Talk:Karen (slang)

Racism

It clearly is a racist term. How can a pejorative term aimed specifically, exclusively at white women NOT be called racist? It is fascinating that the whole article does not mention this aspect even once! Someone locked the article for several months, go figure. As soon as possible, someone should modify the very first sentence to this: "Karen is a racist, pejorative term used …". If there would be an analog term for black women, lets say "Latisha", all hell would brake lose. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.238.123.82 (talk) 01:33, 13 October 2020 (UTC)

 Not done Wikipedia reports what reliable sources say; we need a reliable source calling this a racist term. —valereee (talk) 19:39, 13 October 2020 (UTC)

While the model "Karens" have been predominantly white women, it is actually better described as their behavior. It's not limited by race. Men can act like a "Karen" and so can others of different ethnicity. KyuuA4 (Talk:キュウ) 23:25, 22 November 2020 (UTC)

This is not a racist term because for one, the term "Karen" is used to describe entitled people in general. It does not limit to white women only. There could be a black man who is a Karen. I just haven't run into one yet. 168.99.101.40 (talk) 21:55, 10 December 2020 (UTC)Joann Thee Stallion

Karen is the name of an ethnic group from Burma/Myanmar. See Karen people. They are an ethnic minority with a history of conflict against the ruling dictatorship, and many are refugees. There are thousands living here in Minnesota. To make the name of their people into a slur IS racist, but not for the reason anybody is arguing, and there should be mention of them in this article. 75.73.160.251 (talk) 02:31, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Feminism?

In what way is this article/term related to feminism? If it has something to do with women, then it is not necessarily in the category of feminism. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 16AdityaG09 (talk • contribs) 04:37, 3 December 2020 (UTC) This term is neither used by feminists nor against feminists. Why is this in feminism category? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 16AdityaG09 (talk • contribs) 04:50, 3 December 2020 (UTC)

Is 'Karen' a particularly US-English term?

I've seen many women being referred to as 'Karens' on videos commentating on the 2020 US election, but I've never seen or heard the term used in the UK. This article does not suggest that use of the term is limited to the US, although from my perception it is and almost every example in the article supports this opinion.

Any views on this? A dictionary usually indicates if slang usage is restricted to a certain locale.

(I'm not aiming to edit the article, but merely highlight that it may be lacking something. I just came here looking for enlightenment!)

EdJogg (talk) 00:30, 5 December 2020 (UTC)

EdJogg, we've gone back and forth. When someone changes it to in the US, someone from Oz pipes up that it's there too. Someone else says it's in all English-speaking countries. Someone else comes in and says they've never heard it in the UK. :D It's definitely been used in AU/NZ. BBC has reported on it. But it's hard to source reliably because no one is straight-out saying "Karen is used in X, Y, and Z countries; no evidence of it has been found elsewhere." —valereee (talk) 17:21, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

Valereee – Thank you. After writing that, I did notice there was a considerable Archive of discussions which covered the same point, but it was too late by then! A casual visitor may not be aware that such Archive pages exist, but as I have now asked the same question again, it is now visible on the active Talk page again, so that's less of a problem!

EdJogg (talk) 01:00, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

by whom tags

Hey, Lovewhatyoudo, you've added those tags twice to the lead. What are you objecting to? —valereee (talk) 17:11, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

The lead should clarify (1) who use it as a general-purpose term for middle-aged white women and who depict white women who use their privilege to demand their own way. -- love.wh 01:12, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

Lovewhatyoudo, well, but it's a meme. Almost by definition that means that we can't identify any particular person who is using it. People who use memes in general are using it as a term and depicting it in ways reliable sources are talking about. I'm not sure it's actually possible to identify this in the way you're asking for. —valereee (talk) 01:29, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

A separate paragraph on who are the users of such meme is much needed. Then, we summarize that in the lead, and if such is too complicated to be summarized, the lead shall at least put it as "the meme users use it as a general-purpose term" and "the meme users depict white women...". -- love.wh 06:35, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

Lovewhatyoudo, the users of the meme are people on the the internet. It's a meme. I don't think we can use "the meme users use it", as that is pretty awkward. I'll revise to try to clarify.

Please ping when replying, I have 5000 pages on my watch, thanks! —valereee (talk) 20:35, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

Thousands of Karen refugees live in the US. They are a people.

There should be a section about the implications of the use of this term for Karen people who are actually members of the Karen ethnic minority in Myanmar, who are at odds with the ruling dictatorship, and hundreds of thousands of whom have become refugees. I teach at a middle school in Minnesota with a population of 1/4 to 1/3 Karen students. Seeing this name as a pejorative makes me cringe! I'm not very current on my slang, so I just learned of this term today. I didn't know my students were growing up hearing the name of their people used as a pejorative. Obviously no one ever intended this pejorative use of "Karen" to be a slur on the Karen minority, but I think that needs acknowledging, or at least mention in the lede. 75.73.160.251 (talk) 02:43, 29 December 2020 (UTC)