Why The Names "Becky" And "Karen" Are Used As Mocking/Insulting Social Referents For Certain Types Of White Females (information & comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision: July 5, 2020

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series that focuses on comments from a discussion thread about a 1960 Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show television film clip of African American Rock and Roll/Rhythm & Blues (R&B) singer Frankie Lymon performing his record "Little Bitty Pretty One".

Part II presents information about the mocking/insulting social meanings of the names "Becky" and "Karen" as they refer to White women. Part II also presents selected comments that include the insulting names "Becky" or "Karen" from the discussion thread of the 1960 Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show television film clip of African American African American Rock and Roll/Rhythm & Blues (R&B) singer Frankie Lymon performing his record "Little Bitty Pretty One".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/03/racist-or-just-shy-comments-about-white.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I presents information about Frankie Lymon and showcases a 1960 Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show television film clip of African American Rock and Roll/Rhythm & Blues (R&B) singer Frankie Lymon performing his record "Little Bitty Pretty One".

Part I also presents selected comments from that YouTube video's discussion thread. Almost all of those comments refer to the close-up shots that were taken of various females who were watching that performance. However, these selected comments don't include the names "Becky" or "Karen" that are used as social referents for types of White women.

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The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-clean-meaning-of-name-becky-in.html for a 2016 pancocojams post entitled 'The "Clean" Meaning of The Name "Becky" In African American Culture'

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WHY "BECKY" IS USED AS A SOCIAL REFERENT FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF WHITE FEMALES
From https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/becky/
"Becky is a stereotype for a white woman, especially one who is unaware or takes advantage of her social privilege. Becky is also used more generally to mock a young white woman as basic."

[...]

Where does Becky Come From
Becky follows in the tradition of using first names to generalize a type of person. Other recent examples are Karen, Becky’s middle-aged counterpart, or Stacy, who is similar to Becky but often used in a more overtly sexist manner in male internet spaces.

There are many instances in popular culture associating the name Becky (nickname for Rebecca) with an average white woman, variously portrayed as young, boring, unaware or taking advantage of her privilege, and sometimes promiscuous. Notably, rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot used Becky in his 1992 hit song “Baby Got Back.” In its spoken intro, two women—both stereotyped as Valley Girls, one of them addressed as Becky—critique a Black woman’s physique.

In 2009, rapper Plies presented a very sexualized Becky in his song of the same name. Becky was also the subject of a 2014 meme featuring Taylor Swift. The meme mimicked an anti-drug PSA using Swift as a stand-in for a young white girl.

[...]

Really helping to solidify and spread Becky as a slang term for a privileged white woman was Beyoncé’s 2016 song “Sorry.” The song closes with a lyric referring to a woman a man is having an affair with: “He only want me when I’m not there / He better call Becky with the good hair.” Becky with the good hair is interpreted to refer to white women, whose hair has been historically considered more beautiful, according to the dominant cultural norms, than the natural hair of Black women.

Into the late 2010s, Becky was applied on social media to white women who called the police on people of color, especially Black people, over trivial matters and out of apparent racial bias. One the most notorious incidents involved so-called BBQ Becky from 2018.

[...]

Who Uses Becky?
To call a woman a Becky generally implies she is unaware of her privilege having been born as a white person and that isn’t concerned with issues facing people of color. As such, some people of color may use Becky to call out instances of white women they perceive as being racist.

[...]

Some white woman, notably rapper Iggy Azalea in 2016, have said Becky is an unfair and racist stereotype. In some instances, using Becky has been called reverse racism. In other instances, some white women have jokingly called themselves a Becky.

More generally, Becky is used to make fun of a woman as basic, mocking her as a thoughtless girl who likes things associated with mainstream culture, e.g., pumpkin spice lattes and UGG boots.”...

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WHY "KAREN" IS USED AS A SOCIAL REFERENT FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF WHITE FEMALES
From https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/karen/ "WHAT DOES KAREN MEAN? [This excerpt was updated to the version of this article that was retrieved on July 5, 2020]
"Karen is a pejorative slang term for an obnoxious, angry, entitled, and often racist middle-aged white woman who uses her privilege to get her way or police other people's behaviors.
As featured in memes, Karen is generally stereotyped as having a blonde bob haircut, asking to speak to retail and restaurant managers to voice complaints or make demands, and being an anti-vaxx, Generation X soccer mom.

In 2020, Karen spread as a label used to call out white women who were captured in viral videos engaging in what are widely seen as racist acts.

Where does Karen Come From?
Karen joins a trend on the internet in the 2010s of using a first name to make fun of certain kinds of people. A Becky, for example, is a stereotype for a “basic” young, white woman, while a Chad, in other corners of the internet, stands in for a cocky, young “dudebro.”

But, why the name Karen? One suggestion is that it comes from a 2007 bit by Dane Cook called “The Friend Nobody Likes.” (The friend was named Karen.) Another explanation is that it comes from the character Karen in the 2004 film Mean Girls, who’s the subject of the popular quote: “Oh my God, Karen, you can’t just ask someone why they’re white.” It’s even been put forth that Karen comes the even earlier 1990 film Goodfellas, one of whose characters is named Karen.
Whatever the origin of the slang, the name Karen, apparently, is popularly thought of as a generic-seeming name for a middle-aged white woman of certain generation.

Karen appears as early as September 2016 when a Tumblr user, joematar, made fun a promo for Nintendo Switch in which a white woman (appearing to be in her late 20s or early 30s) brings the gaming device to a party. The user refers to this supposed kill-joy as Karen: “Oh sh&t*, Karen brought her stupid Nintendo thing to the party again. We’re DRINKING, Karen. We’re having CONVERSATIONS.”

The character was further developed in December 2017 thanks to a subreddit dedicated to mocking the imagined Karen (somewhat like Cook’s “The Friend Nobody Likes” bit). Tropes that developed about Karen here were that she is an annoying (and always annoyed) middle-aged, suburban, minivan-driving white, divorced mother of poorly behaved boys (of whom she has custody) who has a so-called “speak to the manager” haircut.

[...]

Because Karen is a stereotype of a woman of a certain age, some may considering offensive, sexist, or ageist … or Karen-ist, though it appears most people named Karen have a good sense of humor about it.”
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in that article.
-snip-
Added July 5, 2020
In 2020 a number of "Karen" memes focus on that White woman's entitled racist behavior. Here's a quote from Robin Queen's June 12, 2020 article entitled How ‘Karen’ went from a popular baby name to a stand-in for white entitlement https://theconversation.com/how-karen-went-from-a-popular-baby-name-to-a-stand-in-for-white-entitlement-139644
"When I read about Amy Cooper, the woman in Central Park who called the police on a black birder because he’d asked her to leash her out-of-control dog, I was horrified.

But, as a sociolinguist who studies and writes about language and discrimination, I was also struck by the name given to Cooper in several headlines: “Central Park Karen".  On Twitter, the birder’s sister also referred to her as a “Karen.”

There was no confusion about what this meant: It was a label for a white woman who had used her privilege to threaten and try to intimidate a black man by calling the police."... -snip-
A portion of the April 7, 2018 Saturday Night Live's "Black Jeopardy" sketch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzMzFGgmQOc  starring Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa [Black Panther] included a reference to a White woman named "Karen". However, this use of the name "Karen" for a White woman doesn't have the negative self-entitled or racist connotations that have been given to other uses of the name "Karen". In the sketch, Kenan Thompson, in character as the host, reads a card from the category “White People” that says, “Your friend Karen brings her potato salad to your cookout.” T’Challa responds, “I sense that this white woman does not season her food.” He continues, “Something tells me that I should say, ‘Aw, hell no naw, Karen! Keep your bland-ass potato salad to yourself!’ " https://variety.com/video/chadwick-boseman-snl-potato-salad-joke/
The core difference between this depiction of the White woman named "Karen" and other depictions of White women named "Karen", particularly in 2020, is that in that "Black Jeopardy" sketch, "Karen" is described as a Black man's White friend". Presumably, she is a non-romantic female friend, such as a co-worker. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/raisin-potato-salad explains this meme as "Raisin Potato Salad is an internet slang term to describe unnecessary actions taken by white people, usually adding their spin on examples of black popular culture."
-end of quote-
While that may be one interpretation of that joke/meme or extensions of that joke/meme, I believe the "raisins in potato salad" meme most directly refers to Black Americans' belief that in general we are better cooks than White people and even more specifically, that White people are known to put ingredients and/or seasoning in their food that Black Americans would consider strange and off-putting.

That the White woman in that 2018 Black Jeopardy sketch is named "Karen" may have been a coincidence as "Karen" was/is  considered a "White" female name. 

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR THE YOUTUBE "VIDEO" Frankie Lymon "Little Bitty Pretty One" published by NRRArchives, Dec 1, 2012 (Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show. August 13, 1960)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9PNVUpI19A&t=2s

[Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.]

1. Jaythecupid, 2019
"The mad white girls in the audience built the generation of “Karen’s” we have today"

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REPLY
2. because0011, 2019
"Jaythecupid who’s Karen?"

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REPLY
3. patrick starshooter, 2019
"@because0011 The generic name for the white lady who wants to "talk to the manager" and "call police on blacks, doing anything she doesn't like" "

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REPLY
4. Bede, 2020
"No, this is too old. Karen's were born in the 60's."

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5. Tamerra T, 2019
"The Beckys in the audience were scared af to enjoy his performance 😂😂"

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REPLY
6. James Scarcelli, 2019
"i noticed that too..i would have been jitterbugging."

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REPLY
7. Dora Is the homie, 2019
"Not scared racist"

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REPLY
8. HarrodsFan, 2019
"They'd have preferred to see Elvis or other successful singer of that time."

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9. COON HUNTER #1, 2019
"They didn't enjoy it. Becky's who the hell are you taniqua"

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REPLY
10. Teo, 2020
"Yea, n there wasn’t one Shanaynay in sight"
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The female names "Taniqua" and "Shanaynay" are considered to be insulting/mocking so-called "ghetto" African American names.

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11. Chloe Leigh Hardy, 2019
"I DEMAND TO SPEAK TO YOUR MANAGER"

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12. Bryce Breaux, 2019
"“I mustn’t let father know I enjoyed the colored boy’s performance.”

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REPLY
13. mr bigwood, 2020
"😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅"

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REPLY
14. Moises Ojeda, 2020
"Lol"

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REPLY
15. Czar Khan, 2020
"😭😭😭😭😭😭"

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REPLY
16. jailen honeycutt, 2020
"It’s funny that you all found it funny 😂😂"

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REPLY
17. Tammy T, 2020
"You're projecting."

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REPLY
18. Tammy T, 2020
"They're racists. Of course they found it funny."

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REPLY
19. Bryce Breaux, 2020
"Tammy T, I’m talkin about all the Beckys in the crowd not smiling or looking like they enjoy the show. It ain’t that deep fam"

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REPLY
20. Luis Murrell, 2020
"@Bryce Breaux But those are the only ones the camera lingered on. Any girls that got "too enthusiastic" were probably not shown lest anyone get some ideas.

Then again, I'm wondering how genuine the clapping and cheering was, or if it was canned. Everyone looks like placid cows in the audience, all chewing away on their (free) Beech-Nut"

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REPLY
21. BILLY BARTY, 2020
"2468 WE DON'T WANT INTERGRATE"

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REPLY
22. pallbearers1969, 2020
"Klan kids were shocked when Frankie stepped out of the backstage ...."

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REPLY
23. MARSHA MASCARO, 2020
"Bryce Breaux Giggling in Alabama. You nailed it."

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24. meandemjay, 2019
..."a bunch of off beat barbecue beckies"

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25. buttacudawey, 2019
..."Becky's sister 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂"

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26. Desta Faith, 2019
"These are the grandmothers of the "BBQ Beckys" that we have harassing black people who are just enjoying themselves today."

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REPLY
27. Cocoa Renay, 2020
"Omg you're so absolutely right!👍🏿👍🏿"

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REPLY
28. Tammy T, 2020
"You are a racist."

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REPLY
29. Afro Atheist, 2020
"@Tammy T How?!😂"

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REPLY
30. messyourself 1, 2020
"@Tammy T no she is not"

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REPLY
31. M Amadeus, 2020
"Ok...I wouldnt go that far. 😒"

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REPLY
32. Dwight Schrute, 2020
"She is a racist because she brings race into this, she assumes that the white people here are racist because of her own prejudices against white people, they could have reacted that way for a lot of reasons but no, you have to bring that to 'white people are evil racists' not even realizing that saying things like that makes you the racist one."

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33. John Brown, 2020
"All of those bubblegum chewing Beckys are thinking, "We can't act excited... the camera is watching us. We don't want any backlash from our parents and community.""

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REPLY
34. mrj0nny5, 2020
"The show was sponsored by a gum company."

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REPLY
35. Tiana Princes-Nalwanga, 2020
"John Brown exactly their parents would scold them"

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36. Flyover Philosophy, 2020
"Excuse me, can I speak to your manager? There’s a black on stage."

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37. Myrtice Moore, 2020
"Beckys"

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This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.

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