![Inverted bob haircut](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Inverted_bob_haircut.jpg)
Karen is a
pejorative
A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...
term for a white woman perceived as
entitled
An entitlement is a provision made in accordance with a legal framework of a society. Typically, entitlements are based on concepts of principle ("rights") which are themselves based in concepts of social equality or enfranchisement.
In psychology ...
or demanding beyond the scope of what is normal.
The term is often portrayed in
meme
A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...
s depicting white women who use their
white privilege
White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. With roots ...
to demand their own way.
Depictions include demanding to "speak to the
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
", being
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
, or wearing a particular
bob cut
A bob cut, also known as a bob, is a short to medium length haircut, in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at approximately jaw level, but no longer than shoulder-length, often with fringe or bangs at the front. The standar ...
hairstyle.
A notable example was the
Central Park birdwatching incident
On May 25, 2020, a confrontation occurred between Christian Cooper (a black birder) and unrelated Amy Cooper (a white dogwalker) in a section of New York City's Central Park known as the Ramble.
Amy's dog was unleashed in the Ramble, an area w ...
in 2020.
The term has been criticized by some as being
sexist
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...
,
ageist
Ageism, also spelled agism, is discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler defi ...
,
classist
Class discrimination, also known as classism, is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. It includes individual attitudes, behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper class at the expense ...
, and seeking to control women's behavior.
As of 2020, the term increasingly appeared in media and social media as a general criticism of
middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
white women, including during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
protests.
The term has also been applied to male behavior.
''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' called 2020 "the year of Karen".
Origin
In
African-American culture
African-American culture refers to the contributions of African Americans to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture. The culture is both distinct and enormously influential on Ame ...
, there is a history of calling difficult white women or those who "weaponize" their position by a generic pejorative name.
In the
antebellum era
In the history of the Southern United States, the Antebellum Period (from la, ante bellum, lit= before the war) spanned the end of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. The Antebellum South was characterized by the ...
(1815–1861), "
Miss Ann
''Miss Ann'' is an expression used inside the African-American community to refer to a European-American woman (or sometimes a black woman) who is arrogant and condescending in her attitude.
The characteristics associated with someone called a "M ...
" was used.
In the early 1990s, "
Becky" was used.
As late as 2018, before the use of "Karen" caught on, alliterative names matching particular incidents were used, such as "Barbecue Becky", "Cornerstore Caroline", and "Permit Patty". Linguist Kendra Calhoun connects "Karen" stereotypes to the older "
soccer mom
The term soccer mom broadly refers to an American, middle-class, suburban woman who spends a significant amount of her time transporting her school-age children to youth sporting events or other activities, whether or not they are soccer relate ...
".
For the term "Karen", several possible origins have been proposed. Early uses of Karen as a joke punchline include the airheaded character Karen (played by
Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Michelle Seyfried ( ; born December 3, 1985) is an American actress. Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, she began modeling at age 11 and ventured into acting at 15, with recurring roles as Lucy Montgomery on the CBS soap opera ...
) from the 2004 film ''
Mean Girls
''Mean Girls'' is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried (in her film debut), Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler and Fe ...
'',
Dane Cook
Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released six comedy albums: ''Harmful If Swallowed''; ''Retaliation''; '' Vicious Circle''; '' Rough Around the Edges: Live from Madison Square Garde ...
's 2005 sketch "The Friend Nobody Likes" on his album ''
Retaliation
Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...
'',
and a 2016 Internet meme regarding a woman in an ad for the
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
console who exhibits perceived antisocial behavior and is given the nickname "antisocial Karen".
In December 2017, Karen memes regarding entitled women went viral on
Reddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...
, the earliest being from user karmacop9, who ranted about his ex-wife Karen. The posts led to the creation of the subreddit r/FuckYouKaren, containing memes about the posts, and inspiring spinoffs including r/karen and r/EntitledKarens dedicated to criticizing Karens.
A more pointed explanation, which involves race, is the expression originating among Black people to refer to unreasonable white women.
The term was popularized on
Black Twitter
Black Twitter is an internet community largely consisting of African-American users on the social network Twitter focused on issues of interest to the black community in the United States.André Brock"From the Blackhand Side: Twitter as a Cultural ...
as a meme used to describe white women who "tattle on black kids' lemonade stands"
or who unleash the "violent history of white womanhood".
''
Bitch
Bitch may refer to:
* A female dog or other canine
* Bitch (slang), a vulgar slur for a human female
Bitch or bitches may also refer to:
Arts and media Film and television
* ''The Bitch'' (film), a 1979 film starring Joan Collins
* ''Bitc ...
'' magazine described ''Karen'' as a term that originated with Black women but was co-opted by white men.
In an article on high profile incidents in the U.S. of white women calling the police on Black people, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' called 2020 "the year of Karen".
Meaning and use
Kansas State University
Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...
professor Heather Suzanne Woods, whose research interests include memes, said a Karen's defining characteristics are a sense of entitlement, a willingness and desire to complain, and a self-centered approach to interacting with others.
According to Woods, a Karen "demands the world exist according to her standards with little regard for others, and she is willing to risk or demean others to achieve her ends."
Rachel Charlene Lewis, writing for ''Bitch'', agrees, saying a Karen doesn't view others as individuals and instead moves "through the world prepared to fight faceless conglomerate of lesser-than people who won't give her what she wants and feels she deserves."
The meme carries several stereotypes, the most notable being that a Karen will demand to "speak to the manager" of a hypothetical service provider.
Other stereotypes include anti-vaccination beliefs,
racism,
excessive use of Facebook, and a particular
bob haircut
A bob cut, also known as a bob, is a short to medium length haircut, in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at approximately jaw level, but no longer than shoulder-length, often with fringe or bangs at the front. The standar ...
with blond
highlights. Pictures of
Kate Gosselin and
Jenny McCarthy
Jennifer McCarthy Wahlberg (' Jennifer Ann McCarthy; born November 1, 1972) is an American actress, model, and television personality. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for ''Playboy'' magazine and was later named their Playmate of ...
's bob cut are often used to depict a Karen,
and their bobs are sometimes called the "can-I-speak-to-your-manager?" haircut.
According to Apryl Williams of the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, the memes "actively call out white supremacy and call for restitution".
Racial context
''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' called the meme "Internet shorthand ... for a particular kind of racial violence white women have instigated for centuries—following a long and troubling legacy of white women in the country weaponizing their victimhood."
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
media researcher
Meredith Clark has said that the idea of a white woman in the vicinity of whom Black people feel a need to be careful because she would not hesitate to use her "privilege" at the expense of others "has always been there; it just hasn't always been so specific to one person's name".
Karen Grigsby Bates agrees that Karen is part of a succession of characters like Miss Ann and Becky, adding that the concept of Karen, as Black people had been using the term, became clear to white people when ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' played a Jeopardy sketch with
Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Aaron Boseman (; November 29, 1976August 28, 2020) was an American actor. During his two-decade career, Boseman received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, ...
playing as his ''
Black Panther
A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
'' character
T'Challa
Black Panther is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist-coplotter Jack Kirby. The character first appeared in '' Fantastic Four'' #52 ...
.
''The Guardian'' notes that "the image of a white woman calling police on Black people put the lie to the myth of racial innocence". Contemporary Karens have been compared to
Carolyn Bryant (a white woman who accused
Emmett Till
Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery ...
of offending her, resulting in his lynching) and
Mayella Ewell (a fictional character in the 1960 novel ''
To Kill a Mockingbird
''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...
'').
The meme became most popular in 2020 when the Black Lives Matter movement surged in response to multiple events.
Andre Brock, a
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
professor of Black digital culture, connected the virality of the meme in the summer of 2020 with the
coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, the
murder of George Floyd
On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...
, and the
Central Park birdwatching incident
On May 25, 2020, a confrontation occurred between Christian Cooper (a black birder) and unrelated Amy Cooper (a white dogwalker) in a section of New York City's Central Park known as the Ramble.
Amy's dog was unleashed in the Ramble, an area w ...
, noting that both incidents had occurred the same weekend during a period when much of the world had been forced to stay home and had plenty of free time to watch the videos.
He said the virality of the two videos was the result of an "
interest convergence" in which the pandemic "
intersected with collective outrage over police brutality" and "highlighted the extreme violence—and potentially fatal consequences—of a white woman selfishly calling the cops out of spite and professed fear."
Apryl Williams of the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
called it a "Black activist meme", saying it was ultimately beneficial in helping people recognize problematic behaviors, but warning that jokes downplayed the threat posed to Black people.
Multiple writers have rejected accusations of the term being a
slur against white women.
Karen Attiah
Karen Attiah (born August 12, 1986) is an American writer and editor. She serves as Global Opinions editor for ''The Washington Post''. With David Ignatius, Attiah won a 2019 George Polk Award for their writing about the murder of their colleague ...
, Global Opinions editor for ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
,'' claims that it lacks the historical context to be a slur and that calling it one trivializes actual discrimination.
Male context
The term is generally used to refer to women, but ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' noted that "a man can easily be called a Karen", with staff writer David A. Graham calling then-president Donald Trump the "Karen in chief".
Similarly, in November 2020, a tweet calling
Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...
"Space Karen" over comments he made regarding the effectiveness of
COVID-19 testing
COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main types of tests detect either the presence of the virus or antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral ...
became
viral. Numerous names for a male equivalent of Karen have been floated, with little agreement on a single name,
although 'Ken'
and 'Kevin'
are among the most common names used. The
Jim Crow era
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
male equivalent to Miss Ann was
Mister Charlie ''Mister Charlie'' is a pejorative expression formerly used within the African-American community to refer to an imperious white man. Occasionally, it refers to a black man who is arrogant and perceived as "acting white".
The term is sometimes writ ...
.
Criticism
The term has been called sexist, ageist, classist, and anti-woman by some.
Hadley Freeman
Hadley Clare Freeman (born 15 May 1978) is an American British journalist based in London. She writes for ''The Sunday Times'', having previously written for ''The Guardian''.
Early life
Freeman was born in New York City to a Jewish family. ...
, columnist and features writer for ''The Guardian'', argues that use of the meme has become less about describing behavior than controlling it and "telling women to shut up".
Jennifer Weiner
Jennifer Weiner (born March 28, 1970) is an American writer, television producer, and journalist. She is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her debut novel, published in 2001, was '' Good in Bed''. Her novel '' In Her Shoes'' (2002) was made i ...
, writing in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the meme had succeeded in silencing her, saying she had had to balance her desire to complain about a nearby man coughing into the open air, hawking and spitting on the sidewalk, with her fear of being called a Karen.
In August 2020,
Helen Lewis wrote in ''The Atlantic'', "''Karen'' has become synonymous with ''woman'' among those who consider ''woman'' an insult. There is now a market, measured in attention and approbation, for anyone who can sniff out a Karen."
Lewis also noted what she called the "
finger trap
A Chinese finger trap (also known as a Chinese finger puzzle, Chinese thumb cuff, Chinese handcuffs, and similar variants) is a gag toy used to play a practical joke on unsuspecting children and adults. The finger trap is a simple puzzle that ...
" of the term, saying "What is more Karen than complaining about being called 'Karen'? There is a strong incentive to be cool about other women being Karened, lest you be Karened yourself."
British journalist and feminist
Julie Bindel
Julie Bindel (born 20 July 1962) is an English radical feminist writer. She is also co-founder of the law reform group Justice for Women, which has aimed to help women who have been prosecuted for assaulting or killing violent male partners.
A ...
asked, "Does anyone else think the 'Karen' slur is woman-hating and based on class prejudice?"
Freeman replied, saying it was "sexist, ageist, and classist, in that order". Kaitlyn Tiffany, writing in ''The Atlantic'', asked, "Is a Karen just a woman who does anything at all that annoys people? If so, what is the male equivalent?", saying the meme was being called misogynistic.
Nina Burleigh
Nina D. Burleigh is an American writer and investigative journalist, the daughter of author Robert Burleigh. She writes books, articles, essays and reviews. Burleigh is a supporter of secular liberalism, and is known for her interest in issues of ...
wrote that the memes "are merely excuses to heap scorn on random middle-aged white women".
Matt Schimkowitz, a senior editor at
Know Your Meme
''Know Your Meme'' (''KYM'') is a website and video series which uses wiki software to document various Internet memes and other online phenomena, such as viral videos, image macros, catchphrases, Internet celebrities and more. It also invest ...
, stated to ''
Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'' in 2019 that the term "just kind of took over all forms of criticism towards white women online", and that it had risen to popularity due to that demographic being seen as entitled.
Notable examples
In 2018 a former New York and New Jersey Port Authority police commissioner,
Caren Turner
Caren Zeldie Turner (born 1957) is a former United States Democratic lobbyist and formerly served as one of several unpaid commissioners for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. She resigned from her position in 2018 after a video show ...
, was filmed berating two
Tenafly, New Jersey
Tenafly () is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 census the borough had a population of 15,409, , police officers for pulling over a car in which her daughter was riding.
The video only emerged later.
In December 2019, Australian media reported that in the town of
Mildura
Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area had ...
, a woman named Karen had been filmed trying to pull down an
Aboriginal flag being displayed by her neighbors. She was unable to pull it down, leading to a
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
hashtag #TooStrongForYouKaren and other social media responses.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the term has been used to describe women abusing
Asian-American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
health workers due to the virus's origins in
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
, those
hoarding
Hoarding is a behavior where people or animals accumulate food or other items.
Animal behavior
''Hoarding'' and ''caching'' are common in many bird species as well as in rodents. Most animal caches are of food. However, some birds will a ...
essential supplies such as toilet paper, and both those who policed others' behavior to enforce
quarantine
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
and those who
protested the continuance of the restrictions because they prevented them visiting
hair salon
A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and medical spas.
Beauty treatments
Massage for the body is a b ...
s,
as well as over being forced to wear
face masks inside of stores, prompting one critic to ask whether the term had devolved into an all-purpose term of disapproval or criticism for middle-aged white women.
Use of the term increased from 100,000 mentions on social media in January 2020 to 2.7 million in May 2020.
In May 2020,
Christian Cooper
Christian Cooper (born 1963) is an American science writer and editor, and also a comics writer and editor. He is based in New York City.
Career
Cooper is currently a senior biomedical editor at Health Science Communications. On May 16, 2022, N ...
, writing about the Central Park birdwatching incident, said Amy Cooper's "inner Karen fully emerged and took a dark turn" when he started recording the encounter.
He recorded her calling the police and telling them that an "African-American man" was threatening her and her dog.
On December 16, 2020, Miya Ponsetto was dubbed "SoHo Karen" after tackling 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr., son of jazz trumpeter
Keyon Harrold
Keyon Karim Harrold (born November 18, 1980) is an American jazz trumpeter, vocalist, songwriter, and producer.
Early life and family
Keyon Harrold was born and raised in Ferguson, Missouri, United States, one of 16 children in a family of music ...
, in the lobby of the Arlo Hotel in New York City and accusing him of stealing her phone. Ponsetto alleged that she was assaulted during the altercation, though she could not provide evidence to her claim. An
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
driver returned her phone after the incident. In early January 2021, Ponsetto was arrested in
Ventura County, California
Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura.
Ventura County comprises the Oxn ...
and extradited to New York, where she was charged with grand larceny, attempted robbery, child endangerment, and two counts of assault, as she also attacked Harrold Sr. during the altercation. It was also revealed that Ponsetto was arrested twice in 2020 for public intoxication and drunk driving. During the initial court hearing in March 2021, Ponsetto interrupted the judge by requesting to avoid jail time.
Legislation
In July 2020,
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco.
Government and politics
The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a c ...
member
Shamann Walton
Shamann Walton is an American politician from San Francisco. He has been a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors since 2019, representing District 10, and was elected President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on January 8, 2 ...
introduced the Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies (CAREN) Act, which proposed changing the San Francisco Police Code to prohibit the fabrication of racially biased emergency reports. The Act was passed unanimously in October of that year, after which Williams noted "these memes are actually doing logical and political work of helping us get to legal changes".
Other uses
The mid-2019 formation of
Tropical Storm Karen in the
Atlantic hurricane
An Atlantic hurricane, also known as tropical storm or simply hurricane, is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean, primarily between the months of June and November. A hurricane differs from a cyclone or typhoon only on the basis of ...
basin led to memes likening the storm to the stereotype; several users made jokes about the storm wanting to "speak with the manager", with images photoshopped to include the "Karen haircut" on either the hurricane or its forecast path.
In July 2020,
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...
ran an advertisement in Australia and New Zealand offering free pizzas to "nice Karens";
the company later apologized and dropped the ad amidst criticism.
In July 2020, an internet meme in the form of a
parody advertisement
A parody advertisement is a fictional advertisement for a non-existent product, either done within another advertisement for an actual product, or done simply as parody of advertisements—used either as a way of ridiculing or drawing negative atte ...
for a fictional Girl of the Year character depicted as a personification of the "Karen" stereotype, wearing a
track suit
A tracksuit is an article of clothing consisting of two parts: trousers and a jacket usually with front zipper. It was originally intended for use in sports, mainly for athletes to wear over competition clothing (such as running shirt and shorts ...
, bob haircut and
openly carrying a
semi-automatic pistol
A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actuall ...
while defiantly violating face mask guidelines mandated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, provoked criticism from
American Girl
American Girl is an American line of dolls released on May 5, 1986, by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight- to fourteen-year-old boys and girls of a variety of ethnicities, faiths, and social classes from different time periods throughou ...
, who took umbrage to the use of their name and
trade dress
Trade dress is the characteristics of the visual appearance of a product or its packaging (or even the design of a building) that signify the source of the product to consumers. Trade dress is an aspect of trademark law, which is a form of intelle ...
, stating that they were "disgusted" by a post from brand strategist Adam Padilla under the online persona "Adam the Creator", and "are working with the appropriate teams at American Girl to ensure this copyright violation is handled appropriately."
Boing Boing
''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twice won ...
, however, expressed doubts over the merits of American Girl's proposed legal action against the "Karen" parodies citing the
Streisand effect
Attempts to hide, remove, or censor information often have the unintended consequence of increasing awareness of that information via the Internet. This is called the Streisand effect. It is named after American singer and actress Barbra Streis ...
, though it has also noted the debate on whether the satirical intent of the parody advertisement is protected by law.
In July 2020, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
called the
Wall of Moms
The Wall of Moms is a group, primarily of women who identify as mothers, who have demonstrated in George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon, George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon, as well as other groups in U.S. cities including Chicago, S ...
"a good example of mainly middle-class, middle-aged white women explicitly ''not'' being Karens. Instead, the Wall of Moms is seen by activists as using their privilege to protest against the very same systemic racism and classism that Karens actively seek to exploit."
See also
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''Karen'' (film)
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Becky (slang)
''Becky'' is a pejorative American slang term for a young white woman. The term has come to be associated with a "white girl who loves Starbucks and Uggs and is clueless about racial and social issues", according to the ''New Statesman''. For th ...
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Bye, Felicia
In American English, the phrase "Bye, Felicia" (actually spelled "Felisha" in the cast listing) is an informal phrase intended as a dismissive send-off, where the recipient is rendered so unimportant their name is reduced to "Felicia." The phrase ...
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Bye Felipe
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Chad (slang)
The slang term Chad originated in the United Kingdom, UK, where it was used to describe a particular humorous ad-hoc cartoon, and later in Chicago it was used as a pejorative term for young, upper-class, urban males. In modern internet slang, t ...
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Cracker (term)
Cracker, sometimes white cracker or cracka, is a racial epithet directed towards white people, used especially with regard to poor rural whites in the Southern United States. Although commonly a pejorative, it is also used in a neutral context ...
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Gammon (insult)
''Gammon'' is a pejorative popularised in British political culture since around 2012. The term refers in particular to the colour of a person's flushed face when expressing their strong opinions, as compared to the type of pork of the same ...
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OK boomer
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Trixie (slang)
Trixie is a generally derogatory slang term referring to a young urban white woman, typically single and in her 20s or early 30s. The term originated during the 1990s in Chicago, Illinois, with a popular satirical website dedicated to the Lincol ...
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Will to power
The will to power (german: der Wille zur Macht) is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The will to power describes what Nietzsche may have believed to be the main driving force in humans. However, the concept was never systematic ...
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White fragility
White defensiveness is a term to describe defensive responses by white people to discussions of societal discrimination, structural racism, and white privilege. The term has been applied to characterize the responses of white people to portrayal ...
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Internet memes introduced in 2017
Pejorative terms for white women
Stereotypes of middle class women
Stereotypes of white Americans
Slang terms for people
American slang
Misogyny
Black Lives Matter
White supremacy in the United States