Feminist Current
The Karen/Becky meme has officially gone too far
The male centred progressive left has successfully made woman-hating trendy.
"Today, yet another โKarenโ video went viral online. This time, it seems a woman flipped off a male driver, one Karlos Dillard, who then followed her home and filmed her as she melted down into hysterics, posting the video online, which included her home address and licence plate. Over eight million views later (sure to be more by the time you read this), and Dillard is selling t-shirts based on the incident.
It seems this is a hobby for Dillard, who has posted other similarly antagonistic videos, accusing women of โracismโ (despite no evidence of racism) in an attempt to turn Karen virality into profit. Other t-shirts for sale on his Instagram profile include one with the words, โKarenโฆ Are you OK?โ and another reading, โKeep that same energy, Karen.โ
The Karen meme has been misogynist from the get-go, originating from an anonymous male Reddit user, Fuck_You_Karen, who was angry at his ex-wife, named Karen, for taking custody of his children. In 2017, his misogynist rants became a subreddit, r/FuckYouKaren.
Recently, the meaning of โKarenโ was said to refer specifically to middle class, middle aged white women who are so entitled they ask to speak to the manager when perturbed, but has since morphed into a specifically racist white woman, who โweaponizesโ white, female fragility against largely black men. This connects to sexist tropes that claim women use their emotions, vulnerability, and tears to manipulate men.
What began as a joke has become more than that, and has moved into explicitly misogynist (and, in my opinion, dangerous) territory."
