The danger of the term “Karen”
The name “Karen” has gained popularity on social media as a slang term to describe a white woman displaying acts of racism, entitlement and/or privilege. The “Karen” attitude is perceived to have extended from the original “Can I speak to your manager?” meme; a joke on the internet in relation to a particular subset of the population that feel entitled to escalate an issue until they secure the resolution they desire. The name itself stems from the film “Mean Girls” wherein the character Karen asks another character “So if you are from Africa, why are you white?”
Examples of “Karen’s” on social media include women who did not believe in the coronavirus and refused to wear masks in supermarkets or abide by social distancing. Other examples are anti-vaxxers or those that call the police whenever there is a person of colour walking in their neighbourhood at night. These are typically cis-gendered, straight, privileged women.
“Karen” shows people how not to act and can be insightful to a degree. However, in the Twitter and Reddit universe in particular, “Karen” has now become synonymous with “B*tch”.
But, this is a slippery slope. As illustrated by a BBC interview (since taken down); the interviewer asked two white women “What should Karens’ do during the #BlackLivesMatter movement?” Both responses implied that “Karens should just shut up and not talk!”
Whilst the majority of those identifying as female will not be acting in a way that is inherently “Karen”, this term is thrown around freely nowadays and there is a risk that anyone sharing an unfavourable opinion could be labelled as a “Karen”. It falls into favour with constructs such as “mansplaining” and describing women as “being too emotional”. However, “Karen” does not only reside under patriarchal influence. Women are now adopting this term and this sets a dangerous precedent. This Buzzfeed feature illustrates the extent of the hatred and vitriol towards “Karens” and its mainstream use in social media. “Karen” is no longer a joke but a threat towards women everywhere.
“We have created a word that provides people with the power to stop women talking. We have effectively gone backwards in our fight for equality.”
“Kyle”, a male equivalent of “Karen” emerged in 2015, depicting an aggressive, white teenage male that wears too much Lynx body spray, punches drywall when angry and drinks energy drinks all day. However, perhaps due to locker room culture and because it may be easier to make a target of “emotional women”, it has not become as popular as “Karen” and does not carry the same weight in shutting someone down in alternative viewpoints.
Stereotypes are never positive; they are everything we are working away from as Diversity Champions in the workplace.
“Karen” emerged to remind us of, and to illustrate, poor behaviour and illogical actions; there is no doubt that racist and entitled behaviour is unwanted. However, there is a risk of typecasting all women, white middle-class women in particular, to that same effect.
We should strive to highlight the bias and errors in people’s logic without relying on a misogynistic term that can be used to shut down women everywhere.
As always, there is a need to educate individuals and seek to avoid typecasting an entire sub-group. We need to stop using the word “Karen” as an acceptable insult, and return it back to those of whom it is their birth name and nothing more.