# The Rise of “Karens”? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 20, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320 "2023-07-20T18:54:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/242 "2024-01-12T03:24:53Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > Not a term I ever heard, but FAs have their world and pilots have theirs. > > A flight attendant I know told me all about crop dusting. I wish she hadn’t. Another term of which I’m blissfully ignorant. Don’t ask about “rimming”. Please. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/243 "2024-01-12T03:55:38Z")
I’m Becky. As _becky_ It means very bad things to some people. It doesn’t bother me. Just like I’m sure guys named John could care less about the often used term _john_ ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/244 "2024-01-12T04:53:47Z")
In any case, objections to this slang term have been debated at length here: > [@Resolved, that using "karen" as a pejorative is off limits](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-that-using-karen-as-a-pejorative-is-off-limits/987430): > > We have a new thread where the term “karen” used as a pejorative is the topic. Several posters, including myself have said that he term is hurtful, bigoted and sexist. More or less it is taking the place of “bitch” as used as a pejorative towards women only. No one denies it is a pejorative. No one denies it is used only against women. It has the added nastiness that it is hurtful towards women who are named “karen”. The casual use of this term should be against the rules just as “bitch” … ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/245 "2024-01-12T08:33:51Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > The stewards and stewardesses on a plane have a plan. Let them carry it out. Unless you’re having a health issue you should leave them be. There was one of those fly-on-the-wall TV documentaries over here about a budget airline some years ago, not long after smoking was banned on planes but they were still selling duty-free cigarettes. One passenger was kicking off that she wasn’t allowed to open the packet she’d bought and light up right away. The attendant said “Listen - I’ll just say this - they sell condoms in Boots\*”. Hilarity all round. \*For US readers, Boots = Walgreens ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/246 "2025-09-08T21:56:54Z")
The Karen is alive and well. > **[Young Phillies fan has homerun ball taken by woman at Marlins game, teams...](https://www.fox29.com/news/young-phillies-fan-homerun-ball-taken-away-woman-marlins-game)** > > As fans scrambled for a homerun ball, a man came up with it and gave it to a young boy. Both were wearing Phillies gear. Moments later, a woman wearing Phillies apparel approached the man and appeared to shout at him. The man then took the ball from... ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/247 "2025-09-08T22:02:26Z")
@MrDibble , here’s another example that the insult “karen” is now in widespread use in a way that has nothing to do with racial implications. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/248 "2025-09-09T02:33:48Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > The Karen is alive and well It doesn’t say why the man gave her the ball. It’s possible he’d snatched it from her or her kid in the first place, and was giving it back after getting called out on it. I have a hard time believing he’d just hand it over if he hadn’t done something wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/249 "2025-09-09T03:18:36Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > It’s possible he’d snatched it from her or her kid in the first place, and was giving it back after getting called out on it. From what I read that’s pretty much what happened. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/250 "2025-09-09T03:40:02Z")
no, from what I read on MSN, father rescued ball by vacant seats, gave ball to son, then “karen” ran over and confronted him screaming in his face, so to calm the situation gave her the ball. there’s a company offered her $5000 for ball with “I’m sorry” written on it ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/251 "2025-09-09T03:57:17Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > from what I read on MSN, father rescued ball by vacant seats, Maybe you should watch the video… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/252 "2025-09-09T04:59:29Z")
I never said it wasn’t used that way. Just that _I_ didn’t use it that way, and neither did the originators. Although - not sure why you’re calling me out in _this_ thread, as it was a completely different thread we had that convo in. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/253 "2025-09-09T10:44:14Z")
Yes, from the video, it looks rather like the ball came to her, he barreled over and grabbed it from her, (probably before she took unambiguous possession) trotted back to his seat to give it to his son, and then she followed him to his seat and yelled at him, and he took the ball from his son and gave it to her. It’s quite obvious why she was pissed. I have no idea what the “norm” is. Maybe he acted entirely within the norm. If so, the norm scares the hell out of me. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/254 "2025-09-09T11:01:00Z")
thank you for clarifying this for me–now I see why she felt she was treated unfairly ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/255 "2025-09-09T12:20:39Z")
I’d say you can’t grab it out of somebody’s hand, but it’s a free-for-all otherwise. Doesn’t matter if you came over a section to grab it. Until that ball is secure in someone’s hand, it’s there for the taking. To me, it looks like it’s fairly dad’s ball, but I guess I don’t have a perfect angle on whether the ball is in that woman’s hand or not when he grabs it. I don’t think it is, but that’s just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/256 "2025-09-09T12:41:05Z")
eh, yeah I think this is _generally_ correct, but it’s also contextual. I mean, I think it’s fine to grab a home run ball bouncing around on the seats before the guy next to you does, but I’m not going to be wading into a swarm of 8 year old’s to see if I can catch a foul ball because I have a longer reach than them or snatch a ball that a player clearly intended to toss to someone else at the end of an inning. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/257 "2025-09-09T12:53:22Z")
I mean, sure. Everything is context dependent. Definitely not cool going full bore after kids, elderly, disabled, etc. I’m also the type who would give away my ball to the nearest kid, which I know people vary opinions on. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/258 "2025-09-09T12:54:40Z")
Agreed. A ball coming generally your way happens fast. Not a lot of time for nuanced reasoning. But if your preconceived notion is that trampling women & children is OK, well, you’re not a Karen or Chad. You’re an asshole. Given the nature of catching a ball, both contenders’ eyes & brains are totally focused on the ball, so hand to hand collisions are gonna occur. What happens next ought be more considered than that. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/259 "2025-09-09T14:10:33Z")
I read somewhere the dad’s account of what happened - everyone was watching the ball and then it landed on the empty seat in front of the Karen and was bouncing around. When he reached for the ball it stopped and he got it first. When confronted by the screaming woman, he gave the ball up so as not to risk additional escalation in front of his kid. IMHO any way you look at it, once the ball was in a kid’s hand it’s game over. Karen was out of line. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/260 "2025-09-09T14:50:54Z")
Yeah, that’s what it seemed like to me, but hard to tell from camera angle, but the last part — you don’t take a ball from a kid if you want to come out looking good. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2025, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320/261 "2025-09-09T15:32:21Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > IMHO any way you look at it, once the ball was in a kid’s hand it’s game over. Yeah. It didn’t belong to her; her life is no poorer two minutes after the incident than before. Was this incident on a Jumbotron? If so, I wish the Jumbotron operator had keyed up “Let it Go”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-karens/987320.md?page=14)