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When Being Called “Karen” is No Longer Fashionable

Karen Schwartz
4 min readApr 3, 2021

It’s time to stop making us scapegoats when others misbehave.

Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash

News for those of you who are unaware, according to BBC News,

“Karen” has, in recent years, become a widespread meme referencing a specific type of middle-class white woman, who exhibits behaviours that stem from privilege.

This derogatory, offensive term embodies all women regardless of whether their name is Karen or not.

Can we really confirm all women behaving badly are alike and deserve the same name? If so, why mine? How did one of my birth year’s most popular names become a universal symbol of negativity and entitlement?

Some will say, “Look, she’s being a Karen,” just for merely reacting this way. I beg to differ, and here are four of my reasons why.

1. Grouping people into categories against their will is damaging

While it’s been documented that attaching oneself to a group can have positive, lasting benefits, when others decide this grouping for you, it can have the opposite effect. I self-identify in groups according to my interests, my religion, my gender, and the list goes on and on. I do this because it offers me a sense of belonging. When others decide which groups to thrust me into…

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Karen Schwartz
Karen Schwartz

Written by Karen Schwartz

Children's picture book author, fiction writer, personal essayist, kindness specialist, and lover of chocolate.

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