Karen Generation

About

Karen Generation is a slang term for Generation X that grew popular amidst the generational conflict surrounding the OK Boomer meme as online commenters noted that those who would be a typical Karen would likely be born between 1965 and 1985, the years that are roughly the time period of Generation X. The term generated much more commentary after BuzzFeed published an article claiming "Gen Z Is Now Calling Gen X The 'Karen Generation.'"

Origin

Talk equating Generation X to "Karens" began in early November of 2019. On November 5th, Twitter user @andiebee_^[1] tweeted "i live for the “ok boomer” meme but i dont think yall realize that the last boomer was born in 1964. karens are gen x."

Spread

On November 14th, BuzzFeed^[2] posted an article claiming how Generation Z was calling Generation X the "Karen" generation. For evidence, reporter Lauren Strapagiel pointed to some tweets that had not gained much spread and the comments on a TikTok video by @nola_thot^[3] about the generational conflicts, many of which stated Gen X had Karens (shown below).

After the BuzzFeed post, however, the idea of Generation X as the "Karen" generation began gaining more traction. A screenshot of the article was posted to /r/FuckYouKaren,^[4] gaining over 19,000 points (shown below, left). Twitter user @DeliaCai tweeted the article, gaining over 70 retweets and 420 likes (shown below, right). The article led other blogs to pick up the story, including Goat.com.^[5] On The Outline,^[6] Zachary Lipez chimed in on the situation saying teens should be roasting Gen-Xers over Boomers.^[6]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References