MONDAY MUSINGS: A NAME IS A NAME, IS A NAME/ IS IT?

I 've spoken about middle names before and how my Dad hated his and so he didn't give any of his children a middle name. If we wanted one, I guess we could choose our own. 

'Never even thought about missing a middle name until I was in my preteens and initials all of a sudden had importance as jewelry was initialized and clothing had to have your initials. After much debate I chose Annette( probably due to Annette Funicello- she had so much fun on the beach, she was cute and perky) Mind you, I never changed my name legally but I did have 3 initials.  It was always NMN ( no middle name) for those legal documents.

So where am I going with this? I'm sure my parents toiled over choosing their children's names as much as I did over mine. Names seem to carry meaning with them. There's a dictionary of names for all you expectant parents and lists of the most popular names.

My given name is germanic in origin and means 'strong.' I liked the idea of being strong in character. It was a common name in the 50's when I was born which became really apparent when 2/1000 students I had, had the same first name. I never had a problem with my first name until this past weekend when I discovered my given name carries an entire new meaning. Check it out:  

"Karen is a mocking slang term for an entitled, obnoxious,  middle-aged white woman. Especially 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 a nagging, often divorced mother from Generation X."

I'm not middle aged nor blonde with a bob, I am divorced and my children and spouse would say I can nag.  I also have been known to ask to see a manager on many an occasion to voice a complaint but not in a nasty way.  My parents taught me to be respectful and treat others with kindness. Entitled? Yes, because I was born in a society that gives white privilege but as in any behavior it is the decision of the individual how they behave. The work is on every person to change an injust system.

Perhaps this is what's so wrong. Most folks don't like being called a racist because that's not how they were taught to behave. Yet, the point is we have to admit, acknowledge our racism when it is called out. That's the first step. Then, it is up to us to make the changes... no matter what your name is... 

Here are some 'Karen' clips :
5 Karen Clips
Kroger Karen
Dallas Karen