Calling someone a ‘Karen’ is ‘borderline racist, sexist and ageist’, tribunal says

a year ago by TRAHR to c/world

Employment judge George Alliott says term, typically targeted at middle-aged white women, is pejorative
MelastSB 67 points a year ago

Judge must be a Karen

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TomMasz 35 points a year ago

You can choose not to be a Karen. You can't choose not to be Black, for instance. Big difference.

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blimthepixie 35 points a year ago

So we just go back to using 'entitled dickhead'?

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FundMECFSResearch 14 points a year ago

Sounds about right. I do think the “Karen” stereotype is a bit unfair to some people with the name; I know a Karen who is literally the opposite person, she is lovely, sweet, and shy and well intentioned and empathetic.

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FoolishObserver 27 points a year ago

You can still put Karen in a headline. Children can still be named Karen.

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kryptonianCodeMonkey 18 points a year ago

[Karen] is pejorative.

No shit, Sherlock. It's an insult. Insults are pejorative. That's literally the point. It doesn't make it a slur, though. Slurs are about insulting someone for their genetic attributes, like their race or sex, or their sexuality, their nationality, or their religious or cultural identity, i.e. things that are inherent and largely unchosen about their identity. Slurs are not critiques for behaviors. "Asshole", "Fascist", "Bigot", and "Karen" are insults that are about behaviors, specifically about treating others without respect, equality, or basic human decency.

"Karen" is an insult for someone who acts entitled and who treats service workers poorly or sticks their nose into others' business and tries to police their behavior. The fact of the matter is that the majority of people that are that entitled and behave that way (in the US at least) are middle aged or elderly white women, which is where the name came from. But the term is not about insulting someone for being a middle aged or elderly white woman, is it? It's about their behavior. Older white women aren't the only ones that can be Karens, and most older white women do not behave like Karens.

If you cannot see the difference between insulting things you do vs things you are, you are probably very familiar with actual slurs.

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SirMaple__ 16 points a year ago

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Ghyste 15 points a year ago

Judges do not understand that the term has become a general reference most often unrelated to the initial stereotype.

But also a lawyer bloody well should have known better than to use such terminology.

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Anomalocaris 5 points a year ago

honest question,

isn't insulting someone protected by freedom of speech?

like, you can't prosecute someone for saying the N word

edit: first of all, my bad, thought it was the States, missed the UK part.

they do have hate speech laws there. I rescind my question

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vorpuni 4 points a year ago

You think British people have free speech? They get the police knocking at their door for dark jokes on social media.

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Anomalocaris 0 points a year ago

oh no,

I'm not allowed to advocate harm to minorities, the tyranny.

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driving_crooner 3 points a year ago

In Brazil you can totally go to jail for saying racist shit.

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Anomalocaris 0 points a year ago

hate speech laws make sense.

but was asking specifically about the US, which was stupid because the article is about the UK

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GreenKnight23 3 points a year ago

using the n word is hate speech and is a derogatory against race which is usually a protected status.

calling someone a Karen is like calling someone a bitch or an asshole. it is protected by freedom of speech because you're attacking their character not their identity.

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Anomalocaris 3 points a year ago

first of all, my bad, thought it was the States, missed the UK part.

they do have hate speech laws there. I rescind my question

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thatradomguy 5 points a year ago

Ok, Karen...

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Opinionhaver 2 points a year ago

Well what isn't. Those terms have been devalued to zero over the past 7 years or so.

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helvetpuli 1 point a year ago

Yeah, it was useful for about six months or so, but now it's just stupid.

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AntiBullyRanger -1 points a year ago

Judges being behind language vernaculars of the current generation‽ Say it isn’t so chat?

boomer judge haz no rizz.

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