"Karenism" and the Problem of White Women: Reflections on Quotidian Forms of White Vigilantism in the Classroom. Issue 3 (October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Grajeda, Erika D.
• Other Names: Hanson Rebecca guest-editor.; Richards Patricia guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of men's studies. Volume 30:Issue 3(2022)
• Page Start: 363
• Page End: 382
• Publication Date: 2022-10
• Subjects: Karenism -- whiteness -- gendered racism -- vulnerability -- feminism; Men's studies -- Periodicals; Men -- Periodicals; Men's movement -- Periodicals; Masculinity -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 155.332
• DOI: 10.1177/10608265221108207
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1060-8265

Abstract

Following emerging sociological critiques of hegemonic femininities and calls for embodied research that troubles long standing assumptions about academia as a "safe haven, " this essay provides critical reflections on quotidian forms of gendered racism and vigilantism in the classroom. Specifically, I draw on undergraduate student engagement with "Cat Person, " a short story about a "bad date" that was published in the New Yorker in 2017 and is now considered essential reading for the #MeToo era. By bringing pop culture artifacts and autoethnographic reflections into conversation with what philosopher Barbara Applebaum refers to as the "pedagogical practice of comforting discomfort, " I examine forms of Karenism that emerge in higher education classrooms, particularly for women of color faculty. I argue that in an institutional context where class-privileged white women most readily access narratives about violability and fragility, they are better positioned to summon pedagogical forms of comforting and care.