this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2025
123 points (94.2% liked)

chat

8412 readers
332 users here now

Chat is a text only community for casual conversation, please keep shitposting to the absolute minimum. This is intended to be a separate space from c/chapotraphouse or the daily megathread. Chat does this by being a long-form community where topics will remain from day to day unlike the megathread, and it is distinct from c/chapotraphouse in that we ask you to engage in this community in a genuine way. Please keep shitposting, bits, and irony to a minimum.

As with all communities posts need to abide by the code of conduct, additionally moderators will remove any posts or comments deemed to be inappropriate.

Thank you and happy chatting!

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
EmmaGoldman@hexbear.net
ZoomeristLeninist@hexbear.net
SexUnderSocialism@hexbear.net
Sulvy@hexbear.net
123
It's wild how "Karen" started out as calling out racism and now it's just a way for sexist people to shame women for not performing gender roles. (hexbear.net)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net to c/chat@hexbear.net
67 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Good women are young, quiet, have pretty long hair (never dyed a unnatural colour though!) and never speak up about being mistreated, ever. You want to complain about a genuine problem? Sorry, you're a Karen. Ask people to social distance? Karen. Nicely tell people to please be quiet during a movie? Karen. Ripped off by corporate greed and want a refund? Karen.

Be silent, be feminine and behave, woman.

It sucks because it actually used to describe real harrassment that black service workers experience. Now it's just "Mouthy mom aged women with short dyed hair"

I've even seen a male black service worker be called a "male Karen" I shit you not.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Bruja@hexbear.net 12 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

People were absolutely using “Karen” amongst a few other names for the entitled white woman stereotype, but the catalyst for standardising “Karen” was specifically about the racist Central Park Karen video viral. Around that time and George Floyd and BLM summer riots. The peak “Karen” was about BLM against racist white women. And it has since been watered down like a lot of the energy of the summer of 2020.

As this graph shows, “Karen haircut” peaked during the 2020 summer of BLM.

[–] Sinisterium@hexbear.net 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I remember the “good karen” video where a girl just flipped off a bunch of police officers.

It was truly a time where everyone in america was anti-pig. Imagine if the bernards actually did something with it.

[–] Wheaties@hexbear.net 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I could have sworn it was being thrown around earlier than that. Like, around 2014 or 15

[–] Carcharodonna@hexbear.net 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Yeah, it came from a meme about the Nintendo Switch reveal ad which came out in 2016.

EDIT: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nintendo-switch-karen