization techniques in order to gain support for their cause.
Karen is an average middle-aged female who typically sports an asymmetrical bob, wears mom jeans and runs the school carpool. Often oblivious to how her actions negatively affect others, Karen remains solely focused on making life better for herself and her own children without regard to any aftermath from their actions that might negatively impact other people.
The Karen meme first emerged out of black internet culture as a means to find humor in racism and oppression. According to advocate Alicia Sanchez Gill in a recent opinion piece, this term allows us to discuss “how white mothers perpetuate racism while simultaneously claiming not to.”
Nominating women can be used as an attack against anyone who disagrees with them; Sandler warns that it can become problematic as negative associations between her name and the name of another may demonize someone and lead to unnecessary conflict.
Teachers often face an uphill struggle, from angry parents who call them out on being sexist and racist to low pay, long hours, additional workloads and media attacks. Without having enough resilience to deal with all this stress they could burn out – or leave their positions altogether because the absurdity becomes too much for them.
5. Talk to Someone Else
If you are a middle-aged white woman, chances are at some point in your life, you have likely been called a “Karen.” “Karen” has become an online meme to refer to an entitled white woman exhibiting behaviors stemming from her privilege – such as calling the police on Black people, demanding “speak with the manager”, belittling service workers unfairly or engaging in racist microaggressions.
The Karen is often depicted as an isolated, racist white woman with strong views who is vocal about them. Additionally, she may also appear as an unaware middle-class white mother using her privilege against others. While many find the Karen to be entertaining and amusing, some critics claim the Karen meme may be misogynistic while others see its misuse by “white boys [who] stole it and made it their code word for ‘bitch.'”
Karens can be difficult to work with or hold conversations with because they tend not to listen or consider new ideas, which makes working or having dialogue with them extremely frustrating.
However, you can avoid becoming Karen by communicating with other people and staying informed. Sharing what’s going on with family and friends will allow them to offer guidance in staying calm when dealing with Karens; additionally it’s wise to have someone you can rely on when your Karen mom becomes abusive; having such a support system available when their behavior escalates can especially prove valuable in difficult moments like when she starts questioning vaccine safety for example.
