Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've found that being relentlessly polite to customer service people generally both gets me what I want, and doesn't get the OKAY KAREN response, even when asking for a supervisor or manager.
That's terrific. I wouldn't have a date or friend who wasn't polite like that.
No excuse for being an a-hole no matter what gender/race/age you are.
So, I have a theory about Karens. I just finished reading about a Karen who took extreme umbrage at a black guy riding a bicycle on city property. The city is Winnetka, IL. She became so irate the police were called and she was ultimately charged with battery, because she slapped either the guy she was harassing, or another person.
Surely these harassing white women know they will be filmed? Surely they know people will ridicule them when they watch them as they lose their minds over basically nothing? Surly they know their actions show themselves to be racists? Why then do they, time and again, become a meme? I think they want the identification as racist. I think they like knowing their faces and angry voices are forever preserved. I can’t imagine why they allow themselves to lose control if they don’t.
Am I wrong? What do you think is going through the minds of these angry white women who are losing their minds over things that are simply not their business? Is their “privilege” so fragile they feel they must defend it all costs?
The only thing I can come up with, is they secretly like the attention.
Am I off base?
I dealt with a lot of "Karens" as an undergraduate at a mostly white Catholic college long ago. Catholics aren't supposed to be racist, but the reality is that many of the white students were wealthy and came from affluent "white flight" neighborhoods removed from the minority communities of the inner cities in the midwest and east coast. The behavior patterns I recall were (1) fear of darker minorities (black, Native American, Samoan, South Asian, darker Hispanics, etc., (2) belief in intellectual superiority, (3) proponents of white beauty standards (e.g. blonde ideal), (4) preference for dating white men, (5) rage against affirmative action, and (6) a whole set of racist behavior ranging from subtle microaggressions to blatant slurs.
I saw a great psychological profile done of a "Karen" incident by Dr. Todd Grande, a psychologist.
To be fair, they weren't all "Karens" at that school. Many were inclusive and friendly. But it was always important to be aware the "Karen" could show up at any moment given that it was a mostly white campus.
A lot of minorities left that campus by their junior year. Ironically, if you talked to a "Karen" now from that time they would probably deny it and act like it never happened. There was a strong pattern of denial in that environment which made it even harder for minorities to cope.
Ironically, the place where I didn't deal with that many "Karens" was in the Deep South. I remember this southern white sorority woman was in my graduate class, and I was really concerned she was a "Karen". But she was the nicest to me - a brown Catholic Native American from rural AZ. Go figure.
I dealt with a lot of "Karens" as an undergraduate at a mostly white Catholic college long ago. Catholics aren't supposed to be racist, but the reality is that many of the white students were wealthy and came from affluent "white flight" neighborhoods removed from the minority communities of the inner cities in the midwest and east coast. The behavior patterns I recall were (1) fear of darker minorities (black, Native American, Samoan, South Asian, darker Hispanics, etc., (2) belief in intellectual superiority, (3) proponents of white beauty standards (e.g. blonde ideal), (4) preference for dating white men, (5) rage against affirmative action, and (6) a whole set of racist behavior ranging from subtle microaggressions to blatant slurs.
I saw a great psychological profile done of a "Karen" incident by Dr. Todd Grande, a psychologist.
To be fair, they weren't all "Karens" at that school. Many were inclusive and friendly. But it was always important to be aware the "Karen" could show up at any moment given that it was a mostly white campus.
A lot of minorities left that campus by their junior year. Ironically, if you talked to a "Karen" now from that time they would probably deny it and act like it never happened. There was a strong pattern of denial in that environment which made it even harder for minorities to cope.
Ironically, the place where I didn't deal with that many "Karens" was in the Deep South. I remember this southern white sorority woman was in my graduate class, and I was really concerned she was a "Karen". But she was the nicest to me - a brown Catholic Native American from rural AZ. Go figure.
With all due respect, I feel like you're conflating "Karen" behavior with white supremacy. Every racist white woman isn't a Karen, and every Karen isn't a racist. In fact in the link you provided the psychologist sees it (Karen behavior) as a group of personality traits, including excitement-seeking, neuroticism, lack of warmth. Racism is not a personality trait and the term "Karen" too soft IMO to use to describe entrenched racism as you did above. Call racists what they are. Unless those women acted out like the women in these videos, they are racists and perhaps white supremacists but not Karens. I feel like it's important distinction. "Karen" sounds too benign to use to describe white supremacists to me.
Also, a preference for dating within your race does not make you racist. People can't control who they are attracted to. Some black women are sexually attracted only to other black men, some white women are only sexually attracted to white men. That does not make either a racist. Racism is a set of beliefs and behaviors stemming from the thought that one race is inferior. to another. That has not one thing to do with who you're sexually attracted to.
With all due respect, I feel like you're conflating "Karen" behavior with white supremacy. Every racist white woman isn't a Karen, and every Karen isn't a racist. In fact in the link you provided the psychologist sees it (Karen behavior) as a group of personality traits, including excitement-seeking, neuroticism, lack of warmth. Racism is not a personality trait and the term "Karen" too soft IMO to use to describe entrenched racism as you did above. Call racists what they are. Unless those women acted out like the women in these videos, they are racists and perhaps white supremacists but not Karens. I feel like it's important distinction. "Karen" sounds too benign to use to describe white supremacists to me.
Also, a preference for dating within your race does not make you racist. People can't control who they are attracted to. Some black women are sexually attracted only to other black men, some white women are only sexually attracted to white men. That does not make either a racist. Racism is a set of beliefs and behaviors stemming from the thought that one race is inferior. to another. That has not one thing to do with who you're sexually attracted to.
Karen = white woman bad. That's all it is.
And white women who are attracted to white men especially bad. And blonde cannot be beautiful because white woman hair is racist.
Let's just call people out on individual behavior and not use name calling stereotypes like jr high bullies, then there will be no misinterpretation.
That's terrific. I wouldn't have a date or friend who wasn't polite like that.
No excuse for being an a-hole no matter what gender/race/age you are.
I find it easier to keep my temper even if things are frustrating if I remind myself that low-level employees aren't responsible for corporate protocols, and that in the majority of cases they didn't cause the problem I'm bringing to them, and they may not have the authority to solve it to my satisfaction. It helps that I worked customer service myself for a while.
I've found that if I start off with something like "This problem isn't your fault, but I'm hoping you can help me solve it" I often get faster, better results, and makes it clear that if I'm a little aggravated it's not directed at them. When asking for a manager I also make it clear it's not to get them in trouble - "I know you have to follow the rules, and other people are waiting - may I speak to a manager?"
Service work is a thankless job, no reason to add more aggro to a person's day unnecessarily.
I find it easier to keep my temper even if things are frustrating if I remind myself that low-level employees aren't responsible for corporate protocols, and that in the majority of cases they didn't cause the problem I'm bringing to them, and they may not have the authority to solve it to my satisfaction. It helps that I worked customer service myself for a while.
I've found that if I start off with something like "This problem isn't your fault, but I'm hoping you can help me solve it" I often get faster, better results, and makes it clear that if I'm a little aggravated it's not directed at them. When asking for a manager I also make it clear it's not to get them in trouble - "I know you have to follow the rules, and other people are waiting - may I speak to a manager?"
Service work is a thankless job, no reason to add more aggro to a person's day unnecessarily.
After reading the definition it doesn't apply to one race for me. I've seen middle-class latin and black women do this too. We just call them "all" one name, a five letter word. There is no need to invent new derogatory slang names. All it does it further separate and divide people.
Some of them are just reacting emotionally and they wouldn't do any harm to anyone, unless someone provoked them into it. And I think some of the sick people behind the cameras who laugh and egg them on are the real dangerous ones.
I find it easier to keep my temper even if things are frustrating if I remind myself that low-level employees aren't responsible for corporate protocols, and that in the majority of cases they didn't cause the problem I'm bringing to them, and they may not have the authority to solve it to my satisfaction. It helps that I worked customer service myself for a while.
I've found that if I start off with something like "This problem isn't your fault, but I'm hoping you can help me solve it" I often get faster, better results, and makes it clear that if I'm a little aggravated it's not directed at them. When asking for a manager I also make it clear it's not to get them in trouble - "I know you have to follow the rules, and other people are waiting - may I speak to a manager?"
Service work is a thankless job, no reason to add more aggro to a person's day unnecessarily.
But that is their job. I was taught the customer is always right so I never took it personally. I understand why people are annoyed when they do not get what they pay for and it is part of the CSR job to smooth that over. Not the customer's job to make the worker feel good, that is backwards.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
And blonde cannot be beautiful because white woman hair is racist. 
