One of the imponderables of life....

CallMeKate said:
I've heard it referred to as "Kevin" so who knows if that one will stick. People really need to get a hobby. 🤦‍♀️
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Ok that is funny. 😂
Sorry guys but it’s much funnier when it’s YOU! It’s still lame and unfair but initially very funny.
Thanks Kate
 

What is the male equivalent of the name 'Karen' for an irritating person...is there one? Just curious.
 
This is from BBC News in 2020. No one really seems to know where the name started. The two women named Karen that I've known have been some of the nicest, most endearing and accepting people I've ever met.

Where did the meme come from?​

Although its exact origins are uncertain, the meme became popular a few years ago as a way for people of colour, particularly black Americans, to satirise the class-based and racially charged hostility they often face.
Over the last decade, as it became easier to film confrontations on our smartphones, incidents started to be captured on camera and uploaded to social media with far greater ease - a woman calling the police when a black eight-year-old child was selling water without a permit, for example.
When these videos inevitably went viral, people online would assign the perpetrators commonplace names that chimed with the situation.
The woman who complained about the young water-seller was dubbed "Permit Patty". Another woman who called the police when a black family was having a barbecue was named "BBQ Becky". And a white woman who called 911 on a black dad at a football match, while sitting in a golf cart, was called "Golfcart Gail".
This trend properly broke through in 2018, and eventually all of these names became distilled into one or two of the most popular - including Karen.
It also became synonymous with a particular type of hairstyle - specifically, the short, choppy cut sported by US reality TV personality Kate Gosselin in 2010. (Gosselin has since changed her hairstyle.)

And in recent months a male version of the Karen meme has emerged, although it is less widely used: Ken. In June, when wealthy couple Patricia and Mark McCloskey were pictured pointing guns at protesters passing by their home in St Louis, Missouri, they were widely dubbed "Karen and Ken".
 
Myrtle said:
Who knows. These things just take off and with social media and the Internet they grow really quickly.

But, what do you think about men named John? The associations with that name have been around for a very long time and I think everyone here knows what they are. I would never have named my son John. Dick (common nickname for Richard) would be an even worse name for a boy but those names are still in use despite what they have been associated with.

People can be crude and no one has ever found a way to stop it.
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My son Richard, is a Rick!
 
oldaunt said:
I think its awful, taking a fairly common name and turning it into something ugly. There ARE some very nice women named Karen. I know 2 of them. One is my aunt.
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I knew a nice Karen too, she kind of favored me, I befriended her (then unknown to me) mother at the senior center where she talked about her daughter with cancer. Subsequently, they found out they each knew me. Karen was a regular at my son's monthly House music parties and I'd see her there; she always supported him despite her condition. Karen died of cancer a couple of years ago. But do I feel offended for her and other Karens? No! After all devastating, fatal storms have been named after good people too. Just wondering...do you feel bad about those? I'm not ridiculing your feelings about it but I am curious.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I knew a nice Karen too, she kind of favored me, I befriended her (then unknown to me) mother at the senior center where she talked about her daughter with cancer. Subsequently, they found out they each knew me. Karen was a regular at my son's monthly House music parties and I'd see her there; she always supported him despite her condition. Karen died of cancer a couple of years ago. But do I feel offended for her and other Karens? No! After all devastating, fatal storms have been named after good people too. Just wondering...do you feel bad about those? I'm not ridiculing your feelings about it but I am curious.
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Sad to read about your friend @OneEyedDiva

Personally, it makes me feel sad for several reasons.

(1) The target for this particular label are middle-aged white women with a particular hairstyle; I find that as unpleasant as I would if someone used negative terms about any other group of people.

(2) The label is usually used to describe a woman, usually from that group, who is seen to complain about something. That bothers me too because, middle-aged white women are as entitled to complain, in the same way as anyone else would, if they felt they had been wrongly treated.

(3) The whole negative labelling thing (no matter what the label is or who the target is) makes me feel sad because, I would have hoped that in my lifetime we would have seen more kindness towards each other.

I very likely do take this all too seriously but, it's how I feel. 🤷‍♀️
 
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I have a daughter named Karen. When she was a kid, she had at one point 5 friends also named Karen! No exaggeration, that's how many there were. It was probably the most popular name for girls born in the 60's.

I have no idea why that perfectly nice name was turned into an insult. Yes, there are people like that, but why the childish name calling? Why not just call them "entitled complainers" and let it go at that?
 
I have an important question about this. Why was the name "Karen" chosen to describe a complaining woman in a negative way? I've always like the name. My cousin is Karen. I wish I was a Karen. It's a pretty feminine name and I wonder why it was chosen instead of Gertrude or some name no longer popular? It disparages so many.
 
Trish said:
Sad to read about your friend @OneEyedDiva

Personally, it makes me feel sad for several reasons.

(1) The target for this particular label are middle-aged white women with a particular hairstyle; I find that as unpleasant as I would if someone used negative terms about any other group of people.

(2) The label is usually used to describe a woman, usually from that group, who is seen to complain about something. That bothers me too because, middle-aged white women are as entitled to complain, in the same way as anyone else would, if they felt they had been wrongly treated.

(3) The whole negative labelling thing (no matter what the label is or who the target is) makes me feel sad because, I would have hoped that in my lifetime we would have seen more kindness towards each other.

I very likely do take this all too seriously but, it's how I feel. 🤷‍♀️
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Most of the "Karen's" I've seen stories about don't just complain...their disruptive behavior causes potential harm and embarrassment to others. Often their targets are people of color. Of course the most prominently remembered case is that of Emmet Till who was brutally beaten to death by White men due to a complaint lodged by a White woman that he looked at her (or looked her in the face). Of course the alternative name for such women would be B*tch! Somehow, I think Karen is kinder.

You have a good heart, so I know you never have to worry about anyone classifying you as such. 🤗
 
I wish another word, instead of a name could have been found to describe someone, in this case a female, who acts like an entitled jerk making a scene. It's not good for people who have that name. Same with naming hurricanes. I wish they'd give them a letter and a number. Poor people named Katrina. It could have been K25 or something.
 
Remy said:
I wish another word, instead of a name could have been found to describe someone, in this case a female, who acts like an entitled jerk making a scene. It's not good for people who have that name. Same with naming hurricanes. I wish they'd give them a letter and a number. Poor people named Katrina. It could have been K25 or something.
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I thought about that too Remy. Why can't they just give hurricanes numbers (yours is better a letter and number). :unsure:
 
If you meet a pleasant woman named Karen, do you even think of her in the negative context sometimes given to the name. I don’t. Nor do I feel anything negative about my neighbour, Dick.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Most of the "Karen's" I've seen stories about don't just complain...their disruptive behavior causes potential harm and embarrassment to others. Often their targets are people of color. Of course the most prominently remembered case is that of Emmet Till who was brutally beaten to death by White men due to a complaint lodged by a White woman that he looked at her (or looked her in the face). Of course the alternative name for such women would be B*tch! Somehow, I think Karen is kinder.

You have a good heart, so I know you never have to worry about anyone classifying you as such. 🤗
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I do get your point @OneEyedDiva but, in the circumstances you mention, do you not think that, "Karen" or "Kevin" or "Ken" only seeks to trivialize a racist attack in the same way as if we called that same person "silly" or "naughty" instead? Personally, I would prefer to call someone out for what they actually are rather than use a label which could mean anything.

Thank you for your kind comment. Although we differ a little on this point, it is always nice to interact with you ☮️ :) x
 
Jules said:
If you meet a pleasant woman named Karen, do you even think of her in the negative context sometimes given to the name. I don’t. Nor do I feel anything negative about my neighbour, Dick.
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I do know a very pleasant woman who calls herself "Karina" as she now dislikes being called "Karen".

Many years ago, in more innocent times, my friend Cathy got engaged to her boyfriend, Dick. Cathy's mum was a baker and she made them a cake for the engagement party which read "Cathy loves Dick". I imagine that the photos of that much admired cake creation have now been banished from the family album!!!! 🤭:)
 

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