Karen
The name Karen was a common name for a girl. It reached its peak in popularity in the 1960s where it was the 4th most popular name in America. In 2020, there was a drastic decrease in the number of babies named Karen. A dramatic decrease in baby names has happened before. Since 2005, the name Katrina went from a popular name (446th) to a very rare one (942nd in 2012) after the devastating hurricane of the same name ripped through Southern USA. The name Isis also lost popularity when the terrorist group became a problem. So, why is Karen an unpopular name now?
The name Karen is a term to describe a middle-aged white woman who is entitled and demands special treatment. It can also refer to a middle-aged white woman who uses her privilege to get her own way or mistreat others. The statement, “Let me speak to your manager!” is closely associated with Karen and is a good example of Karen behavior. Karen is often depicted with the bob haircut (as pictured). However, the term Karen has also been applied to men, black people and even the former president of the United States.
There is actually a history of labeling this type entitled and privileged white woman in American culture. In the Antebellum era, she was referred to as Miss Ann. In the 1990s, she was called Becky. The first use of Karen to describe this type of woman may have come from Mean Girls (2004) or Dane Cook’s comedy sketch, The Friend Nobody Likes (2005). In December 2017, the Karen meme was born. The first instance was written by karmacop9 who was talking about his ex-wife, Karen. Once the internet had a label to place on the behavior, the Karen meme took off (increased in popularity).
This past week I was preparing some lessons for the upcoming teacher training session. I was looking up racist terms (check out my website to see the project I am working on: http://www.esltoybox.com/category/people-library). Anyways, Wikipedia lists Karen as a racist term. I asked some coworkers how they felt about that as it is a newer pejorative (mean word). Many of them did not agree that it is a racist term. I think the hesitation comes from the idea of reverse racism. Karen is seen as the oppressor, so she is the one being racist and not the other way around. But if we look at most definitions of Karen, it is specifically a white middle-aged woman. People have already called out (accused) the phrase of being sexist and ageist, so why is it not racist?
But I want to hear from you. Do you think that the label, Karen, is racist?
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Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_(pejorative)
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/apr/13/the-karen-meme-is-everywhere-and-it-has-become-mired-in-sexism
https://theconversation.com/how-karen-went-from-a-popular-baby-name-to-a-stand-in-for-white-entitlement-139644
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/karen-baby-name-2020_l_60af11dde4b0a256831bce5e
https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/names1960s.html
https://babynames.com/name/katrina
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs