Issues & Insights
"We’re still at least a month away from Joe Biden announcing who his running mate will be for the 2020 election. It’s hard to tell which way he’s leaning, but no matter who he chooses, it will be “Karen.”
"Applying “Karen” as a pejorative is not as fresh as it might seem. Some uses of the name to describe a spiteful, unpleasant woman go back maybe as far as three decades. But the name has been more widely used as a cultural meme in recent months.
"With apologies to those named Karen but aren’t “Karens,” a “Karen” in 2020 is, “an entitled, obnoxious, middle-aged white woman,” says dictionary.com. Wikipedia says a Karen “displays aggressive behavior when she is obstructed from getting her way.” She often wants to “speak to the manager” because it’s her nature to complain, hector, and rage.
"During the pandemic, we’ve seen Karens all over, screeching and nagging about masks, social distancing (both for and against it and on occasion taking both sides simultaneously), and any conduct she doesn’t agree with.
"A Karen is a tattletale and a snob, mean girl who got older but didn’t grow up. And her defining traits, bullying, a desire to subjugate others, and rank hypocrisy, fit snugly with progressive-left politics.
"Biden, guided by the identity politics of his party, has promised that his choice for running mate will be a woman. It’s said he’s looking hard at at least five candidates and maybe as many as eight. So who makes up this field of possibilities?
. . . For those who would complain that our editorial is sexist, we counter that with, one, Biden limited himself when he promised to choose a female running mate, so there are no men to criticize, and, two, there are male Karens out there, they just don’t have a name yet. We suggest Barack.
"We’re still at least a month away from Joe Biden announcing who his running mate will be for the 2020 election. It’s hard to tell which way he’s leaning, but no matter who he chooses, it will be “Karen.”
"Applying “Karen” as a pejorative is not as fresh as it might seem. Some uses of the name to describe a spiteful, unpleasant woman go back maybe as far as three decades. But the name has been more widely used as a cultural meme in recent months.
"With apologies to those named Karen but aren’t “Karens,” a “Karen” in 2020 is, “an entitled, obnoxious, middle-aged white woman,” says dictionary.com. Wikipedia says a Karen “displays aggressive behavior when she is obstructed from getting her way.” She often wants to “speak to the manager” because it’s her nature to complain, hector, and rage.
"During the pandemic, we’ve seen Karens all over, screeching and nagging about masks, social distancing (both for and against it and on occasion taking both sides simultaneously), and any conduct she doesn’t agree with.
"A Karen is a tattletale and a snob, mean girl who got older but didn’t grow up. And her defining traits, bullying, a desire to subjugate others, and rank hypocrisy, fit snugly with progressive-left politics.
"Biden, guided by the identity politics of his party, has promised that his choice for running mate will be a woman. It’s said he’s looking hard at at least five candidates and maybe as many as eight. So who makes up this field of possibilities?
"Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Maybe the most Karen of them all. Given the pulpit of a vice presidential candidate, and, Heaven help us, possibly the soapbox of the vice presidency, she will constantly howl about economic inequality, Wall Street, profit, and just about any principle that has made America the exceptional nation it is.
“She is a nag. A scold. An ideologue,” . . .