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There’s a lot going on when you turn on your social media feeds these days, so you’ll be forgiven for not keeping up with the latest meme that’s got everyone talking: Karen. If you're behind, let us try to explain what the 'Karen' meme is.

Now, it's especially being used as a term for women who refuse to wear face masks - and is even trending because of this. But why aren't Kens also getting called out? Because, lots of evidence shows that, if anything, it's men who are more likely to disregard coronavirus rules.

Many are now calling the use of the term Karen sexist...

But first, some background...

Who is Karen? What is the Karen meme?

The ‘Karen’ meme has been around for a while. It started in America and is used as a catchall for a group of women who look, talk and think in a certain way, in the same way ‘Chads’ or ‘Gammons’ have been popularised previously.

A Karen is generally from Generation X (the one between baby boomers and millennials), so in her late 30s or 40s. She is generally a middle-class white woman, with a specific haircut – a what is often called a ‘can I speak to the manager’ haircut. The hairstyle is that kind of American soccer-mom haircut – blonde, highlighted and short/bobbed, maybe a little longer around the front. Think early noughties Posh Spice.

©Twitter

There are a lot more traits that have been tacked onto Karen as she has gained popularity… she might be a soccer mom; divorced; in America, she is often an anti-vaxxer. In other memes, she can be racist, homophobic and transphobic. On the whole, the Karen meme speaks to the person having privilege, and specifically, white privilege.

So, to illustrate the privilege, as the haircut denotes, a Karen can often be found, well, asking to speak to the manager. Karen is self-entitled. She’s antagonistic and she’s irritating and obnoxious.

You don’t want to be a Karen. Basically.

You can now even buy a Karen Halloween costume. 'Scare all ur friends with ur big hair and narrow mind,' says Jason Adcock in a post that went viral.

Who are Kens?

And Kens are the male versions of Karen. That's... that's it really. But, as many have commented, it's a phrase that is used a lot less.

Why is the term Karen controversial?

Karens seem to have become particularly prominent since we’ve all been on lockdown for lots of reasons. Karens will have sent you the messages from ‘a friend of a friend who is in the army’ before the country went into lockdown. A Karen might’ve complained about you picking up two loos rolls, when you were getting one for the old lady down the street. A Karen might've complained about you taking a state-mandated walk in the park near her house, while Karen herself has a garden.

Anyway, Karen became the subject of a hot Twitter debate in April 2020 when there was a Karen backlash.

People, including journalist Julie Bindel and others, posited that the use of Karen was actually a slur. (It’s probably worth noting here that there does seem to be some difference between the US and UK Karens, whereby some believe it denotes privilege and a certain level of wealth – see the American soccer mom Karen – while others, particularly in the UK, argue that the name is a classist joke.)

Some went even further on Twitter, arguing that Karen was a racial slur as it only applies to white women. This idea was violently rejected by many, who were upset at the idea that the meme could be considered this way.

Twitter of course responded to the row with humour and is eating itself with more memes.

Why don't Karens and Kens wear masks? Who is San Diego Karen?

Karens and Kens have become even bigger news recently, when in America, they became linked with people who refused to wear masksand were filmed and put on social media after having meltdowns in stores and coffee shops when they were asked to put on a mask. See, for instance 'Trader Joe's Karen'.

One of the infamous mask Karens, was 'San Diego Karen'. Californian Amber Lynn Gilles posted on Facebook about not being served at a Starbucks because she wasn't wearing a mask. The barista (who was pictured) then made a counter-video and has now raised $93,000 in tips.

Now, the meme has crossed the Atlantic and with face masks now compulsory in shops in the UK, as of Friday July 24, the characterisation of Karens has come too. The phrase Karen was trending on Twitter in the UK on the day the mask laws came into place.

As many have stated online, while there appears to be a lot of men also (or moreso) not wearing masks, why is it that Karen - and therefore women, not men ignoring the rules - is trending?

Ken, for the record, wasn't trending...

What's Karen got to do with BBC podcast No Country For Young Women and a licence fee fight?

In a now-deleted social post, advertising the latest episode of BBC Podcast, No Country For Young Women, presenter Sadia Azmat asked her guests Dr Charlotte Riley and Amelia Dimoldenberg, 'How can white women not be Karens?'

Taking about how white women could better educate themselves about race, Dimoldenberg (of Chicken Shop Date) said: 'Read some books so you are aware of the histories of white people and race.'

Historian Dr Riley added: 'I think as well just try not to be defensive about things, and particularly try not to be defensive about your whiteness. I think a lot of the time when women are Karens, it is because they are completely unwilling to accept that their whiteness is a privilege and, you know, instead they want to be treated in a special way because they are women.'

Hadley Freeman, was amongst those who tweeted about the post.

Conservative MP Ben Bradley then claimed he was cancelling his TV licence over the tweet, saying it was racist: '. @bbc spending £100m on diversity and this junk (which honestly is racist! Would not be acceptable the other way around!) whilst at the same time ditching regional news in order to save £25m #Wrong Absolute joke. Cancelling my TV license. I don't need to pay for this.'

Laurence Fox also weighed in, saying: 'It’s so sad to watch the once great @bbc swap the complex and unifying goals of rigorous inquiry, for race pandering tribalism. #DefundTheBBC'

The social post has now been removed and a BBC statement said: 'These comments were not part of the podcast and featured only in a short social media clip. The episode itself is an in-depth and broad discussion on racism, class, feminism and stereotypes.'

Infamous Karen memes...

©Twitter

In recent times there's been 'Fajita Karen' - a woman who refused to eat her fajitas without shredded cheese. Her husband posted a picture complaining to the restaurant they'd had to wait '18 minutes' for the cheese 'as it's the only way she can eat fajitas'. The internet, of course, saw the funny side and Karen-branded her.

What does 'Respect The Drip Karen' mean?

There may be another Karen meme you've heard of - Respect The Drip Karen.

The phrase comes from a TikTok by @Drewbreeeeze, from July 2019, who is saying his step-mom Karen won't let him out wearing an outfit he's been working on. He then reveals the outfit in a mirror, saying 'Respect the drip, Karen'.