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What Is the Male Version of a Karen?
His name is Ken. Or Terry. Or Greg. And he might be you.
It all started with BBQ Becky. But before she was re-birthed as a Karen, dripping in the amniotic fluid of internet shorthand, her name was Jennifer Schulte and she was a middle-aged white woman who called the police to report that a black family was using a charcoal grill in a park where open fires were not allowed. Schulte dialed 911 several times over the course of a few hours, not because she was in any danger but because the family was doing something that she didn’t like (open fires turned out to be permitted, as though that matters). She wielded her whiteness like a buzzsaw.
Once Twitter got wind of the events, Schulte was given a nom de guerre, one of a number of dismissive sobriquets for entitled white women who patrol people of color. BBQ Becky was followed by such figures as Permit Patty and Central Park Karen, each a riff on the theme of racist quasi-distress — the discomfort of the privileged mistaken for an emergency. While the Karen meme has come to make fun of a particular type of middle-aged white woman who demands to speak to the manager, she falls into this taxonomy as well. While less discussed, there is a male version of Karen. He’s Karen’s equivalent partner in quasi distress and his name is Ken. Or Greg. Or sometimes Terry.
- Snip -
Although humorous, the Karen memes address important social issues that have only recently come to a boil in the current political landscape: namely, white privilege, which is lived and exploited, oftentimes unwittingly, by white women and men everywhere. However, while Karens are burned at the stake online, their male counterparts are often let off the hook. Williams, who may be the only scholar whose given this subject its due time, explains why this is the case and why the internet (and Black Twitter in particular) seem to let Kens (the male equivalent of a Karen) off easy. Her theory, based on an analysis of nearly 100,000 tweets, suggests that racist narratives are deeply internalized and woven into the fabric of American culture.
- Snip -
To be able to pick up the phone and say, “Hey, someone is doing something that I don’t like” — not even, like, “Hey, someone is doing something that makes me feel unsafe” — is a privilege. Women of color and people of color don’t have that same privilege. And that really is the same centerpiece that connects all of these. Women, and in some cases men, rely on that white privilege and they do it so naturally that calling the police really becomes an extension of upholding the everyday standard of whiteness.
Link
It all started with BBQ Becky. But before she was re-birthed as a Karen, dripping in the amniotic fluid of internet shorthand, her name was Jennifer Schulte and she was a middle-aged white woman who called the police to report that a black family was using a charcoal grill in a park where open fires were not allowed. Schulte dialed 911 several times over the course of a few hours, not because she was in any danger but because the family was doing something that she didn’t like (open fires turned out to be permitted, as though that matters). She wielded her whiteness like a buzzsaw.
Once Twitter got wind of the events, Schulte was given a nom de guerre, one of a number of dismissive sobriquets for entitled white women who patrol people of color. BBQ Becky was followed by such figures as Permit Patty and Central Park Karen, each a riff on the theme of racist quasi-distress — the discomfort of the privileged mistaken for an emergency. While the Karen meme has come to make fun of a particular type of middle-aged white woman who demands to speak to the manager, she falls into this taxonomy as well. While less discussed, there is a male version of Karen. He’s Karen’s equivalent partner in quasi distress and his name is Ken. Or Greg. Or sometimes Terry.
- Snip -
Although humorous, the Karen memes address important social issues that have only recently come to a boil in the current political landscape: namely, white privilege, which is lived and exploited, oftentimes unwittingly, by white women and men everywhere. However, while Karens are burned at the stake online, their male counterparts are often let off the hook. Williams, who may be the only scholar whose given this subject its due time, explains why this is the case and why the internet (and Black Twitter in particular) seem to let Kens (the male equivalent of a Karen) off easy. Her theory, based on an analysis of nearly 100,000 tweets, suggests that racist narratives are deeply internalized and woven into the fabric of American culture.
- Snip -
To be able to pick up the phone and say, “Hey, someone is doing something that I don’t like” — not even, like, “Hey, someone is doing something that makes me feel unsafe” — is a privilege. Women of color and people of color don’t have that same privilege. And that really is the same centerpiece that connects all of these. Women, and in some cases men, rely on that white privilege and they do it so naturally that calling the police really becomes an extension of upholding the everyday standard of whiteness.
Link
The "Karen" meme is applied mainly to Republican racist, homophobic, bigoted, self-entitled white women. But then again, this definition fits almost all Republicans (regardless of gender) doesn't it?
The article goes on to point out that one of the reasons that white males don't get the meme treatment as much as white females, is that they tend to take the law into their own hands and not call for help. This is essentially the "stand your ground" mentality which is also steeped in vigilante racism - like lynching.
29 replies
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It's funny to see Karens get upset about being called Karen. (Typical Karens, eh?)
The name was in the top 200 until the name has been excoriated.
Not many guys named "Dick" anymore either. Oh well.
