BLM Photo by Heather Mount-Unsplash

This weekend, #KarensGoneWild trended, and our feeds were filled with graphic videos of white women being horrifyingly racist.

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CULTURE

If You Think "Karen" Is a Slur, Then You're Definitely a Karen

A brief history of "Karens" and how to spot them at your local Women's March.

Whether you know someone actually named Karen or not, there's a high possibility that you've met a "Karen."

Not all "Karens" are named Karen, and not everyone named Karen is a "Karen"—but "Karens" are constantly walking (and tweeting) among us. Not too far removed from the "can I speak to your manager?" meme before it, "Karen" has become a catch-all name for the type of white woman with whom we've unfortunately grown all-too familiar. "Karens" live with the idea that their womanhood exonerates them from white privilege, and their day-to-day shenanigans prove they truly don't know how to read the room.

If you're so lucky as to not have dealt with a Karen in real life, then you've probably read about them in stories online. The woman in Oakland who called the police on a black family for barbecuing by the lake? She's a Karen. That time "gun girl" Kaitlyn Bennett said "we don't live in a racist society"? She was being especially Karen-like. Just this week, when Alyssa Milano—starter of the #MeToo movement—said she was continuing to endorse Joe Biden, without acknowledging the sexual assault allegations against him? Peak Karen behavior.

But the most Karen of all Karens is writer Julie Bindel, who tweeted some absolute insanity over the weekend: "Does anyone else think the 'Karen' slur is woman hating and based on class prejudice?" Ah, yes—good ol' class prejudice against upper-middle-class white folks. What could be more nefarious?



As with a lot of slang that's been adopted by the masses over the past decade, this usage of "Karen" was first coined by black people. It's since become canonized in reference to women like Bindel, who are so caught up in their narrow, self-centered view of feminism that they fail to acknowledge their glaring white privilege.

Most of all, Karens don't want to be left out of anything—especially oppression. They will latch onto any inconvenience that gives them the tiniest semblance of systematic oppression, arguing that "Karen" generalizes a specific collection of traits—white, middle-aged, upper-middle-class—as if those aren't the exact traits most frequently found in men of power. What makes Karens so dangerous is that they claim to be feminists but only act on it when that feminism directly benefits them; their racism, homophobia, and transphobia aren't always explicit, but their actions lack all the nuance of intersectionality.




Worst of all, Bindel's tweet seems to liken "Karen" with racial slurs, as if "the K-word" could ever come close to approximating the malicious history of actual derogatory words (plus, FYI, there already is another "k-word").

In summary: Don't be a Karen. "Karen" isn't a slur. If you're innocent and your name just so happens to be Karen, I'm so terribly sorry.

CULTURE

Are Memes the Key to a Revolution?

Memes can elect presidents and spark mass revolts. Why shouldn't they determine the fate of the world?

Most of us know that there's something up with Washington and the military-industrial complex that's running our world, which together are ignoring the very real threat of impending disaster due to the amount of carbon we're belching into the atmosphere.

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MUSIC

MUSIC MONDAY | The Oscars: Best of the Best Original Song goes to...

FEB 26 | Listing All 90 years of Academy Award Winners

Celebrating 90 years of Academy Award-winning music.

Every January, the entertainment community and film fans around the world watch the Academy Awards in eager anticipation. Hundreds of millions of movie lovers watch the glamorous celebrities and extravagant ceremony that reveals who will receive the most prestigious honors in filmmaking.

We thought it would be fun to make a mix of songs that won an Oscar, and also deserved it. There can be politics involved. When you look at some of the other nominees, how could they be passed over? But sometimes the Academy can really get it right. The music that does win can leave a lasting impact as there is a confirmation from the highest authority, that these songs are noteworthy. It becomes a mental note that every time we hear that song, it brings us back to the year we would hear it every day, until it faded from every minute to once in a while. The Oscars guarantee the life of the song lives on for generations.

It will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California at 5:00 p.m. PST on March 4, 2018. Jimmy Kimmel will host for a second consecutive year, making him the first person to host back-to-back ceremonies since Billy Crystal in 1997 and 1998.

Below you will find a complete list of every Oscar winner for Best Original Song since 1934. For a complete list of nominees for the 90th Oscars, click here. What music made the final cut?

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