Who is Karen? And why are people constantly dropping her name?

Over the last several days, iFIBER ONE News has noticed a substantial amount of name dropping on its Facebook posts.

Whats noticeable is that only one name is being dropped as a universal slang to describe a particular group of people who apparently fall under a categorical personality trait that has one name.

Karen.

Who is she? Where did she come from?

According to Know Your Meme, Karen is a term used as an antagonistic female character in memes. The website states that Karen is generally characterized as an irritating, entitled woman, sometimes as an ex-wife who took custody of the kids.

According to an article written by Newsweek, Karens are often described as annoying entitled, suburban woman who would not hesitate to ask to speak to a manager if the sales person at Anne Taylor refuses to take their return three months after the return date expired.

A report from the Atlantic wrote:

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Karen has been adopted as a shorthand to call out a vocal minority of middle-aged white women who are opposed to social distancing, out of either ignorance or ruthless self-interest. Its the latest evolution of a long-standing meme. In The New York Times last year, the writer Sarah Miller described Karens as the policewomen of all human behavior, using the example of a suburban white woman who calls the cops on kids pool parties. Karens have been mocked for being anti-vaccine and proCan I speak to your manager? Theyre obsessed with banal consumer trends and their personal appearance, and typically criminally misguided, usually loudly and with extreme confidence.

Their defining essence is entitlement, selfishness, a desire to complain, according to Heather Suzanne Woods, a meme researcher and professor at Kansas State University. A Karen demands the world exist according to her standards with little regard for others, and she is willing to risk or demean others to achieve her ends.

Several news sources write that the origin of the Karen meme is difficult to pin down, but the consensus was summed up in an article written by Business Insider:

While there are many origin stories for the Karen meme, it's not completely clear where it came from as is the case with many popular memes. The origins of Karen are kind of really hard to pin down, Matt Schimkowitz, senior editor of Know Your Meme, told Business Insider.

But Schimkowitz said the most convincing theory is that the character originated from a Dane Cook comedy special that aired in 2005. Every group has a Karen and she is always a bag of do-che, Cook said in the routine. And when she's not around, you just look at each other and say, 'God, Karen, she's such a do-chebag!'"

Karen apparently has a signature style too which is described as a can I speak to your manager bob-style haircut. The Karen style is often compared to the haircut that Kate Gosselin sported in the late 2000s during the airing of the popular reality TV show Jon & Kate Plus 8.

The name Karen is part of a popular SubReddit thread that was created in 2017.

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Who is Karen? And why are people constantly dropping her name? - iFIBER One News