First degree cheesiness or aggravated douchebaggery? Karens, Beckys, and the making of murderous memes

November 10, 2020 Rebecca Harris

In this podcast episode, we delve into the role that namecalling and meme-making can play in violence and even mass murder.

Also, we also address more burning questions you didn’t know you had, like, if your Melvina’s flairing up, is it from too much Subway?

Does a child molester sandwich really have around 200 calories? (*Answer: Nope. It claims to be 310 calories. Which means, like, 500.)

Who are all these Karens and Stacys, Chads and Brads?

Is the Becky of this very show the same Becky of Uggs and Starbucks fame, and is she really too busy gluing rhinestones back on her iPhone case to realize what's actually going on?! (Maybe) Is her biggest concern falling after her heel gets caught in the cobblestone while chasing after her boyfriend in the meat packing district? (Only sometimes!)

Which should we fear more: Siri or Alexa? Claritin or Allegra?

And, finally:

Oh my God, Becky! Why does Merie want to see the manager?!

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Our main sources for this podcast episode include -

A great article by Rebecca Jennings on the incel stuff. This piece from Maureen Callahan detailing recent mass murders by incel guys.

A smart argument that “Becky” is NOT, indeed, racist. The M-W dictionary.

Read more about Albert Bandura and moral disengagement here. And about the book Less than Human here.

PlEASE visit this incredibly important school shooting prevention site. Please.

Further reading: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/30/us/karen-meme-trnd/index.html

https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/internet/2018/01/karen-sharon-becky-and-chad-how-it-feels-when-your-name-becomes-meme

https://brenebrown.com/blog/2018/05/17/dehumanizing-always-starts-with-language/