# Why Karen? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2020, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633 "2020-03-30T00:29:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/81 "2020-07-09T14:23:50Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@kayaker](#): > > > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > > > Someone suggested “Ivankas”, not sure why. > > > > “Ivankas” are vapid.  > > And feckless. And have a White House office. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/82 "2020-07-09T14:42:29Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > > [@kayaker](#): > > > > > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > > > > > Someone suggested “Ivankas”, not sure why. > > > > > > “Ivankas” are vapid.  > > > > And feckless. > > And have a White House office Nice job quoting. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/83 "2020-07-13T21:46:20Z")
My grandchildrens’ verbally abusive stepmother is named Catherine so that would fit as far as I’m concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Conrad\_Shadowdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@Dr.Conrad\_Shadowdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Conrad_Shadowdale)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/84 "2020-07-19T22:14:52Z")
Goodness, I’m so very tired of the Karen trope. Especially on Reddit, it seems like any female with anything other than praise for performance who is between ages 30-70 is called Karen. I mean, I get that you don’t want me talking to your manager but I ordered and paid for a large fries and got a small in the bag. Fix it. Makes me wish for Elephant jokes or even Dead Baby jokes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/85 "2020-07-20T01:00:36Z")
Yeah, I pointed out that “entitled bitch” is better than karen, which is hurtful & bigoted- then they reply that you cant use "bitch’ because…wait for it… it’s misogynistic and bigoted. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/86 "2020-07-20T01:31:28Z")
National Public Radio’s “Code Switch” podcast recently did an episode on this — “What’s in a Karen?” — [Karen, Miss Ann & America's History Of Entitled White Women : Code Switch : NPR](https://www.npr.org/2020/07/14/891177904/whats-in-a-karen) ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/87 "2020-07-21T03:13:52Z")
I’m seeing a lot of people in major websites make the claim that “The Karen Attitude only comes from upper middle class white people senses of entitlement” but that idea is so clearly wrong if you ever had a customer service job pretty much anywhere. My mom is pretty much the standard Karen but in Hispanic form. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/88 "2020-07-22T19:11:51Z")
Oh yeah, if you ever run into a wealth entitled Asian woman on her rant, you _know_ it’s not just white women. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/89 "2020-07-23T13:17:08Z")
Perhaps most famously: [Nut rage incident - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_rage_incident) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/90 "2020-07-30T20:26:25Z")
Domino’s New Zealand stops giving free pizzas to ‘Karens’ after backlash: [Domino's New Zealand stops giving free pizzas to 'Karens' after backlash | CNN Business](https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/business/dominos-new-zealand-karen-offer-scli-intl/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/91 "2020-07-30T21:18:56Z")
Removed…too political for GQ I think. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/92 "2020-08-01T04:32:30Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > One of the popular girls in my HS (class of '90) was a Karen. She’s the right age group for the stereotypical Karen. Thing is I don’t remember a plethora of Karens back then, just her I’m early Gen-X, and knew several Karens in school. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/93 "2020-08-01T18:55:14Z")
Biden may pick someone with a certain first name as his running mate: [Bass addresses past remarks praising Scientology - POLITICO](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/01/karen-bass-scientology-390077) ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/94 "2020-08-01T21:29:02Z")
I have friends and relatives named Karen. I find the whole “Karen-shaming” movement to be extremely rude and condescending. I don’t know who started it, but they should be ashamed of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/95 "2020-08-02T00:34:05Z")
And if you tell those people it is bigoted and hurtful, they shout you down. It’s like all these supposed SJW arent really, they just pretend they are ‘woke’, but in reality they are bigoted and hypocritical. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/96 "2020-08-02T00:41:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And if you tell those people it is bigoted and hurtful, they shout you down. It’s like all these supposed SJW arent really, they just pretend they are ‘woke’, but in reality they are bigoted and hypocritical Exactement, as the French would say. ---
**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:** [August 2, 2020, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/97 "2020-08-02T01:06:00Z")
Then what’s a better, catchy term for what a “karen” represents? Maybe something else will catch on. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/98 "2020-08-02T01:18:24Z")
How about “entitled white woman”? Has anybody asked people named Karen how they feel about the epithet? ---
**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:** [August 2, 2020, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/99 "2020-08-02T01:24:58Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > How about “entitled white woman”? “EWW” has a nice ring to it! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633/100 "2020-08-02T04:49:48Z")
Since we’ve had no factual input for almost a month, let’s move this to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-karen/850633.md?page=6)