So I've just had a thought, and bare with me because I'm aware that this could be a reach lmao.
So it's already been brought up in radblr how the Karen meme has gone too far and demonizes women for asserting themselves and demonizes women for being middle aged, and god forbid a woman is middle aged and asserts herself!
But I was thinking about the stereotypical "Karen" haircut, which is like this:
and it make me think, of course the stereotypical "Karen" haircut is a short and practical haircut, not long beautiful tresses or something that's conventionally attractive and seen as beautiful to men. So the Karen meme not only demonizes women for daring to assert themsevles / be middle aged instead of young and naive, but it's also demonizing women for daring to have short practical haircuts instead of long beautiful tresses that follow typical patriarchal beauty standards.
Like I've seen comments on instagram of girls and women who previously hair long hair getting it cut into a pixie or bob and people, usually boys and men, commenting "Karen haircut lmao" or "future Karen in the making" just on normal and practical looking bobs and pixie cuts, and then this leads to the girls and women I've heard saying they want to get a bob or a pixie cut but "don't want to look like a Karen" so they keep their conventionally attractive long locks.
I'm willing to entertain the idea that the Karen meme started as a reasonable way for retail employees to vent about the abuse they get from customers, however either way now women are getting called Karens just for existing past the age of 30, or just for asserting themselves when it's reasonable and called for to assert yourself, or in this case just for daring to have short and practical haircuts. Besides, I've been working in food service and retail for the better part of a decade now and my worst customers are always men. Male customers will regularly get violent and genuinely make me afraid for my safety. Meanwhile when female customers are bad usually the worst they do is be snippy and make me feel bad about myself. Which isn't nearly the same as genuinely making me feel unsafe. And also, the worst female customers I get are often teenage girls and young women who are closely following conventional beauty standards including having long hair.
