The name “Karen” is used to instantly describe a female adult who acts as if she has all the right to unjustly criticize or berate a person whom she thinks needs to be put in place.
https://youtu.be/-CNrX8_P07E
Yet how was the name “Karen” chosen as the perfect name to brand a person who acts in ways that draw the ire of many netizens. Where did the idea of naming a bratty female a “Karen” to immediately mean her actions and words convey deep hatred that she expresses without care.
During the past months, video clips of several °Karens” had been going viral without fail. The moniker has been coined several years back but was revived by Amy Cooper. She is the “Central Park Karen” who tried to get an African American birdwatcher arrested just because the latter requested her to put her dog on a leash as the animal was scaring away the birds. Besides, park signs also said so.
Amy Cooper exemplifies the “Racist Karen,” who is apparently emboldened by the current political situation and by the systemic criminal injustice in the U.S.
Although the real Karens who do not fit the derogatory description have no grounds as basis for legal recourse, a well-meaning Karen who wished to remain anonymous, pointed out one thing. In calling rude and obnoxious females “Karen” instead of identifying them by their real names, they are afforded the chance to stay anonymous unless somebody recognizes them in viral posts.
That is considering the fact that acts of racism is a misdeamenor subject to legal punishment as stated by “The Racial Discrimination Act.” Such acts include making offensive, insulting, humiliating or intimidating statements or remarks directed to a person or group of persons belonging to a non-white race, which were uttered simply out of hatred.
That is why some “Racist Karens” have been arrested, while some others like Amy Cooper, had been fired by her employer.
What or Who Started Branding Unpleasant Females as Karen?
Many female American citizens before have attracted attention for showing unjust animosity toward non-white U.S. citizens, some were being called by other names, e.g. Becky, Patti, Gail and Caroline. Yet the name that stood out and stuck was °Karen.”
There are two situations with which the origin of “Karen” is being attributed.
One is the storyline that stand-up comedian Dane Cook used in one of his 2005 comedy routines. Cook told of how every social circle has a Karen, whom he described as “a bag of do-che.” That when Karen is not present in a gathering, everyone agrees that Karen is such a “do-che bag.”
The second situation is that of a Reddit forum user, who revived the Karen name in 2017 when he complained about his ex-wife whom he said goes by the name of Karen. The Reddit user had ranted that his ex-wife Karen was able to gain possession of the family home, since she the court had awarded her custody of their children.
Still, the Karen meme attained widespread popularity across the Internet when in the same year, a group created the “r/FuckYouKaren” subreddit. The website “Know Your Meme” said the subreddit page specifically stated that the discussions are “dedicated to the hatred of Karen.”