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Karen Would Like Your Attention Please
May. 7th, 2020 12:31 pmHow 'Karen' Became a Coronavirus Villain
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/05/coronavirus-karen-memes-reddit-twitter-carolyn-goodman/611104/
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, "Karen" has been adopted as a shorthand to call out a vocal minority of middle-aged white women who are opposed to social distancing, out of either ignorance or ruthless self-interest. It’s the latest evolution of a long-standing meme. In The New York Times last year, the writer Sarah Miller described Karens as "the policewomen of all human behavior," using the example of a suburban white woman who calls the cops on kids' pool parties. Karens have been mocked for being anti-vaccine and pro–"Can I speak to your manager?" They’re obsessed with banal consumer trends and their personal appearance, and typically criminally misguided, usually loudly and with extreme confidence.
Their defining essence is "entitlement, selfishness, a desire to complain," according to Heather Suzanne Woods, a meme researcher and professor at Kansas State University. A Karen "demands the world exist according to her standards with little regard for others, and she is willing to risk or demean others to achieve her ends."
This is a relatively short article, and it's worth reading to the end. I would say that it goes to a surprising place, but at this point I'm not actually all that surprised to learn that some of the more high-profile Karens on Twitter were manufactured by right-wing content farms.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/05/coronavirus-karen-memes-reddit-twitter-carolyn-goodman/611104/
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, "Karen" has been adopted as a shorthand to call out a vocal minority of middle-aged white women who are opposed to social distancing, out of either ignorance or ruthless self-interest. It’s the latest evolution of a long-standing meme. In The New York Times last year, the writer Sarah Miller described Karens as "the policewomen of all human behavior," using the example of a suburban white woman who calls the cops on kids' pool parties. Karens have been mocked for being anti-vaccine and pro–"Can I speak to your manager?" They’re obsessed with banal consumer trends and their personal appearance, and typically criminally misguided, usually loudly and with extreme confidence.
Their defining essence is "entitlement, selfishness, a desire to complain," according to Heather Suzanne Woods, a meme researcher and professor at Kansas State University. A Karen "demands the world exist according to her standards with little regard for others, and she is willing to risk or demean others to achieve her ends."
This is a relatively short article, and it's worth reading to the end. I would say that it goes to a surprising place, but at this point I'm not actually all that surprised to learn that some of the more high-profile Karens on Twitter were manufactured by right-wing content farms.
