As it turns out, this woman actually had paid for the bike she was accused of trying to steal from a Black man, and she was the victim in this scenario. But she was labeled a “bike Karen,” and once someone is labeled a Karen, people who don’t like women, or who think women should never be anything but submissive and composed, gleefully pile on. It’s a chance to hate on women in a socially sanctioned way. And people who want to signal to others how virtuous they are - look at me, I’m one of the good women, I hate women who are mean or entitled! - join in the fray. Now people have been conditioned, when they see someone called a Karen, to join in for the instant dopamine shot that being part of mob justice provides.
The worst part about this meme is that it encourages people to film, upload and share videos of women misbehaving, which means that denizens of the internet see far more videos of women acting badly, or just being angry, than of men doing the same. The implications are obvious.
Before you use the Karen label, please think of how it might be used against you one day as a signifier that your perspective is not valid.
Edit: So many people are missing my point about the Karen meme, trying to litigate in the comments whether this woman does or doesn’t count as one and whether she deserves the criticism. Even when women behave atrociously, labeling them with a derogatory gendered meme is harmful to women as a group for the reasons I mentioned.
Edit: it’s been pointed out that the Post may be a biased source. Other sources:
CBS story: https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/newyork/news/citi-bike-fight-video-woman-attorney/
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