Is Karen considered a racial slur?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Yes. It is directed at one race in particular.

+1. This is an awful slur that is for some reason tolerated. I appreciate that teacher shutting it down.

This is a bit dramatic, and honestly exactly the reason people use it to describe a certain kind of person. It's on the level of calling someone a busy body. Calling it a slur is disrespectful to the experience of people who actually get slurs lobbed at them, and is typical centering behavior of exactly the kind of person who gets called a Karen.

I view “Karen” as a way to silence women. Particularly middle aged, white women. So maybe you don’t think it’s a slur, but I do.

I agree I have seen people called Karen's who are awful people and deserve to be called out. But they should be called out for the specific behavior they are doing. If they are being racist, then call her a racist. But Karen has become a generalized term used when a white woman speaks up. Even if they're just speaking up because they need to speak up for that moment. Not because the racist or doing anything harmful

I've seen videos of people calling somebody a Karen when a white woman is doing some thing awful but I've also seen videos of people calling somebody a Karen when she simply speaking up for herself, or in some cases, speaking up for others. It has become a generalized term to silence white women we got too "uppity" for some, and they need to silence us

“Uppity”? Is that the new word for entitled and abusive?

Nope. It the word people use when you stand up for yourself or others and the people you are calling out don't like it.

I used "uppity" uppity thread -- er, up thread -- and I was using it sarcastically because it was once used to describe POC who demanded to be treated well. Same applies to white middle aged women, who should know they have been erased and no longer have the same privilege they had when they were young and attractive.

The term "Karen" only works when the person seems absurd. It's absurd for these valueless women to think anyone cares about their outrage, or thinks they have any power to change it. That's what's offensive about it -- that these women are seen as blank, and they're the last to know it.

I'm not talking about the woman who called the police about the black birder in Central Park. That's not being a Karen. Not sure what that is.....

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Yes. It is directed at one race in particular.

+1. This is an awful slur that is for some reason tolerated. I appreciate that teacher shutting it down.

This is a bit dramatic, and honestly exactly the reason people use it to describe a certain kind of person. It's on the level of calling someone a busy body. Calling it a slur is disrespectful to the experience of people who actually get slurs lobbed at them, and is typical centering behavior of exactly the kind of person who gets called a Karen.

I view “Karen” as a way to silence women. Particularly middle aged, white women. So maybe you don’t think it’s a slur, but I do.

I agree I have seen people called Karen's who are awful people and deserve to be called out. But they should be called out for the specific behavior they are doing. If they are being racist, then call her a racist. But Karen has become a generalized term used when a white woman speaks up. Even if they're just speaking up because they need to speak up for that moment. Not because the racist or doing anything harmful

I've seen videos of people calling somebody a Karen when a white woman is doing some thing awful but I've also seen videos of people calling somebody a Karen when she simply speaking up for herself, or in some cases, speaking up for others. It has become a generalized term to silence white women we got too "uppity" for some, and they need to silence us

“Uppity”? Is that the new word for entitled and abusive?

Nope. It the word people use when you stand up for yourself or others and the people you are calling out don't like it.

I used "uppity" uppity thread -- er, up thread -- and I was using it sarcastically because it was once used to describe POC who demanded to be treated well. Same applies to white middle aged women, who should know they have been erased and no longer have the same privilege they had when they were young and attractive.

The term "Karen" only works when the person seems absurd. It's absurd for these valueless women to think anyone cares about their outrage, or thinks they have any power to change it. That's what's offensive about it -- that these women are seen as blank, and they're the last to know it.

I'm not talking about the woman who called the police about the black birder in Central Park. That's not being a Karen. Not sure what that is.....

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many people ignore middle-age white women, some micro-aggress, and some are openly hostile. In my experience, it is mostly women of other races who are the most hostile.

These experiences happen to me weekly. But, it's taboo to speak of bc I'm not allowed to say that a black woman was rude to me, possibly just because of my race/age/gender because "I want so badly to be oppressed" or whatever that other pp said.

So, I just ignore it. But, it does happen regularly enough that I dread going certain places and doing certain things because I know that I will be treated poorly.

When I lived in DC, I found black women in customer service positions were typically rude to me (at the time, a relatively attractive, younger white woman). I dont' know if I oozed privilege... maybe? I don't think, at all, that I could come across as a jerk. I think about that sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A Karen is someone who is entitled and a biatch. She can be any race really. There are non-white women who are Karens, trust me .....

I was standing in line at the Dollar Store during COVID when they were only letting a few people in at a time. A Black Karen got fed up and went to the front of the line and demanded to know what the hold up was, and to speak to a manager. So yes, every race and every rung of the socioeconomic ladder. But no one called her a Karen. Just an amusing kook with less patience than the rest of us.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Many people ignore middle-age white women, some micro-aggress, and some are openly hostile. In my experience, it is mostly women of other races who are the most hostile.

These experiences happen to me weekly. But, it's taboo to speak of bc I'm not allowed to say that a black woman was rude to me, possibly just because of my race/age/gender because "I want so badly to be oppressed" or whatever that other pp said.

So, I just ignore it. But, it does happen regularly enough that I dread going certain places and doing certain things because I know that I will be treated poorly.

When I lived in DC, I found black women in customer service positions were typically rude to me (at the time, a relatively attractive, younger white woman). I dont' know if I oozed privilege... maybe? I don't think, at all, that I could come across as a jerk. I think about that sometimes.

This definitely happens. It doesn't matter how nice I am.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:A Karen is someone who is entitled and a biatch. She can be any race really. There are non-white women who are Karens, trust me .....

I was standing in line at the Dollar Store during COVID when they were only letting a few people in at a time. A Black Karen got fed up and went to the front of the line and demanded to know what the hold up was, and to speak to a manager. So yes, every race and every rung of the socioeconomic ladder. But no one called her a Karen. Just an amusing kook with less patience than the rest of us.

How is this being a Karen? If it takes you an exceptionally long time to get service at a store and you want to know what the hold up is?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I hate the term Karen, but the way the word "entitled" has come to be used bothers me more. The connotation of that word is negative, usually used when someone thinks they deserve special privileges or treatment for no reason. Acting as of you are deserving of special treatment is entitled and annoying.

Asking for the food you ordered, for basic rules to be observed (like quiet hours or no smoking at a hotel), or to not have someone screaming in your face is not entitled.

It's funny to me that people hate Karens who complain about rules that apply to everyone being broken. Isn't it more entitled to think the rules don't apply to you?

The lording over people is the entitlement bit. You have designated yourself hall monitor to tell others what to do.

Exactly. It's a perceived sense of power that they get some sick joy out of lording over everyone. For example, the biddies in my neighborhood currently up in arms over a few kids selling cold water at the park. How is it hurting you? Why can't you keep your nose in your own business?

Society was better when we all had our noses in each other's business. Have you seen the documentary about the Harlem Renaissance? Someone said, if I put a piece of gum in my mouth and dropped the wrapper on the ground, my mother would know about it by the time I got home. Now no one is allowed to say anything. We're all forced to live with trash if someone else decides to put their trash on the ground, because we're afraid of each other. Sad IMO, not better at all.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I’m a middle aged white woman and do not consider it a racial slur. Karens are busybodies and misdemeanor vigilantes against minorities. Not sure why other middle age women want to defend this behavior and label it racist?

When did this become part of the Karen stereotype? I’m a middle aged white woman and when I first started hearing the term, I took it as a light hearted stereotype of a certain type of demanding woman. It always seemed as if the term were meant to be comical and not taken too seriously. All of a sudden it morphed into something much more sinister. That Karen was a racist who went after minorities. This wasn’t part of the original use was it?

It’s not a demanding woman. It is a woman asserting her privilege(many times it’s white woman privilege) and putting others around her in their place. It’s the contempt and distain for anyone who they view as lesser(which is everyone).

*disdain

Why attach a common name to this? Because it is an easy way to denigrate middle-aged women who simply don’t matter anymore. Why can’t you see this?

Dp. They can’t see it because they are too ingrained in a system that diminishes women, while denying it’s happening. Kinda like systemic racism.. systemic misogyny is alive and well, but apparently more tolerated by DCUM.

Please if you don’t matter and are displaced why are you comfortable acting like you have special privileges vs everyone else? People are not calling a random white woman “Karen”. They are calling out the(usually) white, upper class woman who is going out of her way to enforce her privilege and entitlement.

Exactly. It’s about the bad behavior.

Then use a word describing the behavior. How hard is this?

There isn’t a word for that specific behavior.

Oh please. That’s just stupid. There are 600,000 words in the English language. If you can’t come up with anything other than “Karen”, you’re just not very bright.

I can make something up but the point was the word doesn’t exist today.

“ call the manager ” is too long.

Wow so disparaging women is just easier than using three words, so why not do it. You people have really bought in to your misogyny. It’s startling.

Oh no, are you going to call the manager?

See - it’s just too awkward and doesn’t work in all scenarios.

It’s not misogyny. It’s not racism. It’s calling out bad behavior.

Again, use your words. Pick some of the 600,000 words. Don’t use someone’s name.

Except you won’t, because you are in fact referring to an entire population of middle aged, white women who you think it’s ok to disparage. This is both misogyny and racism and the fact that you can’t see it, means you’ve bought into the system.

No, I can use wherever words I want to use to describe the bad behavior. It’s neither misogyny or racism. All middle-aged, white women don’t act this way. It’s not referring to the entire population FFS.

Not all whites are crackers but that doesn't make the word "cracker" less racist.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I hate the term Karen, but the way the word "entitled" has come to be used bothers me more. The connotation of that word is negative, usually used when someone thinks they deserve special privileges or treatment for no reason. Acting as of you are deserving of special treatment is entitled and annoying.

Asking for the food you ordered, for basic rules to be observed (like quiet hours or no smoking at a hotel), or to not have someone screaming in your face is not entitled.

It's funny to me that people hate Karens who complain about rules that apply to everyone being broken. Isn't it more entitled to think the rules don't apply to you?

The lording over people is the entitlement bit. You have designated yourself hall monitor to tell others what to do.

Doesn't that depend on the situation? If you are in a hotel with your kids trying to sleep and the person next to you is partying loudly at 3 a.m., you actually are entitled to quiet, and the people partying are not. If you ask for quiet, either directly or by calling the front desk, does that make you a Karen?

No it doesn't. People are conveniently choosing nonexamples.

Karen behavior:
- complaining about a server's accent and demanding to speak to the manager

- asking the young black man in your apartment lobby for his ID and proof he belongs there

- calling the cops on people using a grill

- screaming and acting a fool because a black man asked you to leash your dog

- taking full credit for work you had help with, or passing the blame to the young black woman on your team

All of those things are just racist and/or entitled. Just call that behavior racist or entitled. We already have words for this.

Here are things that get middle aged white women called Karen:

- complaining that a server brought you the wrong food or charged the wrong amount, asking to speak to the manager when the server ignores her complaint

- asking the building manager to address the fact that the lobby door is regularly propped open so that anyone may enter the building without a key code or being buzzed in

- calling the cops when she hears gun fire and shouting in the alley behind her home

- calling for help when a group of young men attempt to force you off a rental bike you paid for, claiming it belongs to one of them

- complaining about other people in your workplace taking credit for your work or taking over projects you spearheaded

Most middle aged white women have very little wealth or power — most of us are not rich, are divorced or ignored/neglected by our white husbands, have spent years raising kids without credit or thanks, and compromised careers for the benefit of our families, leaving us without status in an aspect of our lives. And then when we attempt to assert ourselves in ANY way, we are told we are annoying, entitled, or now, racist.

Society has been trying to ice floe women over the age of 40 for a long time. Karen is just another attempt.

[Anonymous]

In a school setting, in my experience, it is generally used by boys to silence girls for standing up for themselves or for reporting a problem to an adult. It doesn’t matter if the problem is legitimate nor does it matter how the girl handles the situation. Parents, please stop helping to perpetuate this name-calling.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I hate the term Karen, but the way the word "entitled" has come to be used bothers me more. The connotation of that word is negative, usually used when someone thinks they deserve special privileges or treatment for no reason. Acting as of you are deserving of special treatment is entitled and annoying.

Asking for the food you ordered, for basic rules to be observed (like quiet hours or no smoking at a hotel), or to not have someone screaming in your face is not entitled.

It's funny to me that people hate Karens who complain about rules that apply to everyone being broken. Isn't it more entitled to think the rules don't apply to you?

The lording over people is the entitlement bit. You have designated yourself hall monitor to tell others what to do.

Doesn't that depend on the situation? If you are in a hotel with your kids trying to sleep and the person next to you is partying loudly at 3 a.m., you actually are entitled to quiet, and the people partying are not. If you ask for quiet, either directly or by calling the front desk, does that make you a Karen?

You can ask them nicely to be quieter or call the front desk and nicely ask them to help.

That goes for all skin tones and genders.

If someone is keeping me awake until 3am because of their loud partying at a hotel that I am also paying to stay it, I will not be nice.

Perfect example of a Karen. We don’t know your age, gender, or race. Just your attitude and self-professed likely behavior.

That's not an example of a karen, you dunce. That's an example of someone who stays in a hotel. Period.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:All this fuss makes me want to use it more. Maybe if more white women feel the oppression they are both perpetrators and victims of, they'll stop aligning themselves with white supremacy and actually help us dismantle it.

White women will just report you to the manager for your micro aggressions and perhaps call the police on you if you escalate. What comes around goes around. Hope you don't get caught doing it at work.

I'm not dumb enough to think white women are my friends, at work or otherwise. Beware of the Karens is potentially life saving advice I will continue to give my kids. Those ladies may seem nice enough, but crossing them could get you killed. Learn to identify and avoid.

WOW the blatant racism in your post is disgusting. I'm not white BTW

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Yes. It's only used with regard to white women. If its not racist, please let me know what I can call a similarly situated black, hispanic, asian, etc. woman.

It's not racist, and you can call them Karen if they're being a Karen. You can even call a dude Karen. Everyone will understand what you mean. Can we get back to real problems now?

+1

Ok, just to be clear, you are all for racist stereotyping. And it is ok as long as it is an unsympathetic group of people you are targeting. All those middle-aged white women deserve to be disparaged as a group.

The people who disparage blacks, asians and jews also think those groups deserve it. They think their opinions of them are correct. Just FYI.

[Anonymous]

It's a sexist term, not a racial one.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I hate the term Karen, but the way the word "entitled" has come to be used bothers me more. The connotation of that word is negative, usually used when someone thinks they deserve special privileges or treatment for no reason. Acting as of you are deserving of special treatment is entitled and annoying.

Asking for the food you ordered, for basic rules to be observed (like quiet hours or no smoking at a hotel), or to not have someone screaming in your face is not entitled.

It's funny to me that people hate Karens who complain about rules that apply to everyone being broken. Isn't it more entitled to think the rules don't apply to you?

The lording over people is the entitlement bit. You have designated yourself hall monitor to tell others what to do.

Exactly. It's a perceived sense of power that they get some sick joy out of lording over everyone. For example, the biddies in my neighborhood currently up in arms over a few kids selling cold water at the park. How is it hurting you? Why can't you keep your nose in your own business?

How do you know what their business is? Maybe they had to buy permits to sell water and these kids are doing it without the permit thus hurting their business? It's not just a few sweet kids doing no harm. If it's a permit issue why are they entitled to sell water with out a permit?

What are the chances they are actually affected by a few kids selling waters? They aren't. Yet you justify their behavior. THIS is white entitlement and this is why people chafe at it. Just mind your own damn business! The days of you being the ultimate authority are over, no matter how loudly you screech about it.

Oh I see. Entitlement only applies to some. The kids weren't being entitled by operating outside the law? Do laws not apply to all? The women were obviously minding their own business until this came along. I reject your lawless society.

You better call the manager, Karen.

Why not? I'm calling out the bad behavior of others. It's allowed.

Sure, do what you want. Keep throwing around that white privilege Karen. Show em who's boss!

The privilege is acting like the laws don't apply to you.