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Karen is my Name

(264 Posts)
Oriel Sun 25-Jul-21 11:46:40

I expect that most of you will be aware of the 'Karens'. The use of the name Karen as a go-to insult denoting a middle aged white woman who is ignorant, bossy, insensitive, vulgar and uncouth.

After around a year of seeing the term being used increasingly often I realised that it was having such a negative effect on me so I made the decision to change my name.

I wrote a post on Mumsnet the other day describing my situation and included a link to an Empathy Generator. You insert your own name to get an idea of how it feels to be actually called Karen and suffer constant insults.

I was unsure of the reception my post would get on Mumsnet but there were some lovely supportive comments. People were shocked at how they felt when they input their own name into the generator.

Here is the link if you wish to see it.

karenismyname.org/renamer

My reason for writing here is to find out if I am alone in changing my name for this reason? No-one on Mumsnet had changed their name or knew of anyone who had.

Oriel Tue 27-Jul-21 21:32:17

Ok Fanny, I get the drift…

I started this thread to give an account of why I felt it necessary to change my name. I asked if anyone else had done so and sadly they had.

I also wanted to give some information to show what is happening and to this end I think I achieved my goal.

I did my best.

lemongrove Tue 27-Jul-21 21:36:36

FannyCornforth

Perhaps it’s time for this thread to dwindle away?
It really has taken a turn for the worse
(Please don’t bother having a pop at me for ‘monitoring’ etc)

I certainly will.

lemongrove Tue 27-Jul-21 21:38:24

At least posters are now aware of it, even if some choose to be rather dismissive.

PembsPaul Tue 27-Jul-21 22:40:04

Pammie1…
“Antifa and BLM in my opinion are movements which have been hijacked by the left and are being used as puppets for another agenda.”

No, no, no… these movements have not been hijacked by the left at all. The far right, such as nazis (and arguably our uk govt), are fascist. Antifa means anti fascist. BLM is left wing because it opposes far right racism, in a very, very close match, I think, to opposition of the derogatory and nasty use of Karen.
People who are racist will suggest you are a Karen if you support antifa or BLM in my experience. It’s the racist way of shutting you up, if you’re a woman. I’m not sure what they would call me!

mistymitts Wed 28-Jul-21 01:41:55

The only Karen I can think of is the writer Karen Blixen and she doesn’t fit any of those stereotypes.

AgnesEve Wed 28-Jul-21 10:26:48

Lemongrove
How did your family member’s previous school respond to the work place bullying?
I can only imagine that there are many woman called Karen working in schools. I wonder if this is a widespread issue? Is this an issue in other places of work too?

Lucca Wed 28-Jul-21 11:28:18

“People who are racist will suggest you are a Karen if you support antifa or BLM in my experience.” Really ? That’s not my understanding at all. I must have it all wrong then,

AgnesEve Wed 28-Jul-21 12:21:25

From what I have seen, people use it to describe anyone they disagree with these days. Saw a thread on Twitter recently where mostly grown men were accusing each other of being ‘Karens’ based on whether they agreed with wearing face masks on public transport or not.
Ridiculous really that a Danish form of Katherine and the name of a ethnic group in Myanmar is used as an insult in mostly English speaking counties.

silverlining48 Wed 28-Jul-21 13:23:00

This is just giving oxygen to a(nother) ridiculous ‘ thing’ for us to take up, from America.
As a Karen who doesn’t use social media other than GN, I had never heard of it before reading the post, but now I have, as have many more. Perhaps the stupid ones will take it up and pass it on. I hope the majority just ignore as this deserves.

silverlining48 Wed 28-Jul-21 13:25:31

I am not implying grans are stupid, just the rest grin

lemongrove Wed 28-Jul-21 14:15:56

AgnesEve

Lemongrove
How did your family member’s previous school respond to the work place bullying?
I can only imagine that there are many woman called Karen working in schools. I wonder if this is a widespread issue? Is this an issue in other places of work too?

Hopeless, that’s how. The Headmistress was a weak character who hardly came out from behind her desk and seemed to be scared of some staff members and terrified of teenage boys!
In the end it was easier for her to find another teaching post and change her name.She’s happy now and wishes she had done it earlier.smile

Lucca Wed 28-Jul-21 14:29:56

Lemongrove I had no idea the karen thing had been around for long in the UK. I only heard if it recently.

Pammie1 Sat 31-Jul-21 10:59:33

@PembsPaul. People who are racist will suggest you are a Karen if you support antifa or BLM in my experience. It’s the racist way of shutting you up, if you’re a woman.

Not in my experience. From the videos I’ve seen on YouTube and similar, of these incidents, it’s the so-called ‘Karens’ who are the racists and the slur is being used to call them out. The word ‘racist’ also seems to be used liberally by BLM to silence anyone who expresses a different point of view, and thus shut down the debate. I don’t hold with using Karen as a put down but then I also don’t hold with the terms ‘white supremacist’ or ‘white privilege’ - whilst I understand the sentiment they are meant to express, I think they’re divisive, which is counterproductive to say the least.