Karen is a derogatory term used as slang to refer to any white woman perceived as entitled or demanding beyond what is acceptable.
Memes often depict white women using their privilege to demand their own way, including demanding to speak to the manager, being racist and sporting a particular bob cut hairstyle.
Karen
Karen is a derogatory term used as slang to denigrate white women perceived to be entitled or demanding beyond what is expected. Often these are mothers who believe their children’s lies or create issues to cause outrage.
Karen has an enigmatic origin, yet it has become increasingly popular in America since the mid-1960s. Recent studies indicate that those named Karen tend to be middle age or older white women who are perceived as arrogant or entitled towards others.
During the summer 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Karen became popular among social media users as an insult for middle-class, white women who engage in activities perceived as selfish or discriminatory. This phrase became particularly prevalent as racial justice activists protested George Floyd’s passing and the coronavirus pandemic that followed it.
Some critics of Karen have argued that it serves to dehumanize women, yet it also serves as a reminder that everyone has the capacity for rudeness – it’s just that some people are more adept than others at it.
Therefore, it’s not only inappropriate to refer to someone as a Karen if your behavior causes harm, but it would be wiser to invest the time in understanding what makes someone a Karen and draw lessons from it.
Terence Fitzgerald, a father of two young sons living in an Orange County suburb, finds Karen incidents to be an everyday part of life. His family is constantly confronted with micro-aggressions – subtle yet pervasive acts of racism that may go undetected but which nonetheless shape society’s fabric and impact everyone’s daily existence.
In 2020, Amy Cooper called 911 on bird-watcher Christian Cooper after he instructed her to leash her dog in Central Park. This incident serves as a stark example of how this term has been used to demonize White women for engaging in actions perceived as selfish or racist. It occurred just hours after George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis, prompting people to link these white women’s racism with systemic racism and police brutality as an issue.
Karma
Karen is a derogatory term often used as slang to denote white women who are seen as entitled or demanding beyond what is expected. It’s often associated with middle-aged white women who act out or act racistally and use their privilege to gain advantage.
Karen, a character frequently featured in slang memes, often wears a blonde bob haircut, asks to speak to retail or restaurant managers, or is depicted as an anti-vaxx soccer mom who refuses to wear face masks in public. In 2020 this term gained momentum when combined with viral videos of white women engaging in what are widely perceived as racist behaviors or using their privilege for selfish gain.
This slang term derives from the Vedic concept of karma, meaning “action.” According to Hinduism’s Vedic religion, good action leads to good results while bad action brings bad ones; that a person can be transformed into something good through positive action and something bad through negative one. It could also be described as the process by which an object undergoes transformation into another form.
Vedic philosophy divides Karma into two subtypes: Vedaniya (sensation-producing), which causes the soul to experience external sensual pleasure and pain; and Antaray (power-obstructing). Much like licking honey off a sword gives an initial sweet taste but then cuts the tongue, this type of karma disrupts one’s bliss by continuously making them experience sensations of both pleasure and pain.
Vedaniya karma is considered to be the most prevalent type of karma and the primary cause of all suffering in the world.
Antaray karma, on the other hand, prevents a soul from using its inherent power for acts of charity, profit, enjoyment or repeated enjoyment. It has also been linked to various forms of illness and disability in individuals.
The term has been part of popular culture since at least the 2000s, with some experts believing it originated with Dane Cook’s 2005 skit depicting Karen as the unpopular girl in a group. However, it appears more likely that internet users created it in reaction to an actual story about an elderly white woman depicted as racist on video footage that had been posted online.
Kenny
Karen is a derogatory term often used as slang for white women who are perceived as entitled or demanding beyond what is normal. It’s often depicted in memes that show white women using their privilege to demand what they want from life, according to Know Your Meme.
Alexis Schimkowitz, senior editor at Know Your Meme, noted that the term has become a way to denigrate white women who were caught on video engaging in what many consider racist acts, such as calling the police on Black people. This practice raises serious concerns since it assigns an innocent name to someone who may have committed overtly racist acts.
The term “Karens” first gained notoriety on Reddit, where it has been used to criticize middle-aged white women who are seen as “Karens” for their entitlement and aggressive behavior. Perhaps the most well-known example is Central Park Karen – a white woman who called the police on a Black man in New York City.
Karen slang term has an uncertain origins but is believed to have originated from Dane Cook’s online comedy routine about a girl named Karen. In this skit, Dane Cook portrays Karen as middle-aged white woman with blonde bob haircut who requests to speak to the manager about a complaint or request.
This slang term gained notoriety on Reddit in 2020 and has since spread throughout social media platforms. It’s used to criticize middle-aged white women who call the cops on Black people in New York City and other places, but not for their actual racism.
Karens have a notorious reputation for demanding to speak to the manager over any inconvenience, and are well known for their anti-vaxx, Generation X soccer mom attitudes. She often appears wearing a minivan and accessorized with rhinestones.
In 2020, the term “white women” began being used to label white women who were captured in viral videos engaging in what are widely perceived as racist acts, according to Know Your Meme. This is especially problematic because it assigns a name to someone who may have committed an overtly racist act such as calling the police on a Black man, according to Alexis Schimkowitz – senior editor at Know Your Meme.
Kitty
Karen: A derogatory term used as slang for white women who are seen as entitled or demanding beyond what is normal. Karen often engages in various racist and antisocial acts that are perceived as insensitive towards other people’s needs, particularly those of those less fortunate.
Karen has demonstrated racial micro-aggressions by asking to touch black hair or harassing those working in the service industry; for instance, escalate complaints and demands from retail or restaurant employees to their managers. Other racist microaggressions have included calling the police on an unarmed black person for no apparent reason.
In 2020, slang became increasingly popular as part of a trend that highlighted middle-class white women who displayed behaviors associated with privilege. These actions have become the subject of social media memes and led to an increase in sexist, ageist and racist tweets.
One of the most famous Karens is #Kidz Bop Karen, which began as a Twitter account featuring video footage of a white woman engaging with children in a public park. This account quickly went viral and helped lead to an effort to eliminate such misogynistic and discriminatory practices.
Other Karens have been depicted in other viral videos, such as one where a young water-seller was mocked by an angry Karen. Another example is “Central Park Karen”, which refers to an incident where a white woman falsely accused a Black man of threatening her in New York City’s Central Park.
In the UK, a unique form of Karen has emerged in recent months due to the coronavirus pandemic which is disproportionately impacting people from minority backgrounds. This Karen refuses to wear face coverings in shops or follow quarantine regulations, believing that all this fuss about pandemic is overblown.
