Read on Twitter
If anyone doubts that “Karen” comment from a white woman was a racist microaggression, let me break it down for you. Yes, it’s time for another thread.
The term “Karen” is specifically used to disparage white women who use their privilege to hurt others less privileged than they are. The classic example is the middle aged white woman who asks to speak to the manager when she can’t bully a cashier into doing whatever she wants.
In this example, the “Karen” is using her privilege as not just a customer, but a white person making a complaint, to get someone less privileged in trouble at the very least — perhaps even fired — so she can receive special perks no one else does.
“Karen” is NOT the term to use if you simply want to refer to any woman you find irritating. It’s also not the term to use for women who aren’t white. This distinction is important.
Now, while I don’t have hard numbers, if you look at any place where Yuzu’s fan base congregates — twitter, PH, comps, Weibo, etc. — it becomes clear that his fan base is primarily not white. This is particularly evident at any comp that is overwhelmingly attended by Fanyus.
I don’t know if this woman knew that. Maybe she didn’t! If so, this means she automatically assumed that his fans were white, just like her, which is a racist microaggression. It SHOULD be really obvious that you can’t just assume everyone you interact with on twitter is white.
If she DID know, that’s even worse. This means that she went out of her way to use a term that is meant for disparaging the common weaponization of white privilege by white women to insult a group that has a majority of people of color.
That’s really gross, and ironically, it a perfect example of the weaponization of white privilege inherent in the term “Karen.” A white woman calling women of color “Karen” is actually about as Karen as you can get.
It’s a marker of ignorance of your privilege to wield that term against someone less privileged than you. The entitlement required for a white woman to use it against people of color — people who, by definition, cannot have that term applied to them — is frankly staggering.
The absolute best case here is that this woman is clueless and doesn’t understand that “Karen” can’t simply be used against anyone you find annoying. That’s still bad, though!
Even if you didn’t actively mean to cause racist harm to people of color, you are STILL RESPONSIBLE for the harm caused by spouting off a racist microaggression. You still screwed up. You still have to apologize. This can happen when you use terms you don’t understand.
I don’t know for sure which scenario fits this woman, but ultimately, the important thing is she said something gross and racist because, in her aggrieved self-righteousness, she *wanted to hurt people.*
She should apologize, but based on the fact that she’s blocking anyone who complains, she probably won’t. What a Karen
