Protesters walk during the Women’s March on Washington, with the U.S. Capitol in the background, on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Just like there is no true male equivalent for a slut.
“Yes there is!” I can hear some of you say.
“A Player, a Casanova, a ladies man, a Chad or a Ken.”
This is me giving you side-eye.
Those terms are bloodless, limp and cutesy when applied to men.
They are usually delivered with a wink or a guffaw.
The word slut, though—much like Karen— has a razors edge.
It will slice through your skin. Even today.
There is no male equivalent for Karen, because men, evidently, do not need a name for acting awful, uncivil, entitled, racist, and rude.
That is what we literally witnessed with Rep. Ted Yoho in calling Ocasio-Cortez a “disgusting f___ing b____h.”
Let’s let that sink in.
And that is to say nothing of all the people I am seeing—male and female—shuting down women on the internet by dismissing them as a Karen, i.e. OK, calm down Karen” for the following crimes:
1. taking up too much conversational space
2. making a stink or getting upset about, literally anything.
3. taking bold action, even when justified.
We can and should loudly speak out against racist, awful, entitled clueless tone-dear, dangerous behavior from folks of any gender.
But intersectionality means, or should mean, you don’t get to be an ally to one marginalized group by smearing or snarking another.
Full disclosure: until recently I used the term Karen myself.
Gleefully even. It felt so satisfying; I got a sugar-rush from the triumphant snark of it all. Anyways they deserved it, I told myself.
As of today, I won’t be using that word anymore.
We can be tough on the Racists and the Awfuls and still do the right thing.
Sans the misogyny.
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