A week ago, I didn’t know what a ‘Karen’ was. Today I can’t stop seeing Karens everywhere I look. It’s like that moment in They Live! when Nada puts on the glasses for the first time.
The problem now is I can’t take the glasses off.
And I’m not the only one. In recent weeks the failed Karen meme of a few years ago has returned with a vengeance as people realize just how much damage Karens have done to our society.
A Karen is a person, usually a woman, who is never satisfied with the service she’s receiving and demands to talk to the manager. It doesn’t matter if Karen’s complaints are valid or not.
This is because Karen has been incentivized by cowardly corporate officers and government officials (but, I repeat myself) to get something she doesn’t deserve simply because they want her to shut up and not disturb everyone else.
It was one thing to indulge Karen her entitled behavior when she was getting a free order of fries or month of cable. It’s quite another when Karens become the State’s target audience for public policy.
Karens, at heart, are simply spoiled children who have never had boundaries properly set. A little power creates a self-reinforcing feedback loop.
Progressives are the ultimate Karens, never satisfied with having moved society in a terrible direction through their constant complaining. Never once do they self-reflect that maybe they’ve been wrong and all of their demands have made things materially worse rather than us not having indulged them enough.
Progressives are the worst winners I’ve ever met. They’ve won every political battle of note for the past 100+ years and are still whining in their lattes about us electing Trump, whose presidency they’ve destroyed with their incessant Karen-isms and his inherent weakness.
So is is any surprise that we’ve reached a point where the government is more worried about keeping the Karens from complaining than actually governing effectively?
And when we really look at how we’ve responded to COVID-19 it’s clear that the people behind the lock down of hundreds of millions of people knew they would have an army of Karens screaming on Twitter to ‘flatten the curve’ and quote bogus statistics they don’t understand from official smart people to justify giving full flower to their inner harpy.
You know who I’m talking about. These are the suburban women ratting out their neighbors for not social distancing, for *gasp* walking their dog or *gasp gasp* letting their kids play in the yard!
And that has enabled the worst people in the world to destroy the global economy because a bunch of frightened Karens can’t cope with the stress of living. The State cannot have people engaging in peaceful noncompliance with their edicts.
Karen-ness is a mental disorder. It’s the horrific admixture of narcissism, self-importance and solipsism which can only come from being encouraged to act badly thanks to cowardice. It leads to treating everyone else like they exist only to serve them.
Karens used to be a joke at best. They used to be Veruka Salt in Willy Wonka or the starting point of a female lead in a rom-com.
Now they run the world.
Karens are proto-Brown Shirts. They are the ultimate useful idiots of the Elite and they are destroying the world we live in. Because they are happiest when the State does something. They have no boundaries at home, so they welcome any time the State gives them what they want and then use that to bludgeon everyone else into line.
And the worst part is in this new age of gender fluidity, Karens are now found in both sexes. As guys who should know better join in the chorus of complaining about everything they don’t like.
It’s the worst in genre fandom, FYI. All you Cheeto-dusted message board warriors sitting on your gaming thrones bitching about Star Wars or Marvel are simply Karens with doobs (Dude Boobs) because you feel entitled a particular story to fill your pathetic lives with meaning.
And then when you don’t get them you want someone fired.
Sound familiar?
In truth, if you were real men you’d grow up and spend that time acquiring skills to become a man worthy of allaying the fears of all the Karens you say are destroying your favorite stories….
RTWT AT Tom Luongo’s We Have Become Karen Nation – Gold Goats ‘n Guns
HT: ghostsnipr
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
I realized that there is actually a *song* about Karens…
“There’s a lady who’s sure
All that glitters is gold
And she’s buying a stairway to Heaven
When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN120kCiVyQ
“if that chick don’t want to know, forget her.”
Picking right up on that , David.
It’s not boys that we need, rabbit, it’s MEN!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-m-xZ4gz4MM
Bunny, think Audie Murphy
and ww2
As a former retail monkey (Seattle!) I have had my fill of karens. BION, there are just about as many male karens in Seattle as female ones. They’re wretches and no amount of push back you can give will be as effective in destroying them as their own corrupt hearts. I watched one or 2 die of cancer and TTTT it was personality cancer.
It’s a perfect catch to describe those whose allegiance is to the governor/mayor cabal we now exist under as karens. 4 months ago, I was mad at the cypher state of bureaucrats who were deep stating us in the rear. Now, a new layer of Marxist fux has emerged, and their constituents are all karens.
Stay loose.
Here is a recent example:
https://www.cnn.com/videos/media/2020/04/28/jeopardy-contestant-interrupts-alex-trebek-orig-vstan-bdk.cnn
Seattle is the heart/soul of the feminist/nazi nation. Speaking of retail: Twenty years ago I was shopping at University Village–I am sure most of you know that shopping center–small boutique type store with scarves and knick knacks, etc. A straight white male was standing in the check out line in front of me. He stepped up to the register to purchase his item and the female ringing up sales stepped away from the register and declared to her boss that “dealing with a white male was not something she would do”. It was that simple ladies and gentlemen! Her boss stepped forward and took the man’s money and gave him his item without a bag. Her look of total disgust at having to also be the one to deal with a “white male” was very clear. Not to worry they run the city, state(s), and parts of Boeing now.
I see our latter day Karens to the left of us and even Karens to the right of us, a bit differently.
It’s far less important to them that they get what they want (It’s a given, they’ve already got, and always will get what they want.) than it is to assure that you & I never ever ever EVER get what we want.
OK Karen.
Funny, I have a sister named Karen along with 7 other female siblings/cousins. Of these eight, four are Oberstgruppen Karens, two are run of the mill Karentruppen and one is perhaps a quarter-Karen.
And then there’s Karen who isn’t a Karen at all. Seriously, there’s not a speck of Karen in Karen. And then you have my older brother Mike who is far more of a Karen than Karen; which would make him a Karenherren, I guess
BTW, the preceding is 100% true. My kid sister Karen is no Karen. And you can take that to the bank
Would it be considered assault and/or assault and battery if you squirted a Karen in the face with a small water gun? If not, it might be a useful practice….
Okay, checked it out. Yes, probably.
So, just punch a Karen in the teeth to be on the safe side.
This meme and all its negative connotations have hit me like a gut punch. Why? Because the name my mother gave me at my birth in 1958 is Karen. Yes, I’m a Boomer and a Karen. A double whammy right there. Fodder for pot shots and denigrations that seem to be popular right now amongst the younger set. I cringed when I first noted this Karen meme on the internet. After reading the article Gerard published here today, I actually cried.
I’m a decent, kind and generous woman who has carried my given name proudly my whole life. I loved that my mother gave me that name because in childhood, it couldn’t easily be morphed into a negative or taunting nickname. I was fortunate by virtue of my name, to get through childhood with no excuses for bullies to seek me out for mental torture.
But here I am now at age 62, having just read an essay from Mr. Luongo, a litany of horrible characteristics attached to my name. What am I to do now? With this anti-Karen meme growing bigger, stronger, faster legs these days I can’t help but wonder – when I introduce myself now to new people, are they going to cringe? Snicker? Say mean things? Take me seriously? What if I really do have a legitimate complaint in the real world? I honestly never would have imagined in my life, that the lovely name my mother blessed me with (which means “true” or “pure”) would become a dirty word. My heart hurts for it.
Anne:
That man reacted wrongly to that situation. 1. Ask for the manager. 2. Complain. 3. Drop the item on the floor and walk out – and never come back.
…What am I to do now? With this anti-Karen meme growing bigger, stronger, faster legs these days I can’t help but wonder – when I introduce myself now to new people, are they going to cringe? Snicker? Say mean things? Take me seriously? What if I really do have a legitimate complaint in the real world?
Well, Karen, here’s what I would suggest, if any of your scenarios arises. Laugh at the individuals who may do any of those things, and tell them that you’re a red-blooded American girl who isn’t a crybaby needing a shoulder to cry on, or a government telling me what to do, and then just walk away.
Kairn, greetings, sister. It isn’t about the name, but I feel for ya. Fellow 1958 vintage Boomer, here.
Anne, the U Village story is spot on. When I left Seattle, about 22 years ago, it was such that a little push-back was doable if you had the stones for it (which I did). Now, only the march of the Lefty storm troopers is permitted. If you’re a white, male, conservative, you must either act gay or slink around like a rat.
Mellanie: your Nazi titles are too funny. I want to make a cartoon or a meme with Oberstrumgruppen Commander Karin in it. A boot, stomping on your face forever.
I’m sorry, Karen. Everyone knows that not all Karens are like that. I’ll let you in on a little secret, Bunny is not my real name. My given name is that of a character which a popular late night television host made savage jokes about when I was growing up. Jokes on national TV. I feel your pain, but you will survive these uncertain times. When the covids is gone, people will probably forget all about Karen. Don’t cry, it could be worse. Your name could be Rona. Or some others I could think of, names my dear brother-in-law dubbed “unfortunate.” Karen is a fine name.
Don’t worry Karin. People are kind and those that are not kind to you are people you should leave behind you.
Re Kairn’s question… “What if I really do have a legitimate complaint in the real world?”
My wife’s name is Karen. I have made it quite clear that, as a Karen, and, more generally, as a woman, she can have no legitimate complaints in the real or any other world.
This explains the assorted dents on the rear portions of my skull.
If you want to see Karens aplenty, go to your local NextDoor site. Karens and Kens (he-Karens) rove about telling everybody what to do, why they should do it, being general busybodies and selling junk. If the post contains, “I feel,” “In my opinion,” or “you must,” run. Run far away. They will find you.
My dear Karen, fret not. Take to heart that “God knows.” To quote the following line from the timeless play & film adaptation A Man For All Seasons: “Not a bad public, that.”
We are not here to please men. We are here to please God. The more we please God the more we vex Satan.
BION, there are just about as many male karens in Seattle as female ones.
It isn’t just Seattle. I live in a blue university town in a blue state, and I can tell you both are brim-full of he-karens (maybe we should name these guys Gavins, in honor of Gerard’s governator). My mayor is a karen who sends out phone messages to everyone in the local directory every single week, hectoring us about our insufficient enthusiasm for indefinite extension of the city lockdown. Most folks I know would like to lock down his mouth instead.
For “Kairn” above: I hear you; I’m a baby boomer too. If it’s any comfort, the only two female karens I know of were my mother and her older sister. And they were members of the so-called greatest generation, so the karen thing didn’t originate with COVID-19. Tell you what: keep coming back here to Gerard’s blog and soul-repair shop, and let us know how things are going for you. Gerard has a growing community of online friends who are happy to have you join us.
No, no, and more no. Karen is a woman’s name, is many women’s name, perhaps even a few men’s, but there’s no legitimate excuse for abusing the name or the people. None. It’s grade-school behavior. And then after rant-o-matting, you then have to flip directions to apologize to someone ‘it wasn’t you that I meant’.
Just don’t go there, don’t join the mean girl club. With dozens of words for quislings, staci, narcs, and informants just pick any one of them. But it doesn’t matter how much Karen says she understands, it always carries an undeserved sting. At a time when we need unity, you’re making it hard for folks to even be around. Don’t go there, it is what your enemies wish.
I have been coming to Gerard’s soul-repairing shop for years. Gerard doesn’t know me, but I know him. We could have even crossed paths a few years ago, as we both lived in the Seattle area. We could have also crossed paths even earlier than that, as I am a native born and raised Californian (Bay Area). I think I’ve been to Chico. But never got a chance to visit Paradise. What has happened to the state of my birth since I moved away in ‘86 has been painful, but not totally unexpected to hear about.
As for this Karen meme, I do not believe it started off as a derogatory put-down to be directed solely at left leaning women. But more generally towards all women of a certain age that some Millennials and Gen Xers seem to have a bad attitude towards. A thing that has greatly confounded me, as I’m sure many of these young folks’ mothers are Baby Boomers. Or perhaps their grandmothers.
This makes me curious as to what is the truth regarding all the Boomer and Karen bashing I see getting progressively more hateful on the internet. Who or what is really behind installing and encouraging this ugly division between older folks and the younger folks? At a time when we all need to come together to fight for our liberties. We all need to stand back and rethink why we are playing into these divisive memes. We need to seriously question who starts them, and question who first promulgates them. We all need to stop utilizing them ourselves.
This is all about putting enmity between Americans of different generations, who years ago would never have felt so much hatred for their elders or elders towards their youth. I find the growing usage of the Karen meme and the Boomer bashing meme on the internet very sad indeed. Buying into it, makes all of us Americans losers.
This Karen wants to win. This Karen wants to live out the rest of her days seeing Millenials, Gen-Xers, & Gen-Zers focus their attentions on their pursuits of liberty, happiness and prosperity. Instead of posting garbage on the internet claiming they want all Karens and Baby Boomers dead ASAP.
Names come in phases. I once wanted to change my name to Karen, because Carpenters. I was named for a different singer. Julie Andrews, a redhead my dad crushed on as a young man. He married a redhead, from a family of redheads, the matriarch being Jewel and the youngest being my mother Malinda. I was the only girl not to get red hair. My grandmother Jewel called herself J.J, and my father, who’d wanted me to be named Julie, had to cower in my mother’s jealous rage while she called me Jewel.
In school, I was Julie. Wrote my name that way, was called Julie by my dad, brothers and sisters, but not by my long dead mother, who called me Jewel LEE…
I found out how awful it was to be named Julie in junior high and high school. It seemed all the Julies of the Yakima Valley combined into one group of very pretty young women: cheerleader Julie, swim captain Julie; track star Julie, glee club soloist and thespian Julie, popular slut Julie…and there was me. Life was hard being a Julie, until I had to fill out a job application. Social Security Administration don’t do Julie if you are Jewel.
Kairn is a sh*tposter, don’t fall for it, men.
Yeah, well, how would you know, edaddy, unless you’re a shit-poster yourself…..oh, wait……….
I got one of those names subject to occasional derision and ridicule myself and based on long years of experience, I can tell you that nobody who ever made fun of my name was half as smart as I am, or half as smart as they thought they were either. Is why they do it, because they are too damn stupid to come up with a better insult.
Wear your name proudly, Karen/Kairn. Don’t let the bastidges grind you down. As long as you don’t act like one of “those” Karens, you won’t be one.
This phenomenon is not about women being “Karen’s”, it’s about women being women. The usual weasel words apply; not all women are like this… but enough are to seriously justify the repeal of the 19th Amendment.
Women are fascists and socialists by nature. The founding fathers understood this and rightly forbade them the vote and positions of authority. Nowadays far too many of them are in charge and it shows.
So some of you have finally awoken? This is what it’s like to live in a Matriarchy. Repeal the Nineteenth Amendment.
What’s in a name? Shakespeare told us that a rose,by any other name,would smell as sweet.
nori:thin black seaweed that smells fishy and tastes like tarpaper. *Sigh*
@Anon:yes,we’re living in Matriarchal Global dominance,and it ain’t pretty. The good news is that Reality is coming; it cannot be stopped.
If you think they’re whiny bitchez now,(yes) try repealing the 19th. The army of pinch-faced Banshee lawyers would unleash legal Hell upon us.
Then again,there is that Reality thing. Game on.
“This Karen” speaks for me.
Nori sed: “Reality is coming; it cannot be stopped.”
=======
Right. Bring it.
Nothing seems so real as a rifle barrel pointed at your face – everything else just sort of fades into the back ground.
“Women are fascists and socialists by nature.” “Repeal the Nineteenth Amendment.” I have commented enough and really would like to avoid this stale argument, so I’ll just mention my husband said these statements are bullsh*t. He’s a real man, too, and pretty smart, so I defer to his opinion on this.
Karen might be trolling or she may not, but it’s only a short step from comforting Karen for being named Karen to arguing that calling the China virus such is degrading, insulting, mean spirited and cruel to all Chinese.
I’ve known a number of ladies named Karen over the years and, thinking back about their personalities, none of them would be upset, none of them would feel hurt, instead each and every one of them would have a grand laugh if I were to suggest they were Karens.
So Karen, if you were trolling congratulations, you did great!
If you’re serious I am quite sorry that you allow a thing of such little consequence negatively affect your life.
Sometime a Karen meets his match (it was a male Karen) in Target Tori. Tori is a store manager, who became an internet sensation after she rebuffed angry Karen who insisted on buying a toothbrush at a display price of 1c.
@Karen
I really do have a sister named Karen, and everything I said about her.is.true. She is the sweetest and the least boisterous descendant of my grandparents, by far. I dont know how your name came to be linked to an obnoxious behavior. I never knew any Karen who was obnoxious.
It never occurred to me that someone named Karen might read what I posted, or I would not adopted such a jocular tone. I have some skill in what might be called “Krautologisms” — where I create faux German words to highlight fascist tendencies in proggressives — Palinskrieg, Trumpenkampf, Unterweisse, Drang Nacht Waffe, Rachewaffe (race baiting)
But I certainly didnt mean to target any one sympathetic to our side. So, if hurt your feelings, I apologise
“Would it be considered assault and/or assault and battery if you squirted a Karen in the face with a small water gun? If not, it might be a useful practice….
Okay, checked it out. Yes, probably.
So, just punch a Karen in the teeth to be on the safe side.”
This quote from Lance De Boyle I assume was just meant in jest. So no need to apologize. But most of Gerard’s regular readers are well aware America is currently living in a simmering pot of divisive goo, ready to boil over any day. There are loonies among us who are unstable enough to take threatening rhetoric like Lance posted above seriously if they are seeing it posted all over the internet.
Now, assure me I shouldn’t even kind of wonder if I might have an unfortunate interaction out in the world encountering a nutty person who isn’t mentally equipped to separate a silly meme labeled “Karen” from the encouragement they are constantly seeing on the internet about punching a “Karen” in the teeth when they discover my name is Karen. I’ve taken pretty good care of my teeth. I’d like to keep them a bit longer yet.
All I’ve stated here regarding this Karen meme is my own personal fear for myself and any lovely women who shares my name possibly being harangued or hurt by an unstable person who will take this meme far too seriously. Some of the commenters here who are denigrating my concern as being a troll, are only proving my point.
Callmelennie,
Thank you for your note about your sister. I too have only ever met in my life the most lovely girls and women named Karen. You did not hurt my feelings. Give your sis a hug for me.
Why oh why couldn’t this ridiculous meme have been labeled “Nancy Pelosi” or “Hillary Clinton” or “Termagant” for heaven’s sake?!
i just don’t kare(n)
Why oh why couldn’t this ridiculous meme have been labeled “Nancy Pelosi” or “Hillary Clinton” or “Termagant” for heaven’s sake?!
Now you’re whining like a Karen, Karen.
John V,
That statement was meant to arouse a chuckle from dear readers. I guess I should have added a winky face at the end.
Well, Karen, unless you are in the habit of wearing a name tag when you go out in public, or are wont to offer your name to every individual you meet while out in the public realm, I think the fears you are expressing are not only unfounded, but irrational, no matter how many crazies there are out in the world. My name is John, and even from a tender age I was never under the impression that when some individual said they had to go to the john, they were making a derogatory statement about me, nor that they individual needing to go to the john was going to take a dump or pee on me. If you don’t like the Karen meme, don’t be a Karen.