We Need to Talk About Karen
The misogyny behind everyone’s favorite insult
I was chatting with my friend, the Danish artist Augusta Atla, about feminism and female artists recently. Augusta said the most famous female artist in Denmark “is a Karen”. For a second, I wasn’t sure what she meant: was she saying that the most famous female artist in Denmark is an obnoxious white lady?! But Augusta was simply referring to the woman’s actual name, because the term “Karen”, as a derogatory term towards certain kinds of Anglophone white women, is not known in Denmark.
Good for the Danes.
The term “Karen” has struck me as exceptionally misogynistic since I first learned of its use in North America and the UK, and I would actually really just like to retire it. I do understand that for every Karen there is a Chad, but honestly that just feels like throwing a dog a bone rather than anything like equality.
Before I continue, I do fully understand that there are certain white women who are obnoxious at least, and outright violent at worst, weaponizing their perceived power based solely on their own whiteness and white privilege against others, sometimes so dangerously that it gets people killed. For women who behave this way, there is no explanation or excuse for their behavior other than sheer racism, elitism and white supremacy…
