I was already uncomfortable with Karen
as a general term of abuse. Now I learn that Space Karen
refers to Elon Musk, who is behaving badly.
This goes to the ancient tradition of blaming women for men’s behaviour. If Elon is being obnoxious then call him by his own name! 😤


@paulcraig901 Think of say the year 2072: "That was a real Elon move!" vs "That was a real Karen move". Let his name go down in history as a synonym for whatever foolishness trumps all. (Card games, not ex presidents, but there's a 'good' name too.)

Your point about how eagerly a female name was adopted to mean “jackass” — in general, and now to apply to Elon — is an excellent one, thank you for making it.

A friend of mine is named Karen, and she’ll never ask to see the manager, and she did not appreciate her name being in this meme. Elno fits better for sure.

@odd After I wrote that I got to pondering whether any person's name should be used in that way. I can understand the extremes — Hitler and his ilk — but most badly behaved folk aren't at that level.

@alanralph I think you mean Elmo, right? Even that would demean a beloved Sesame Street character

True. Many have been undeservedly been compared to Hitler too.