The Fashion of ‘Karen’ is Changing. Her Personality Isn’t.

The idea of a woman gleefully rifling through her discount Coach bag in search of a cellphone, ready to tattle on Black people just trying to eat, or celebrate, or birdwatch in peace, is a well-trodden cliché. Thanks to visual culture, we know Karen when we see her, often before she even opens her mouth. …

For millennial women, sportswear has long been a flex. It’s not just a way to flaunt financial success—look, these leggings I bought solely to sweat in cost $98—but a reminder that white people can go about their R&R with ease, unaware that BIPOC will never know such comfort. …

Is the token Karen typecast sexist, capitalizing on the need to label loud women as shrews? Sure. The term has been subject to criticism, and until recently there was no “male Karen.” (A similarly crotchety “Kevin” or “Ken” figure has emerged since then.)

By Alaina Demopoulos, The Daily Beast