The Name That Became a Meme
If you've spent any time online in the last five years, you know the deal: 'Karen' stopped being just a name somewhere around 2017. It became shorthand for a specific archetype — the entitled, demanding, 'let me speak to your manager' type. Memes, news clips, and viral videos cemented it into the cultural lexicon, and millions of perfectly decent women named Karen found themselves saddled with a reputation they never asked for.
Now, Gen Z has moved on. Their new target? Jessica.
Why Jessica?
The internet's logic, such as it is, goes something like this: 'Karen' has become so mainstream that it's lost its edge. Gen Z, always hunting for the freshest cultural shorthand, has apparently decided that 'Jessica' now carries the same energy — think mid-2000s mean girl, a certain brand of passive-aggressive social maneuvering, and a deeply held belief that the rules simply don't apply to you.
For Karen Scanlan, a Canadian woman who wrote about her experience for CBC, the whole thing is equal parts absurd and oddly relatable. She's spent years quietly cringing every time someone drops a 'Karen' joke, reassuring friends that no, she's not offended — while being a little bit offended. The idea that an entire generation could now do the same thing to every Jessica out there is, she admits, darkly satisfying.
What's in a Name, Really?
The 'Karen' phenomenon is genuinely fascinating from a cultural standpoint. Linguists and sociologists have pointed out that names used as social shorthand tend to cluster around certain generations — names that were extremely common in the 1960s and 70s, associated with women who are now in their 50s and 60s. The same pattern holds with 'Boomer' as an insult, or the use of 'Chad' and 'Becky' in other internet subcultures.
It's not really about the name, of course. It never is. It's about the behaviour the name has come to represent, and the generational frustration that fuels the label in the first place.
But that cold comfort doesn't do much for actual Karens — or, soon enough, actual Jessicas — who have to introduce themselves at work, at parties, at the doctor's office, and watch for the flicker of amusement in the other person's eyes.
The Jessica Era Begins
So what does this mean for the Jessicas of the world? Probably a few uncomfortable years of 'oh, like the meme?' comments at networking events. If the Karen cycle is anything to go by, the name will carry the joke for a while before fading into background noise — or until Gen Alpha invents something new entirely.
For her part, Scanlan seems to be taking the whole thing philosophically. If nothing else, the Karen-to-Jessica handoff means the spotlight might finally drift elsewhere. And honestly? Every Karen in Canada probably deserves that break.
Source: CBC News / First Person
