Karen became, of course, the trendy word for excessively demanding, condescending, customers complaining constantly and asking to speak with management. I have heard Keith suggested as a male equivalent.
A comedy show I heard yesterday blamed “the rise of Karen’s” on the popularity of “The Elf on the Shelf” and need for control, saying these things exploded at the same time. I’m not sure I see the connection. Am I missing something?
I have heard some psychologists claim a link between anality (including need for control) and sadism. Is there anything to this in your opinion?
Have you ever had to deal with Keith’s or Karen’s? Any good stories?
I prefer “Kevin” to Keith, as the latter was my son’s name and couldn’t have been further from the type of person described. I’ve never known a Kevin that I could stand to be around.
What’s really weird is that two of the women who complain to me most, as a city council person, are white women in their 60s named Karen.
Luckilly for society at large, I think they mostly complain to me and don’t go around harshing everyone else’s buzz. They’re not out there policing (but one is out there grumbling on Facebook.)
I think the rise of Karenism parallels the rise in social media. When these poor put upon people finally had a public soapbox to gain sympathy from like minded complainers.
My personal anecdote is the karen on our subdivision’s facebook group who complains about all her neighbors doing normal things that annoy her. Always hoping people will rally around her and say “Yeah! That guy should not be mowing his yard at 8AM on a Saturday!” or “How horrid that dog mom is for letting her dog bark so late in the evening!”
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