“Karenism” and the Problem of White Women: Reflections on Quotidian Forms of White Vigilantism in the Classroom

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.