Is Karen A Sexist & Ageist Meme? Yes, Says This Journalist

I'm sure you've seen your fair share of Karen memes across the internet. Barstool has participated. 

For most, it's all in good fun. It's like the term Chad or Becky. I guess we don't have a name for older guys. You could say Ok, Boomer is directed at older men the most. 

Of course, those that enjoy looking deeper into social media trends have deemed this meme sexist. There was this tweet:

It was ratio'd:

One of those replies was in agreement with Julie:

8 days later, Hadley Freeman has turned this into a column:

Do I really need to spell out the sexism of a meme about a woman’s name that took off from a man griping about his ex-wife and has become a way of telling women to shut up? Yes, there are memes about Chad and Zach, but these have never gained the popularity of ones about Becky, Susan or Tammy, let alone Karen.

I'd say Chad has been used for a very, very long time. It even gave birth to Chad's brother, Brad. Karen is relatively new in the meme space. Has it been used more in 2020? Yeah, definitely. Overall? I'd say no.

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When I see young (and not so young) white women defending the Karen meme, I’m reminded of the Cool Girl passage in Gone Girl: yeah, I’m not a basic pushy-mum-type woman – I’m a cool girl. Mmm, let’s see how long denigrating your own sex works for you, ladies.

I don't want to speak for all women, but I have a feeling they will be just fine. 

Women should also be free to point out when a trope has become mired in sexism without being accused of being humourless old shrews, ie Karens. No one wants to be a Karen, amirite? The Karen meme has become a way of not just describing women’s behaviour, but controlling it. No wonder so many men enjoy it.

Well, thanks for the article, Karen. I learned a lot.