hot take: the 'karen' meme is sexist and i don't like it
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I've considered that the term might be harmful to people named Karen, but I don't see how it hurts women in general. Care to elaborate?
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honestly i'm not sure. It feels like a gut/emotional reaction for me, and I'm interpreting it somehow as woman-targeted. I don't mean that people who use that meme are sexist, just it gives me the impression of 'people don't like women' a bit
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I suppose "reply guy" might be a relevant comparison. A useful term for a person exhibiting common behavior, but possibly harmful due to being unnecessarily gendered. In both cases I would prefer a gender neutral term, but I'm glad we at least have some language for the concept.
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I use it to refer to anyone of any gender who is overbearing, shouty, and judgy. Usually on Facebook. I find it be a useful term and contains no mysogony. Besides, not liking that a woman behaves a certain way is not the same as not liking women.
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I will say that when I use Karen, it is a very specific behavior pattern and not something most women do. I feel like if this was meant to be a more generalized critique of women, I feel like the term Karen wouldn't be used and we'd just call it like "woman behavior."
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Yeah, I suspect we overlay our stereotypes onto people's behaviors.
"Karen" behavior by a male might be derided as mansplaining/misogynistic (if toward a F), or snowflake/gay (if toward M).
Any of which could be sexist.