Women don’t need rescuing, they need an equal voice.
“Karen is a pejorative term used in the United States” originally intended to call out mostly white women on acting rude, spoiled, and self-unaware. It’s grossly misused. It originated from an ex-husband who was angry at his ex-wife Karen over a custody battle. The notion that women use their emotions and vulnerability to manipulate men. Karen is a label to bring division among us. It’s a form of gender discrimination to discredit female voices.
My project Karen 1.1 illustrates the power of women. I started with my model, Karen. She teaches special needs students by day, is a volunteer fire-woman, and sews miniature quilts in her spare time. Karen is the modern woman who is engaged throughout our society on multiple levels, a person respected and a woman who brings her voice to the table.
The passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice of the United States, made it clear we need to continue the fight for human rights and equality. Now, those hard fought for rights are in danger to be lost to us once again. Memes like “Karen” are an effective tool to convert the voices of women into white noise, suppressed, unheard, unspoken and ignored.
The ongoing project will document the lives of women like Karen illustrating their valuable contribution to society.
WE ARE KAREN: Female strong, persistent, kind and empowered.
Karen demonstrates how women contribute to local communities through creativity, service and protection.
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