Karen is my Name

Oriel, there is no reason to change your name. This site is a joke.
karenismyname.org/renamer

It gives exactly the same script and pictures for any name you put in. Its a really horrid joke.

My name has been Karen for all 66 years of my life. I have academic publications with my name on them, and all my friends and family know me as Karen, so I am not disowning my name now. I did get a lot of abuse on Twitter when I called out someone for using Karen as a term of abuse. The most frequent thing they said was "That was such a Karen thing to say..". In my peer group Karen is not a term of abuse. I have assumed it's a right-wing US term. I will not give into such abuse.
Proudly, Karen

My name IS Karen. The slur has been used against me on another social media platform.
Its disgusting and disgraceful.
It was a man from the USA , not that it matters tbh.
I won't be changing my name though.

MawBe

How ironic Oriel
I try to send a supportive PM as a Karen to somebody who objects to being classified as a opinionated middle class woman with no manners.
Abd this is what I get?
And you say you have changed your name too

Yes it is ironic MawBe... not in the way you obviously think though.

One of the main drivers of the Karens meme is to shut down white older women. Your response to to my post (which wasn't even directed at you) was dismissive and rude. Do you usually end a one line with the words 'End of'.

Are we to abandon an interesting thread because you deem it pointless? You tried to shut my thread down with your statement. If that's the extent of your 'support' then you should keep it to yourself. I didn't see your pm but I feel sure that you have nothing to say that I would be interested in reading.

Now you're adding to the Karen theme by insinuating that I am an 'opinionated middle class woman with no manners'.

What? because you were dismissive and rude to me and I called you out on it?

Jodieb

How about calling yourself Kay? Different but not to different.

I've already changed my name Jodie. I wanted to keep my initials so called myself Katherine... Kat to my friends.

I did it by Deed Poll at the Royal Courts. There's an obvious cost involved - solicitors, etc and of course new passport (I've now got a lovely blue one!), driving licence, all insurances bank accounts, etc, etc. It is very time consuming. It's surprising how many things come to light that you need to change.

As another poster who has changed their name said, there is a great relief once done. I certainly hadn't realised how badly it was affecting me.

Wasn't MawBe simply replying as a Karen that can do what you had said Karens couldn't, Oriel?

Apologies if I got that wrong, MawBe. Don't want to be second guessing.

But I do know Karens who are aware of the memes and just dismiss them

I knew a medical consultant who was male and called Tracy. I don't think he was particularly bothered by some of the comments that came his way.

Quite an interesting article here about names and reasons why they drop out of fashion.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45601442

You're perfectly entitled to change your name if you don't like it. Or what it's become to signify to a small amount of daft people. Totally your choice.

As an aside I grew up with a name that caused no end of comment, not always flattering! I stuck with it. My choice. I've got to an age now that I just laugh along with the same jokes I've heard for the last 50 odd years!

That name has always been a dirty name in our house...it's the name of the ex-wife. ??

"nanna8" you are totally wrong it started in US and the ridiculous copy cats in UK who think everything US is better, have taken it even further. Its an insult to all middle aged white women who dare to express an opinion someone else doesn't agree with.
There are lots of middle aged women of other races, what are they called if they express an opinion. I'd like to know?

Names hold many connotations for us especially if we have had a bad experience with a person with a particular name. The Karen's I have known have been perfectly nice but I had a strong predjudice against people called Linda and Katherine as I was bullied by girls with those names when I was at school. I've got over that in later years as I've met nice people with those names since, but more recently a particularly unpleasant Linda was a bully in my workplace, almost universally disliked. We started to refer to her sarcastically as 'our friend' or just by her initials, to avoid being in trouble for insulting her in our conversations.

It's very sad that people feel the need to change their name because of the generalised missuse of a name though. I changed my name when I was younger because I just didn't like it and thought it was old-fashioned but it wasn't due to abuse.

Must be living on another planet as never heard all this about the name Karen.

I always understood a 'Karen' to be the kind of woman who reported other people not following the covid rules. In fact, wasn't there a pizza chain that offered free pizzas to 'Karens' but it proved not to be popular so they had to ditch it.

If I'm right there were quite a few 'Karens' on here earlier in the year.

I'd only just made friends with the loveliest Karen when I became aware of its use in modern parlance and it upsets me everytime I hear it.

So sorry, OP.

I feel very sad that you felt you had to change your lovely name following pressure from bullies and people who waste their lives making up ridiculous labels. To me this is like letting them win. I could understand if you were called Adolf or something really strange, but not Karen. I couldn't even be bothered to read too much stuff about this issue. I am sure this is a passing, internet-type fad. I thought it was only young idiots who used this term. A boy at my school called me a Karen recently as a way of insulting me, and was told off, detention etc. He had to write me a letter of apology. No way do I fit the so-called description I read earlier. I can't believe adults are doing the same thing. Nobody intelligent would do this. I have known several people called 'Karen', all different personalities. My brother shortened his name but only because he hated the full version. People used to say things like 'He's a right Charlie!', but you don't hear that now and it is such a popular name.
As long as you feel more comfortable with your new name, that's the main thing. It's must be horrible to feel affected like this.

TwoWolves

I always understood a 'Karen' to be the kind of woman who reported other people not following the covid rules. In fact, wasn't there a pizza chain that offered free pizzas to 'Karens' but it proved not to be popular so they had to ditch it.

If I'm right there were quite a few 'Karens' on here earlier in the year.

This proves the point.

You say there were quite a few 'Karens' on Gransnet. I assume this means they were being offensive in some way?

That being the case why not call them either by their 'offence' or by their own name. Why use what was my name?

I can see that if you have lived with a name you hate, you may want to change it, and if it makes you feel good, why not?
But to change a perfectly nice name, because of all this stupid nonsense seems a bit extreme
I know Oriel, you feel really strongly about it, but it’s a lovely name, seems a shame to give in to the bullies.

MaggsMcG

"nanna8" you are totally wrong it started in US and the ridiculous copy cats in UK who think everything US is better, have taken it even further. Its an insult to all middle aged white women who dare to express an opinion someone else doesn't agree with.
There are lots of middle aged women of other races, what are they called if they express an opinion. I'd like to know?

Originally, it was used for the kind of woman who used her perceived self-importance to try and get her own way. For example, they would demand to speak to the manager when dealing with a low-ranking employee. These women were mainly white. In time, it has become a generalised form of abuse, but it's not to do with "daring" to express an opinion. It's to do with lacking tolerance and getting one's own way by pettiness and knowing the letter of the law rather than the spirit.

This is how it started:

www.vox.com/2020/2/5/21079162/karen-name-insult-meme-manager

Oriel It wasn't meant to be an insult to either you or the name - I had it in quotes. And the people I was referring to were the people who snitched on other people for not following the rules - the 'outraged', the 'sanctimonious', the 'hypocritical' and the 'morally superior'.

Sara1954

No Oriel, I did follow your link, and yes it was a bit weird to find my name used in such disgusting ways. But I don’t think I would take it seriously, I know I’m not that person, my friends and family know I’m not that person. It would be much weirder for me to change my name, it’s my name, it’s who I am.

OK, glad to see that you took the time to look at the empathy generator. At the time I answered your post you said you couldn't be bothered.

I'm somewhat confused at your conclusion though...

I can't understand why, when you saw the disgusting ways that the name Karen is used, you say you wouldn't take it seriously.

Obviously the friends and family of Karens know they're no that person but nevertheless it causes hurt and division. Do you not feel any sympathy for their situation?

You posted earlier that you think a teacher named Karen who felt compelled to change her job and her name because of the meme should have thicker skin.

The fact that someone actually changed their job as well as their name purely because of the abuse and harassment she was getting must surely give an indication of the effect it has.

Not everyone will change their name of course and it's apparent that people move in different circles, read different things. The fact that some people have never even heard of the meme is evidence of this but I would have thought most people would be horrified that some women are being affected so badly.

I don’t agree with the name “Karen” being used in this insulting way, but I do understand some of the sentiment behind it, having viewed on YouTube some of the disgusting attitudes of older white women, mainly from the USA. These women are in most cases, openly racist.

One example I can think of is a woman directing a tirade of foul mouthed abuse at a black man who had turned up in a car with a white companion and had let himself into the house next door to her with a key. It was clearly a very upper class, and presumably predominantly white, neighbourhood and she followed him round, demanding to know what he was doing there and insinuating that he had stolen the car he was driving. He turned out to be an estate agent doing a viewing of the house, which was up for sale. What ensued was horrible to watch - she was calling the police on her mobile phone even as he was attempting to explain to her that he was on legitimate business. The police turned up and both he, his companion and the car were searched before a call to the estate agency verified his identity.

I’m not trying to justify the tagging of these women as ‘Karens’ because I agree, whatever name is used, it is insulting. I think a lot of the ‘woke’ point of view and the language used is insulting to white people and is ultimately divisive. I’m sure we could find a better and more inclusive way to resolve our differences and tackle racism, but there are literally hundreds of similar incidences being reported and are there for all to see, so I can understand where it’s coming from.

TwoWolves

Oriel It wasn't meant to be an insult to either you or the name - I had it in quotes. And the people I was referring to were the people who snitched on other people for not following the rules - the 'outraged', the 'sanctimonious', the 'hypocritical' and the 'morally superior'.

If I'm right there were quite a few 'Karens' on here earlier in the year.

I don't suppose that you were intending to insult me or my name... It's OK as I have now changed my name... however...

My point is that you didn't refer to those people by their own names or by their hypocrisy, superiority, etc you called them Karens.

Why call them Karen?

I only heard about this YESTERDAY ! How silly. The only person I ever knew who had the name Karen was, as it happens, a really nasty woman but that was because she was horrible and NOT because of her name . What will they think of next ?!!

TwoWolves and Oriel...
I missed the point entirely here as I thought, "yes, lots of people called Karen on Gransnet".

Oriel
I think that teachers have probably been subjected to children laughing at their names forever, I would imagine that for most it would be water off a ducks back.
I have sympathy for anyone who is feeling threatened or bullied, all I can say is, that I personally would never consider changing my name.
I did have an unusual maiden name, and had to put up with boys making up rhymes about me, did I like it? No not particularly, but there will always be unkind and cruel people, so best just to ignore them.
I bet the people spreading this horrible Karen stuff, would find it hilarious that people are actually changing their names.

But that's absolutely not what it's used for in the UK now, as I say I have seen it used against any woman who holds a different opinion, particularly feminists who hold views on surrogacy, prostitution etc, it's just more misogyny on the internet.

It has been going on since 2011 tictacnana. It started in the States but has migrated to other countries. If you follow the link in my original post it will give you an idea of what is happening.

Because most people named Karen are middle aged to elderly the name is used to effectively silence older white women. I don't know why this should be the case but it is.

At a time when so many people are offended by so much it beggars belief that it is judged OK to abuse a section of society with impunity.