“Yeah hi, I asked for hazelnut flavor whipped cream in my puppuccino and this is clearly pumpkin spice flavor. I mean, hello, it’s not even the right season for that! Another thing, this dog biscotti is definitely stale, I mean you can really tell. And also…”
Fake news! Karens are not this cute, nor do they ever smile.
I’ve never been more relieved to not be named Karen.
me, too! Btw, I’m out of it, what is the origin of the Karen thing? A sitcom character?
According to Wikipedia (sorry for the language):
“The origins of Karen as an Internet meme date back to an anonymous Reddit user, Fuck_You_Karen, who posted rants denigrating his ex-wife Karen, whom he alleged had “taken” both his children and, later, his house during divorce proceedings. The unintentional entertainment value provided by the posts led to the creation of a subreddit in 2017, r/FuckYouKaren, to both compile a narrative and share memes about the posts. Since Fuck_You_Karen deleted his account, the subreddit has since refocused to memes about the stereotype in general rather than one woman.[1]. In May of 2020, “Karen” became a viral hashtag on Twitter, accompanying tweets depicting middle-aged white women.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_(slang)
I feel bad for the perfectly nice people named Karen out there.
My sweet neighbor is named Karen. Sigh.
Incidentally (and ironically) the misogyny inherent in the origin story is conveniently overlooked.
I can understand contentious divorce, especially with how crazy American family courts are and how much of a business the divorce industry is.
But to start trashing your wife on the internet and devote a whole subreddit to it strikes me as deeply disturbing.
It seems that even decades later, Reddit is still rife with angry men with chips on their shoulders about women.
Yep. I really never liked the whole Karen meme even without knowing the origin. I notice it says he deleted his account. (I wonder if a family court judge had anything to do with that.)
Kermit and Allein, I agree about the misogyny on reddit. It’s just plain ugly.
I think that recently–and this opinion may not be based on much–the Karen meme has come to symbolize white privilege and middle/ upper-class entitlement. The recent Central Park confrontation and Mike’s use above are perfect examples.
I agree. The meme is now about white privilege and entitlement. And discourteous customers of any color or economic group who abuse service workers. I’ve met my share as a Librarian. Ran the gamete of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic group, age, knowledge and profession. They were all Karens to me.
I am truly shocked that someone can get rude even on Librarians. Before the internet era, they could help so much to get the needed information, Of all service providers to the public, Librarians are one of the nicest.
Don’t get me started. But the majority of interactions were fantastic.
There used to be entire boards on reddit full of men convinced that women and feminism were the reasons they were friendless and unloved. Totally not their sour personalities and lack of self awareness, noooope. Several of those boards formed part of the core of what came to be known as the alt right.
The boards eventually got shut down because in addition to being toxic cesspits, the users kept engaging in organized harassment campaigns that was easily traceable to them because it turns out anyone who willing identifies with such a group is a friggin moron.
Yes on all counts. Such people are also known as incels–involuntary celibates.
When I was experimenting with post divorce dating a few years ago, I came across quite a few such guys.
They start out as really nice ones, but they fall out of the role they play very quickly and it is almost visible as the suppressed anger is ramping up in them. In the end they usually want to take verbal revenge on me as if I was representing the entire womankind that treated them poorly in their deranged minds.
Also, the Karen haircut resembles Kate Gosselin’s, the mother of sextuplets and twins and star of a reality TV show. She evidently exhibits Karen-like qualities.
I agree. Much too cute to be a Karen. In fact, I would posit that no dogs can be Karens. Biologically impossible.
Wow, that haircut brings back 80s memories. Or were they from the 90s? See how hard I’ve repressed!
I had no idea about the background of the Karen memes! Yes, ugly and mysoginistic. But at the same time – very revealing as to what kind of men are out there. (Please don’t anyone think I mean ALL men.)
They are revealing themselves for what they are and I believe they are being judged negatively by other men as well. Sure, there will be some that get “permission” to be the same…but don’t you think for the most part they are looked on with disgust?
I lamely, and naively, thought “Karen” was just a run of the mill dullard who perpetually made bad or annoying decisions!!
WHERE are the ears?!🤔
Totally unaware of the whole “Karen” meme-world. Never have known any KARENS like that, but plenty of other names. And I like the word “incels” and its meaning. LOTS of those out there!
The original “Karen” meme was misogynistic and ugly, not cute. The meaning “Karen” has taken on is not only ugly, but literally life-threatening to POC. NOT CUTE. I find this post unbearably depressing and dispiriting. This is not what I come to Cutetropolis for.
It has not taken on a new meaning just because one Central Park woman has been called that. And do you really, really think that NOMTOM would have posted it with that in the back of his mind?
I find your comment unbearably depressing and dispiriting.
It’s not new. If you think Amy Cooper is the only “Karen” out there whose actions have threatened the life of a POC, you have not been paying attention to history. Mike can post anything he wants here, and I’d be the last person to accuse him of being heartless. But I don’t find the Karen meme appropriate fodder for comedy. I think this post is tone-deaf. Real lives are at stake when white women make false accusations against black men. Real livelihoods are at stake when self-important people ask to speak to the manager just because their delusions of entitlement aren’t catered to. And real POC are being killed because of racism, or haven’t you been reading the news?
I come here for positivity. Karen memes are negative. They are not cute; they are not funny. And they are, as I said above, not what I come to Cutetropolis for.
I’m well aware of what POC are going through on a daily basis, but I doubt you are as you seem to think that every one of these occasions is immediately followed by a Karen-meme. That has been going on long before that. Read up on history, you might be surprised.
Your association is yours, neither mine nor NOMTOM’s, and yes, you do actually accuse him as his association is not the same as yours.
If by history you mean since the dawn of slavery in the US, or even as recently as Emmett Till, I have read history, I am still reading history, and I am still learning. We are probably more on the same side than appears at present. I am sorry if I have caused you personal offense. I am struggling greatly with current events. But that doesn’t give me the right to make unwarranted assumptions about you. For that, I apologize sincerely.
I reject your assertion that I accused Mike of anything, except tone-deafness.
Good, let’s leave it at that and resume normal relations.
I like that plan, and with that I’m going to close comments and offer my regrets for doing something that got people riled up. See you tomorrow!
In direct answer to your question, Arne: “And do you really, really think that NOMTOM would have posted it with that in the back of his mind?”
No, I don’t think that at all. I believe the best of Mike and of everyone here. I think Mike was ignorant of the deep ugliness at the back of the “Karen” meme. Just as I am positive you are ignorant of how many “Karens” and “Beckys” have endangered the lives of black men with false accusations.
But you can remedy your ignorance. Maybe next time you’ll do that before you post thoughtless remarks about “one” woman in Central Park.
I’ve learned things from this thread and I regret the approach I used with this picture. Among other issues, I think it was lazy writing on my part. I’ll do better.
Mike, I thank you for your big heart and your open mind. I hope I wasn’t harder on you than you could bear. I love it here. It’s probably not too much to say that I love you.
Oh dear. Sorry there’s upset on our site. As I mentioned in my earlier post – I had no idea of this background. I asked a few well informed friends and they were also unaware. Perhaps it has morphed into something far more innocent than its roots. I truly thought it was a title given to someone who is particularly obtuse.
Funnily enough, this picture just came up on my facebook feed, with the caption “I wanna speak to the veterinarian.”