Here are some great Unshelved comics by Gene Ambaum & Bill Barnes about how reading books, especially for kids, should have no rules. And don’t let the Karens tell you different!
Artist: Unshelved by Gene Ambaum & Bill Barnes
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“And don’t let the Karens tell you different!” As there seems to be no universally accepted male equivalent to the derogatory term “Karen” I suggest to you that “Karen” is just a short-handed version of misogyny. It’s gender-specific and targeted at women; it’s just a shorthand way of making a misogynistic comment that no one will question. Are such people being jerks, yes, but they are individually being jerks, it’s not a universal phenomenon and shouldn’t and treated as such.
No, dear. Some women just are Karens, the same way some “men” are incels.
I suggest to you that a universally accepted male equivalent to the term, ‘Karen’, will come up naturally when it is universally accepted that the need for it has arisen.
I would like to submit “butt-hurt bimbo.” This term can be gender neutral. Also, I have a key-pal named Karen who objects strongly to her name being used in the above fashion. She is not such a person herself and doesn’t like them.
I grew up reading any book I wanted, including lots of sexual material like “1984” when I was about 8, and did not become deranged in any discernible way!