Karen’s been canceled.
Lately, there’s a new, fresh-faced version of the infamous Boomer-baiting, manager-requesting, asymmetrical bob-sporting object of derision — and her name is Jessica.
From comedy sketches to Reddit threads to viral comment sections, this younger, sassier cousin of the original is quickly becoming shorthand for women found guilty by the online mob — of entitled, abrasive, or just plain annoying behavior.
On social media, the Jessica mentions are piling up fast. From Patagonia quarter zip-sporting moms who complain they “look homeless today” (classic Jessica) to the kind of people who ruin everything with their unknowingly irritating behavior — not today, Jessica! — TikTok and the like have found a new punching bag.
That’s leaving some real-life Jessicas feeling more than a little singled out — even if not particularly mad about their sudden position in the line of digital fire.
Jessica Keene, 25, of Brooklyn, is embracing the viral notoriety of it all — telling The Post she isn’t the least bit offended. “I like that my name has its own identity and I love hearing ‘you’re such a Jessica,’” she said.
Keene added that from what she’s seen, Jessica feels more like the outgoing, gossip-loving “cool older sister’s best friend” type, vs. an older woman with an outsized sense of her own value to the world. In other words, hardly a serious insult.
West Coaster Jessica Ourisman, 38, a self-proclaimed Virgo who can be fussy under stress, lives in Beverly Hills, Calif. and told The Post she had a good chuckle when she first heard about the meme.
“It feels funny and harmless because I can laugh at myself… This Jessica could absolutely use a chill pill, so please, by all means, send the Xanax my way,” she joked.
Long Islander Jessica Guercio, 32, also confessed to finding the whole thing hilarious.
“Jessica being used by Gen Z like Karen was used by millennials doesn’t bother me and I think it’s funny,” she said. “I don’t think there’s one stereotype that is true for all Jessicas… we are all so different.”
But why Jessica — and why now?
The now-maligned moniker is an old one — “Yiskah” in Hebrew. She was Abraham’s niece, mentioned in the book of Genesis, much later hitting Western culture with a bang thanks to Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” where Jessica is the daughter of the infamous Shylock.
Scholars say it means “foresight” or “to behold,” though some argue it could mean “wealth” or “gift.”
Experts say the modern development in Jessica’s lengthy history is as much about generational dynamics as it is about names.
“Names can function as a linguistic shortcut to stereotypes,” Dr. Sanam Hafeez, a neuropsychologist in Forest Hills, Queens, told The Post.
And those shortcuts, said linguist Esteban Touma of Babbel, change with time — “reinforcing the same stereotype, but with a younger generation,” he explained to the Post, noting that these labels can subtly influence first impressions, even before you meet someone, he added.
Jessica, Touma continued, was one of the most popular U.S. baby names from 1981 to 1998 — everyone knows a Jessica, and Jessicas are now old enough for young people to make fun of.
“A name that’s established but no longer hot makes it perfect meme fodder,” he explained.
But careful who you call what, cautions Kaomi Joy Taylor, founder of the Museum of Names and president of the Names Alliance, saying that “using human names to label people and groups has been around for centuries, both as a means of bullying and as a social weapon.”
In today’s world, she said, “Labeling someone with a stereotyped name goes beyond a regular insult. It temporarily invalidates the recipient’s identity by superimposing a new identity.”
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