Karen is my Name

Sorry Never heard of this Karen thing. Only heard of a Plain Jane. Ha Ha !! But Not funny either.

Forgot to add: I'm married to a Gordon. He's had to put up with being a moron, a gopher, a sweary chef, an expletive"Gordon Bennett".
But he is the strongest, most resilient man I know. And he's hot stuff.... !!!

I tried the link and it told me to go F myself.
A delightful link.
Stand up and be proud. I know several Karens who are all gorgeous, inside and out.

I challenged someone on Twitter about doing this, he responded in a dismissive way, no more than I expected looking at his previous post and Twitter page, nob!

@Ellie Anne. I remember that character and also ‘Tim nice but dim’. I worked with a Tim who took some stick when that was popular - he took it with good grace but admitted privately that it really pissed him off sometimes !!

I have a son called Kevin and it was fine when he was born but has become a laughing matter since. Harry Enfield s Kevin didn’t help . It doesn’t seem to bother him but I regret it now

Hi Oriel. I think you make some good points. I think the woke and ‘right on’ younger generation consider themselves better educated than us oldies, judging by some of the terminology they use. I think it’s up to everyone to call out racism wherever we see it but frankly I think that the whole issue has been ‘intellectualised’ to the point where it’s often difficult to figure out why so many of us are being regarded as racist for the most obscure reasons. I can get on board with the notion that ‘white privilege’ is not having to worry about how your race or colour affects your life but I think it could be termed in a way that’s less offensive, and I still genuinely don’t know what a white supremacist is - I associate that kind of language with the KKK, so perhaps someone could enlighten me !! I really do think that free speech is under threat - there have been some debates on TV recently where the word ‘racist’ has been used to shut down debate with anyone who has a differing opinion.

Hi Pamiell

I agree with your observations regarding BLM and Antifa. Neither are interested in dealing with the problem of black on black crime. They have their own agenda, top of the list appears to be to defund the police and disband the notion of family. The main aim to to create division where non existed before. Young against old black against white, men against women, etc, etc. Frankly, they're doing a pretty good job in achieving that!

I think there are always going to be individuals who have unacceptable racist views. People are right to call them out on it. What isn't right is that they use Karen as a catch-all for any vile behaviour. Call a racist a racist.

I don't know why my age group and sex are being accused. I certainly can't imagine old white women carrying assault rifles and going mob-handed to terrorise innocent people such as was shown on the videos I linked to above. From what I could see the mobs on those videos were exclusively young white and black men and women. Why aren't they called to account?

@kazziecookie. Not disagreeing with any of that and have said so several times.

My name is Karen and I have a blond Bob haircut and I am actually the manager of a small shop ??my friends think this is hilarious. Doesn’t really bother me what people say they are not referring to me personally and I wouldn’t consider changing my name

I am sad that some of you feel so abused, it is of course the abusers who should be ashamed and changing their behaviour.
However, I think that changing your name is up to you. I sympathise both with those who want to hold their head high and shame the abusers; and with those who feel that they don't want to put up with the abuse.

The ladies' loo in the old anarchist pub, The Lamb & Flag in Covent Garden used to have some graffiti scrawled over the usual rubbish - it said 'Come on sisters, don't we have anything better to say to each other?'

And thank you kazziecookie for sharing the story of your name.

Pammiel none of these people actually committing these horrible acts though are actually named Karen.
Central Park Karen was named Amy. Why can’t people actually call them by their own names or for what they are doing.
Sharon103 I think it is totally wrong for anybody to have their Christian name used for anything other than what it was intended for. Your name and your identity.

Oriel

Hi Kazzie, sadly your experiences mirror my own. You have my utmost sympathy.

My reason for posting on Gransnet was to find out if anyone else had changed their name and also alert people to what is actually going on. It simply cannot be right that a section of society is being abused as they are now.

I've been surprised at how many people haven't heard of it at all. I'm also surprised that some people are so dismissive. The empathy generator is absolutely reflects what Karens see regularly it is horrendous.

Do you think you'll change your name?

Thanks Oriel for getting back to me.
I absolutely hate my name at the moment (I used to really like it). I have considered just changing my name on social media as you cannot give an opinion on anything at the moment without getting the usual “oh we have a real Karen” or “Calm down Karen” the Kate Goslin meme “Karen intensifies” or their favourite “shut up Karen”
I don’t think I would go the full hog of changing it officially. My Dad and the nurses in the hospital named me 65 years ago. I was several months old when I left the hospital with my Mum as she nearly died after giving birth to me and spent the months in an oxygen tent. They are both gone now but even though at times I am tempted I personally would feel I couldn’t because of I was always their Karen.

Yes, I have heard it being subject to abuse and used as an insult, but I find it quite a pretty name. My name is Christina, but it tends to get shortened, so if I could choose a name it would be short name like Grace, Eve, Iris or Faye. Alot of long names can be nice but the abbreviations are awful. I like Alexandra, but am not keen on Alex, and I hate Lexie. I like Rebecca but not Becky, and I cannot stand Victoria being shortened to Vicky.

@Oriel. I am absolutely not disputing anything you have said - Antifa and BLM in my opinion are movements which have been hijacked by the left and are being used as puppets for another agenda. And no, it’s very far from OK to be abusive and offensive to white women. If you have a look at my original post upthread I have already said this - we need to find another way to tackle racism because so called activists are turning it on it’s head and directing racist abuse at white people - we’re being called supremacists and privileged, and even being told we should be ashamed to be white !! That’s no solution, it’s divisive and just as racist in and of itself. My biggest problem with BLM - and I’m prepared to get flamed for this - is that black lives only seem to matter if they are being taken by white policemen. There are black people killing black people in gangs in London and there is out and out gang warfare among young black males in countless US cities. Why do they not matter ? Who marches for them ?

I was simply responding to your question, based on my experience of the awful things I have seen on YouTube and if you are fair minded you have to agree that there is no excuse for this kind of racist behaviour. And to answer your last question the white racist women I refer to are being filmed by YouTubers on a regular basis all over the US - the most recent one I can think of is that of a white woman in Central Park who called the police on a black man who was doing nothing more than taking his dog for a walk. It was disgusting and all the wrong headed BLM and Antifa thinking in the world doesn’t excuse it.

cc

I can't say that I've hear people belittle others using "Karen" though I have with "Sharon".

I've been a Sharon for 66 years. I have two friends named Sharon. I've never taken any flak from anyone.
Even if I had, I'm thick skinned so it wouldn't bother me.
I know three Karen's, all lovely ladies.
I can sympathise with you though.

NotSpaghetti

Just found this really interesting piece in NY Times
www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/style/karen-name-meme-history.amp.html

There is evidence that the negative use of Karen started in 2005 - and the article also cites the use of "Miss Ann" as an earlier "coded" name. Fascinating.
There are lots of comments too if interested.

Sorry, Oriel, I know it's too late for you but they seem to think it will be gone in 10 years as the use is now too broad and non-specific.

Hi NotSpaghetti that article and the comments were fascinating.

I couldn't wait 10 years for it to disappear! Life's too short, as they say

Chewbacca. In Australia some men referred to women as Sheila or thr Sheilas but it certainly did nit have the connotations you describe when i was growing up there. It was mire used in rural areas and I recall an ad for beer fairly recently where a man holding a bottle of sherry saying “ and i havent forgotten the Sheilas” i just smiled and remembered my teen years. I was not offended!

I know two Karens. I'm also familiar with the name used as a pejorative. It has never occurred to me to link the two.

Hi Kazzie, sadly your experiences mirror my own. You have my utmost sympathy.

My reason for posting on Gransnet was to find out if anyone else had changed their name and also alert people to what is actually going on. It simply cannot be right that a section of society is being abused as they are now.

I've been surprised at how many people haven't heard of it at all. I'm also surprised that some people are so dismissive. The empathy generator is absolutely reflects what Karens see regularly it is horrendous.

Do you think you'll change your name?

Hi Oriel
Sorry I have only just seen this or I would have joined in this conversation sooner. My name is Karen from the U.K. and yes it is horrible and hurtful. It is not as bad here in the U.K. as in America but I have had some truly awful experiences of it and have been reduced to tears on many occasions.
Those on here that say we are too sensitive and should ignore it must not realise the extent of what is happening. I have nicely asked people online not to use my name as a pejorative and the responses I have had from some have been disgusting. One woman on Facebook told me to take the stick from up my backside and use it as a dildo.
For those who see the empathy generator as a joke must not realise that the memes and other things on there are actual things that I am seeing regularly. That is how bad it has got.

Just found this really interesting piece in NY Times
www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/style/karen-name-meme-history.amp.html

There is evidence that the negative use of Karen started in 2005 - and the article also cites the use of "Miss Ann" as an earlier "coded" name. Fascinating.
There are lots of comments too if interested.

Sorry, Oriel, I know it's too late for you but they seem to think it will be gone in 10 years as the use is now too broad and non-specific.

Alioop

My sister is called Karen and wait until I tell her all about this as we both had not a clue her name was being used this way, although knowing her attitude she will just think they are all a bunch of idiots. Aren't some folk so insulting, I despair at times.

I'm sorry your sister didn't know about the way her name is being used.

When I first found out (my stepson told me) I couldn't sleep and got up at 2am checked the Karen meme online. There was so much hate and abuse I was totally floored by it. By 6am I was in tears. I felt absolutely gutted.

I made a list then of potential names but waited a year before making the decision to change it. As I said earlier the factor that made my mind up was when I saw a young woman with a placard stating 'We're being kind when we say Karen what we actually mean is c*nt'.

I've gone from being terribly upset to actually being quite angry about what is going on. Can you believe there's even a film called Karen which is due for release soon. How is this allowed?

derogative not retroactive (as if?!)

and not necessarily retroactive.