Calling white middle-aged women Karen is a ‘borderline racist, sexist and ageist slur’, employment tribunal told
https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk/calling-white-women-karen-racist-ageist/
Posted by tylerthe-theatre
Calling white middle-aged women Karen is a ‘borderline racist, sexist and ageist slur’, employment tribunal told
https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk/calling-white-women-karen-racist-ageist/
Posted by tylerthe-theatre
36 Comments
It definitely *can* be one. I’ve seen it used against women making perfectly reasonable requests like telling people to keep the noise down when they’re blasting music at 02:00
Can’t everyone be a Karen, no matter the age, race etc?
Isn’t it applied to someone because of their behaviour, rather than immutable characteristics? I call my friend a karen all the time when he’s being one.
I personally don’t understand why it exists as a word anymore. Originally it referred to a “can I speak to your manager” type of person, irrespective of gender, yet now everyone uses it as a generalised slur against any woman they disagree with.
Just use the word “bitch”. We all know that’s what you’re doing anyway. At least own your misogyny like a man.
Maybe you shouldn’t call someone you work with Karen. That is rude and inappropriate
It was a real shitty thing to do to actual Karen’s, but you never know when these things are going to catch on. Hope it’s just a generational slang that’s gone in my lifetime.
We just go back to calling people who are behaving like Karens what we used to call them, self absorbed entitled brats who never grew up
Yeah reddit and twitter do take great delight in these kind of stereotypes. I think there’s a belief they are ‘punching up’ but quite often it seems they are just punching.
Nonsense! I used to call my middle-aged white boss Karen all the time, and she was totally fine with it.
I guess it helped that her actual name was Karen, but idk
Maybe just stop using derogatory terms for your coworkers? If someone is doing something wrong, complain about the thing they are doing wrong rather than using a slur against them.
Slurs against protected characteristics are particularly bad, but slurs against other characteristics are not acceptable either.
Little girls born in the 60s and 70s were probably the first ones to be encouraged to stand up for themselves and to be unafraid to speak out. The problem is that now we’re menopausal and irrationally angry.
Knew a Karen who had to change her name in her 40s she was
Karen just means cunt, but no one wants to admit it.
If the only reason they’re being called a Karen is because they’re white and middle ages then yeah, it’s definitely a slur
It’s fucking stupid is what it is
Dismissing anyone even slightly older as Karen or boomer whom you don’t agree with for whatever reason is really stupid
It’s the same thing as calling people nazis – there are absolutely people who are deserving of this slur based on the fascist, xenophobic, misogynistic shit that comes from their mouths. But if you call someone a Nazi because they don’t think Rachel Zegler made a good Snow White then it kind of cheapens the meaning of it
As the accused Bullies in this case, we want to state that calling Bullies “bullies” is the real crime.
I do think that the term has definitely been used against middle aged women
A slur is about intent and if you’re purposefully using a word to associate negative traits and characteristics with a specific race/ethnic background/gender then I could easily see the argument for it being racist/sexist. Afaik it originated in the US aimed at supposedly obnoxious middle-aged White American women but it’s use apparently got broadened at some point. It’s original use was definitely aimed at a specific race and gender though.
I stopped at starbucks once with my son and after a long wait after paying ( they were serving all the drive through people first ) they gave me the wrong coffee . I looked in it and told him and he said dont be a karen just drink it so i didnt complain . This is a thing .
I call my ex one and she’s thai, but has all the characteristics of “Karen” behaviour (her having a 30 minute meltdown in a ‘spoons after erroneously thinking she’d been shortchanged £1 was classic example) there’s also ‘Ken’ (IIRC) naming convention for blokes showing the same entitled speak-tomanager behaviour
Yep, same as Boomer. Just become an ageist slur now.
It’s the opposite way around – suggesting an entire age group, gender or race behaves like a Karen would be racist sexist and ageist.
I always felt it described a behaviour, rather than a specific race or gender. The ageist bit is the only one that holds water, imo, since it isn’t something I’d apply to overly entitled teenagers
Do you know how many black/asian women also get called Karen? Call it a slur if you want, but to call it racist is stupid beyond belief
Hypothetical if the term is classed as a “racist, sexist and ageist slur” and i called a women a karen but she is in fact being an aggressive ignorant and argumentive individual
Would it still be illegal?
Like the word karen is used based on a descriptive specific type of individual (normally an ignorant argumentive middle age woman)
Anyone slagging people off using the terms “Karen” or “boomer” gets filed in the petulant toddler section for me
Isnt the same as an uncle tom? Has an origin related to a certain demographic but is now used to describe behavior.
When Karen first became popular it was designed to be used for a very specific type of behaviour committed by very specific stereotype of women. However, I’ve now seen people use it against any and all women who dare to have a differing opinion. It’s definitely morphed and has become just another buzzword that has lost all meaning and relevance.
Just call out the behaviour specifically, no need to rag on huge groups of people unnecessarily.
Having worked in retail, I noticed years ago that a certain type of middle aged middle class woman where the very worst type of customer. Always complaining about petty unreasonable shit which was completely beyond your control. Always taking the piss when it can to policies on discounts or returns and ranting and raving when you wouldn’t make exceptions for them.
This was in the early 2000s. So the ‘Karen’ phenomenon is real and nothing new. They just gave it a name.
This is great coz feeling victimised and demanding compensations for a minor insult its absolute textbook Karen behaviour.
I think people need to wake up to the fact that any slur based on race, age or sex of ANY kind is unacceptable.
Be more intelligent if someone is being a arsehole then call them out on their behaviour. If the person calling someone a Karen is an entitled little shit then they need to be held to account too.
I’ve always thought ‘Karen’ accusations are another great way to silence women. 😬
Calling Karens plain crazy might come out a bit rude, it is best we stick with Karen.
Or, Undiagnosed Autism in Menopausal women expresses as Anxiety and OCD leading to a need for adhering to protective rituals and (self-imposed?) rules and public meltdowns when these are not recognised by others.
More kindness and medical support might help.
The term definitely gets misused against people just standing up for themselves, but at its core it’s about entitled behavior, not demographics. My buddy gets called a Karen when he pulls that nonsense too.