‘KAREN’ IS A SEXIST, CLASSIST INSULT

It is often suggested that women object to being labelled a “Karen” because we can’t take a joke. The one thing feminists have is a sense of humour; we can often be found laughing heartily at the ridiculousness of some men.

Ofcom’s inclusion of “Karen” in its list of potentially offensive terms took me back to last April when, having seen numerous women being told by men on Twitter, “Bye, Karen” when they called out sexism, I tweeted: “Does anyone else think the ‘Karen’ slur is womanhating and based on class prejudice?” My tweet caused an outpouring of invective against me, neatly proving my point.

I was informed that the term was used by black Americans to describe a white, racist middle-class woman who uses her privilege against people of colour, threatening to “call the manager”. Why would I have known this when up until that point I had only seen white men using it against women of all races, and always in a sexist, derogatory way?

I received hundreds of threats, insults and accusations on Twitter, mainly by white men with beards, accusing me of racism, telling me I was “too ugly to rape” and threatening to cause me harm. Many of them signed off with, “Bye, Karen!”

Despite its origins, the way that “Karen” is now used, especially by men on social media, is a sexist, classist term.

Last year, days before Jess Phillips was appointed shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, more than 10,000 people liked a joke tweet saying “Breaking: Jess Phillips assigned shadow Karen minister”.

I refuse to accept “reverse racism” as a concept, and the last thing I would dream of doing is dispute the right of victims of racism to expose and condemn it.

But just as people of colour have every right to express their disgust and anger at bigotry and prejudice, so do women when it comes to sexism. It’s my job as a feminist to point this out.

“Karen” is now being used routinely by men pretending to be progressive as a sexist insult towards any woman who dares to speak out about our rights.