What Karen Memes Teach Us about White Women and Racialized Surveillance, Dr. Apryl Williams, University of Michigan
- 10:45AM to 12:00PM
- SLB Room 128
“BBQ Becky” and “Karen” memes reference real-world incidents in which Black individuals were harassed by White women in public spaces. In what I term the Karen meme genre, Black meme creators use humor, satire, and strategic positioning to perform a set of interrelated social commentaries on the behavior of White women. By conducting a visual Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA) of BBQ Becky memes, I argue that Becky and Karen memes are a cultural critique of White surveillance and White racial dominance.