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| 2 | %% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end. |
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| 5 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1606586171030253100 |
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| 8 | [[quoteright:324:[[Webcomic/EnnuiGo https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/helencoffee.png]]]] |
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| 10 | ->''"You should know, no matter where you are or what you're doing, I will always fight for you in an embarrassing and inappropriate way."'' |
| 11 | -->-- '''Beverly Goldberg''', ''Series/TheGoldbergs'' |
| 12 | |
| 13 | [[MemeticMutation She'd like to speak to your manager]].[[note]]If you actually would like to speak to the manager, go [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/contact.php here.]][[/note]] |
| 14 | |
| 15 | This type of [[AlwaysFemale woman]] is an AlphaBitch in adulthood: usually white and heterosexual, somewhere in the middle or upper classes, and [[ItsAllAboutMe feeling entitled to have the entire world suit her needs and preferences]]. She will go out of her way to [[SpoiledBrat complain at the slightest provocation or inconvenience]], no matter how much it embarrasses or delays everyone else. If EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether, she was probably like this during her formative years as well. She likes to be heavily involved in local politics, such as the PTA, the homeowners' association, or the neighborhood watch; in general, she likes rules, structures, and hierarchies, and will [[RulesLawyer frequently invoke their authority]] whenever she feels it will support her position -- though she's also very good at [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections using their authority]] to dodge the rules when they ''[[{{Hypocrite}} don't]]'' support her position. If she is religious, then she's very likely to identify as a Christian or some [[TheFundamentalist fringe]] [[ChurchOfHappyology sect]] and is often [[ChurchGoingVillain involved in her local church community]]. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | This entitlement may even manifest as bigotry, and as such it’s not uncommon for these characters to be female versions of the AngryWhiteMan. They display their intolerance either [[InnocentBigot unintentional]] or by deliberately {{profiling}} people who don't fit her standards of beauty, look different from her, are part of a [[SubcultureOfTheWeek subculture]] that confuses her, or otherwise irritate her for any other reason. In this context, the most she'll usually do herself is berate, but she's still dangerous as she can be quick to invoke MissingWhiteWomanSyndrome by [[DamselInDistress claiming]] [[WoundedGazelleGambit victimhood]] and calling the police (or white gangs, or slave catchers depending on the time period). The idea that she's the one inflaming a problem seems lost on her when she is FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence. This allows her to exact punishment upon anyone she doesn't like while keeping her hands relatively clean, even if she was the instigator or there was no crime in the first place, although some who call the police get cited for fraudulent claims or abuse of the 911 system. Some even claim "[[UsefulNotes/StayingOutOfLegalTrouble sovereign citizenship]]" and go so far as to claim fear that the police are trying to kill them. Others have lost their prestigious jobs after [[InstantHumiliationJustAddYouTube videos of their antics]] goes viral. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | She is ''extremely'' status-conscious, and [[MockMillionaire makes extravagant purchases to appear very well-off]] and [[ConspicuousConsumption show off whatever wealth she thinks she has]], and will often [[UnsatisfiableCustomer fight retail workers over the price of whatever she's buying]] and generally assert her authority over anyone in a service position any chance she gets -- she's emphatically ''not'' NiceToTheWaiter. She is usually paired with either a HenpeckedHusband who has given up on trying to calm her down or a husband who's just as obnoxious and entitled as she is and feeds her worst impulses. If she's not openly combative, she's at the very least extremely passive-aggressive, [[BitchInSheepsClothing posing as kind and neighborly while judging all the other women in the neighborhood that don't live up to her standards]]. She often struggles with [[FemaleMisogynist internalized misogyny]]. For some reason, she often has [[PowerHair short hair, usually an asymmetrical bob]]. [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible Despite the title]], she may not be married, and she may even have a job outside the house, but most examples are privileged housewives since they have enough time on their hands to meddle in everybody's affairs. If she owns a pet, you can count on said pet being a MisterMuffykins, being as ill-tempered, misbehaving, and poorly disciplined as their owner. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Most obnoxious housewives are also depicted as [[MyBelovedSmother obnoxious controlling mothers]], typically [[TheDreaded the bane of all the other parents in the neighborhood]], to whom she'll be both [[CrankyNeighbor unpleasable and defensive]] and simultaneously [[NosyNeighbor utterly unwilling to mind her own business]]. She often [[VicariouslyAmbitious lives vicariously]] through her kids' [[ExtracurricularEnthusiast extracurricular activities]], usually [[EducationMama to get them into a prestigious college]] -- or high school, or preschool, depending on their age -- but occasionally [[StageMom to make them stars]]. She is very concerned with her kids' health and diet but not always sensible about it, tending to fall for the AppealToNature when making decisions about food or [[AllNaturalSnakeOil medicine]]. She's most likely to [[MoralGuardians start a crusade]] over anything "offensive" because she thinks it's [[ThinkOfTheChildren harmful to her children]], who probably just find her [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents embarrassing]] (or terrifying, if she [[AbusiveParents takes her bad attitude out on them as well]]) -- unless, of course, they are {{Spoiled Brat}}s [[GoneHorriblyRight successfully]] raised in her image. She believes herself to be an AlmightyMom, but she's not actually that effective. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | There may be sympathetic aspects to this character -- perhaps she seeks control over whatever she can because she can't control her [[AwfulWeddedLife marriage]] or [[DysfunctionalFamily family]], or she's suffering from UnfulfilledPurposeMisery, or she wants to venture out of the suburbs but [[ICouldaBeenAContender is stuck for some reason]]. Her insistence that she is a victim for imaginary reasons may mask the truth that she's a victim for [[AbuseTropes real reasons]]. Many portrayals will run the gamut from being depicted as loathsome villains, or at least {{Hate Sink}}s, before undergoing BreakTheHaughty that results in them losing their social status and developing into something akin to a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | A slang term, "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_(pejorative) Karen]]", emerged in the late 2010s to describe obnoxious (and frequently racist and classist) middle-aged white women. [[Music/SirMixALot Preceded by the]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becky_(slang) term "Becky"]], for a similarly [[TheDitz obnoxious]] [[AlphaBitch young adult white woman.]] In fact, this trope [[OlderThanTheyThink predates viral videos]] of the subject -- during the 19th and early 20th centuries, "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Ann Miss Ann]]" and "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Charlie Mister Charlie]]" were used in a similar vein. These terms are typically used in an unflattering matter, so Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease |
| 26 | |
| 27 | In Latin America, the pejorative is "Lady" that extends even to young women, the masculine equivalent is "Lord" ("Karen" is more applied to cat ladies). |
| 28 | |
| 29 | (And apologies to anyone ''actually'' named Karen.) |
| 30 | |
| 31 | Could overlap with the idea of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_mom "soccer mom"]], though a soccer mom is usually just a more active '90s style {{Housewife}}. If anything, she's more beleaguered than entitled. If their children are with them, they can easily overlap with AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents or HelicopterParents. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | Her {{Spear Counterpart}}s include the EntitledBastard, SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp, and {{Trumplica}}. If she's white and her racism is emphasized, she will usually double as an IntimidatingWhitePresence. She's often a member of the TyrannicalHomeownersAssociation, and may be responsible for the HOA turning into such. |
| 34 | ---- |
| 35 | !!Examples: |
| 36 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 37 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 38 | * This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMbCiYpiMhY TV commercial]] for instant coffee in New Zealand featured a rude and snobbish customer getting her comeuppance. |
| 39 | [[/folder]] |
| 40 | |
| 41 | %%[[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 42 | %%[[/folder]] |
| 43 | |
| 44 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 45 | * Franchise/{{Tintin}}: In ''[[Recap/TintinTintinAndThePicaros Tintin And The Picaros]]'', our heroes meet General Alcazar's wife, Peggy, who's always reprimanding her husband, the Picaros, and just about anybody that seems to cross her path. The only ones who can stand being around her are Alcazar and Professor Calculus. |
| 46 | [[/folder]] |
| 47 | |
| 48 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 49 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Foxtrot}}'': During one of his many stints working at the movie theater, Peter ends up dealing with a woman who complains that he screwed up her order (she claims to have ordered a large root beer, but Peter either misheard her or she misspoke and she got a small). When he tries to correct her, he gets the soda dumped on his head in retaliation. |
| 50 | [[/folder]] |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 53 | * ''Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}}'': In ''THX 1138'', one mother complains about how her son used to have perfect grades and a perfectly fine social life before the Yeerk that was [[PuppeteerParasite controlling him]] left his head. After listening to her entitled ranting, Tom respects his father for managing to keep his cool while dealing with her. |
| 54 | * ''Fanfic/LuzClawthorne'': Odalia starts out as one; as she gradually goes through CharacterDevelopment, she's [[ReplacementFlatCharacter effectively replaced in this role]] by one of Boscha's mothers, Nicole Hieron, who possesses a deep IrrationalHatred for Eda and goes well out of her way to harass her, encouraging Boscha to bully Luz and eventually taking over that when she decides her daughter isn't doing a good enough job. |
| 55 | * ''Webcomic/ScarletLady'': Despite being aware that the Dupain-Chengs are celebrating their anniversary during "Timebreaker" and have closed their bakery to the public, Nadja still asks them to prepare a cake for her. They do so as a favor for their friend, only for Nadja to then show up at the bakery before the agreed upon pickup time and promptly throw a fit, calling them and ''demanding'' to be catered to right that very moment. After dealing with her entitled behavior, Sabine reassures Marinette that they don't blame ''her'' for what happened and that they won't be going out of their way to do any more "special favors" for Nadja anytime soon. |
| 56 | * ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/31646828/chapters/78318158 Soccer Moms Drive Minivans]]'' has one in the form of Patricia Bailey, Ben's archnemesis on the PTA. She's a military wife who's repeatedly used her husband's status to try and pull rank with the other moms, and she's openly bigoted towards Ben and his fourteen Necrofriggian kids for their status as aliens (when the other moms are InnocentlyInsensitive at worst). Her spats with Ben during PTA meetings have become so frequent that the other moms usually just play card games or zone out for the duration. |
| 57 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' fan fic, ''FanFic/TheSunWillComeUpAndTheSeasonsWillChange'', Mary's mother, Dana Summers, is both this and an Autism Warrior Parent, throwing fits in public and at home whenever Mary displays signs of her autism, namely stimming. She will always insist that Mary is being embarrassing, but [[{{Hypocrite}} she's the one who's always making a scene over nothing.]] Her behavior is the major driving force behind her daughter getting picked up by the Infinity Train. |
| 58 | [[/folder]] |
| 59 | |
| 60 | [[folder:Film -- Animated]] |
| 61 | * The Sour Kangaroo is characterized as one of these in the 2008 animated film adaptation of ''[[WesternAnimation/HortonHearsAWho2008 Horton Hears a Who!]]''. Jane (as she is named here) is a FantasyForbiddingMother who insists on keeping her joey Rudy "pouch-schooled" and rallies the animals of Nool against Horton by invoking ThinkOfTheChildren. She gets better though. |
| 62 | * Gladys Sharp from ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'' insists she can't be arrested for committing a blatantly illegal act [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections because she heads the homeowners' association]]. |
| 63 | * From ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' we have Ming Lee, the overbearing mother of the protagonist Mei. While she's not actually a housewife (since she runs the family's temple in Toronto's Chinatown), she still falls into a lot of the typical hallmarks of this trope. She wants her daughter to be absolutely perfect, and even falsely accuses a teenage convenience store clerk of grooming Mei upon discovering drawings of the both of them kissing in her notebook. To top it off, she says the Daisy Mart has "lost a loyal customer" before storming out. [[CharacterDevelopment She does soften up as she connects more with her daughter and respects her freedom, however]]. |
| 64 | [[/folder]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 67 | * The main character's mother in ''Film/AlmostFamous'' loves to aggressively meddle in her children's lives, though she has some sympathetic characteristics. |
| 68 | * Carolyn Burnham from ''Film/AmericanBeauty'' is unhealthily fixated on her family's image of perfection and getting all her motivation from self-help tapes. |
| 69 | * The tyrannical PTA president Gwendolyn in ''Film/BadMoms'' is an AlphaBitch [[SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp All Grown Up]], right down to her friends Stacy and Vicky being framed as her GirlPosse. |
| 70 | * Meg Swan in ''Film/BestInShow'' is a neurotic nerdy yuppie who feeds off her husband's similar energy to enter furious states where she screams at service workers for not reading her mind and threatens to have a Latina hotel maid, who was trying to help her find an inane lost item for her dog, deported. |
| 71 | * Mrs. Beauregarde in ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' is a smug, pushy, and competitive StageMom who insists on perfection and pushes her daughter to be the best at everything, even in gum-chewing. She is noticeably furious when her daughter, after being de-juiced safely, is all blue and therefore isn't perfect anymore. |
| 72 | * Fiona Montgomery, Sam's WickedStepmother in ''Film/ACinderellaStory''. She is sleazy and vain, mistreats Sam and her workers while spoiling her biological daughters, at and feels entitled to argue with the LAPD after she is caught having stolen Sam's inheritance. |
| 73 | * ''Film/DonnieDarko'' has Kitty Farmer, who taught her students that [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity every action is motivated by "Fear" or "Love"]], and gave us the following memetic line when asking for a favor: |
| 74 | -->'''Kitty''': (''To Donnie's mother'') Sometimes I doubt [[SeriousBusiness your commitment to Sparkle Motion]]. |
| 75 | * The 2021 film Film/{{Karen}} exploits this trope to a tee, with the titular character constantly intimidating the protagonists. |
| 76 | * [[https://youtu.be/8OXfGR4dgiY There's this scene]] from ''Film/MadeaGoesToJail'' in which our sassy anti-heroine uses a forklift to remove a Karen's car out of the parking spot she wanted. Said Karen not only looks and acts like the infamous meme, but also she is very rude to the elderly Madea, is self-important, the wife of someone high up in the police (that she is quick to name-drop), and calls Madea "Aunt Jemima" revealing racist attitudes. |
| 77 | * In ''Film/{{Peppermint}}'', the character Peg is introduced as a rich Girl Scout mom threatening to lodge a formal complaint against WorkingClassHero Riley over a parking spot. |
| 78 | * Amy's younger sister Kim's married suburban mom friends in ''Film/{{Trainwreck}}'' are vacuous blonde women who worry over whether their children are eating organic food, reduce the screentime of their kids, and claim that their kids aren't allowed to watch ''Series/{{Glee}}'' because they feature openly queer characters and aren't concerned with anything other than maintaining a StepfordSmiler image. |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 82 | * In ''Literature/AccomplishmentsOfTheDukesDaughter'' Yuri, Prince Edward's fiancée, makes a point of claiming all the perks of royalty the moment her engagement to Edward is officially announced, despite the fact that under Tasmerian social conventions, a noble's intended is not considered part of his house until the wedding actually happens - betrothals do fall through on occasion, after all, as she would know, having poached Edward from his original fiancée herself. Her claiming of rights she is not yet entitled to does not make her any friends among Alfred's faction and merits more than a few raised eyebrows among the neutrals. [[spoiler: When she finally gets her comeuppance, presenting herself as royal when she isn't is declared to be fraud at best and treason at worst]]. |
| 83 | * ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'' has a couple in Mrs. Rachel Lynde and Mrs. Barry. |
| 84 | ** Rachel Lynde is noted for her housekeeping and for how she pokes her nose into the business of her neighbors when she sees something "odd", like the shy Matthew Cuthbert driving his wagon into town from the farm he shares with his sister. She is shown to be a narrow-minded busybody, insensitive to the feelings of children (when remarking on Anne's red hair and perceived homeliness), her family is highly respected in the community and she is involved with church and charity and politics, and is quick to judge others for traits or behaviors she isn't familiar with. Even after she reveals her CoolOldLady colors, she still retains this trope, inspecting the newlywed Anne's housekeeping under the assumption that college-educated women don't make good housekeepers. |
| 85 | ** The strict Housewife Mrs. Barry is this trope after blaming Anne for [[UnsuspectinglySoused getting Diana intoxicated on current wine]] (even though it was an accident; Anne thought she was serving Diana non-alcoholic raspberry cordial and was only trying to be a good hostess) after their tea party. Forbidding Diana from even speaking to Anne at school or church, she only allows them to be friends again after Anne saves their youngest daughter from an acute case of the croup. |
| 86 | ** The local housewives are this after trying to plant seeds of doubt into Anne's head when she is going to head to college (being the first girl from the small town of Avonlea to do so), Gilbert Blythe tells Anne to pay them no mind as they are likely jealous they never got such an opportunity themselves. |
| 87 | * A nameless woman on a commercial spaceflight in ''Literature/BetweenPlanets'' takes one look at the protagonist's Venusian Dragon friend (he's impeccably polite and slow to anger), and throws an absolute temper tantrum, complete with embarrassing everyone around her, emasculating her husband, and demanding to speak with the manager-er, pilot. |
| 88 | * ''Literature/BridgetJones'' runs into these types: |
| 89 | ** First her mother Pam (and some of her peers like Una Alconbury). Pam is impulsive, selfish, hypocritical about pushing Bridget into marriage and motherhood but admitting those roles never made her happy, and she shows no cultural sensitivity as she dispenses talk about Mark Darcy's Japanese ex-wife as being from "a cruel race". The third film adaptation also sees her running for political office on the Conservative Party ticket on a platform for "traditional values" and with vaguely racist implications until Bridget [[CallingTheOldManOut calls the old woman out]] on it and Pam includes more gay and people of color in her social circle. |
| 90 | ** The Smug Marrieds, especially one half of an obnoxious pair ([[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Woney]], short for "Fiona"), who incessantly badger Bridget about her love life and about how she needs to get married and have children quick before she is considered too old to be desirable. The Smug Marrieds are all Tory-voting Sloane Rangers who come from upper-class households, have little imagination, and have AwfulWeddedLife where the men are wandering their eyes at attractive, single women and the women are constantly pregnant and forced to listen to their husbands say sexist things about women. |
| 91 | ** In the third book, Bridget has become a mother and one of the school mothers Nicolette is a huge example of this trope. A former CEO who pushes her children to be the best and always excellent, is critical of the other mothers' shortcomings (including Bridget), badgers the school staff over her children's success, and only backs off when she is told off by school coach and Bridget befriends her, convincing her to relax. |
| 92 | * Discussed in ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' when Sue Snell has an ImagineSpot over her future. After she throws tampons and pads at Carrie in the shower, she imagines herself becoming a classic example and it motivates her to ask Tommy to take Carrie to the prom instead of her. |
| 93 | --> it conjured up miserable images of hair in rollers, long afternoons in front of the ironing board in front of the soap operas while hubby was off busting heavies in an anonymous Office; of joining the P.T.A. and then the country club when their income moved into five figures; of pills in circular yellow cases without number to insure against having to move out of the misses' size before it became absolutely necessary and against the intrusion of repulsive little strangers who shat in their pants and screamed for help at two in the morning; of fighting with desperate decorum to keep the n---- out of Kleen Korners, standing shoulder to shoulder with Terri Smith (Miss Potato Blossom of 1975) and Vicki Jones (Vice President of The Women's League), armed with signs and petitions and sweet, slightly desperate smiles. |
| 94 | * In Asimov's ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'', a dangerous riot is nearly kicked off by a haughty, bad-tempered woman's grousing about having (horrors!) a ''robot'' wait on her at the shoe store. |
| 95 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' has British variants of the trope: |
| 96 | ** ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'' has an urban version demanding that Vimes sort out this revolution mess right now as she doesn't want to be in the presence of common people. |
| 97 | ** ''Literature/ReaperMan'' has Arthur Winkings' wife Doreen, a wannabe SocialClimber who dresses like a vampire bride despite emphatically not having the body for it and henpecking her husband into acting more like a vampire (Arthur ''is'' a vampire, but he was turned well into middle-age with a stodgy lower-middle-class mindset that's about as far removed from vampirism as you can get). |
| 98 | * Hilly Holbrook, of ''Literature/TheHelp'', President of the Jackson chapter of the Junior League fancies herself an impeccable Christian who isn't a racist like the KKK or White Citizen's Council members. Yet she drafted a house sanitation initiative that forces the Black maids of Jackson to relieve themselves in outdoor privies, gets one of her maids arrested by the police, and upholds her racist Governor Ross Barnett's pronouncement of "Separate but Equal" and condescends to the Black citizens of her town while spreading vicious gossip about her ex-boyfriend's sexy wife from a working-class family. [[spoiler: It's cathartic when she gets told off by anyone in this book.]] |
| 99 | ** According to Minny, most of the White lady bosses to the maids fall into this trope, where if they get displeased they will use whatever means and connections they have to ruin their maid's lives, the maid's family's lives, even to the point of destitution. |
| 100 | * WickedStepmother Sydelle in ''Literature/InHerShoes'' is a Jewish flavor of the trope. She always talks about the perfection achieved by her daughter Marcia (a very slim figure, a professional career, marriage to a professional, educated, straight A's, adorable children, beautiful) in contrast to her stepdaughters, Rose and Maggie, who fall short of her high standards for women and the family image (Maggie's disability and dyslexia leading to underachieving along with Rose's social awkwardness and weight) and made their childhoods miserable for it. She is also rude to Santa Claus at malls and in the film adaptation, she is openly judging Rose's in-laws' silverware and the Jamaican food at Rose's wedding. |
| 101 | * ''Literature/LittleFiresEverywhere'': |
| 102 | ** Elena is a blonde, entitled journalist who is able to talk her way round the police (and is buddies with them, even bringing them cookies), runs all the PTA events, sits on the Shaker Heights committee, lives in a huge suburban [=McMansion=] that was initially owned by her parents, and is passive-aggressive about hiring a black helper (whom she refuses to call a "maid" but treats as one). Opinions are highly divided about whether or not JerkassHasAPoint with regard to defending her best (white) friend who adopted a Chinese infant, but she was definitely wrong in [[spoiler:buying her way to learn dirt about Mia (who is black) so she could make sure the adoption went through]]. She also barely hesitates to use her power to try and kick anyone she doesn't like out of the neighborhood. She is given a lot of depth, however, to the point where we can sympathize with her, even if we don't like her, and the story explores her frustrated ambitions and why she is the way she is in enough detail that she ends up a JerkassWoobie rather than an outright HateSink. |
| 103 | ** Lexie, Elena's eldest daughter, may just be a teenager but it is repeatedly invoked and discussed to be a ''fait accompli'' in her behavior. She is entitled, wealthy, and stole her "best friend", Pearl's, story about being discriminated on terms of race (Pearl is black) and changed it around to be about gender so she could get into [[IvyLeagueForEveryone Yale]]. She also relies on Pearl's help after [[spoiler:getting an abortion]]... only to put Pearl's name down instead because she doesn't want the upper-class clinic to guess it's her. |
| 104 | * ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': |
| 105 | ** Lady Catherine De Bourgh may be one of the oldest examples in literature. She is a wealthy busybody who is entitled to hear the business of other people and to their time, even trying to boss around her hosts at Longbourn when she demands Lizzie to drop her engagement with Mr. Darcy (her nephew), she wants everyone to lick her boots and thinks highly of herself, judgmental of other women, she wants her nephew Mr. Darcy to marry her daughter, is classist, insulting, and believes she has the best advice for everything even in how to pack a trunk (something that she has other people do for her). Unlike the classic suburban form of this trope, however, she is an aristocratic GrandeDame rather than an insecure middle-class woman. |
| 106 | ** Elizabeth's mother, Mrs. Bennett, is a more toned-down version. A middle-class woman who married into the aristocracy, she is obsessed with finding socially-advantageous matches for her daughters. She is overly chatty, nosy, and embarrassing, but never actually cruel, and the subtext of her character is that she is the way she is because it's the only way for her -- and her family -- to survive, and it's clear she genuinely does want what she thinks is best for her daughters. |
| 107 | [[/folder]] |
| 108 | |
| 109 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 110 | %%* ''Series/NineOneOne'': [[https://youtu.be/DFvIegLbfks One episode]]was spent solving the death of one of these types |
| 111 | %%* In ''Series/NineOneOneLoneStar'' [[https://youtu.be/NKCflzENdJ0 the team also deals with one]] |
| 112 | * ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'': Lucille Bluth, a formerly wealthy, pampered, selfish, AbusiveParent who is often racist, very rude to service staff ("Take it back! If I wanted something your thumb touched, I'd eat the inside of your ear!"), homophobic, a DramaQueen with a well-coiffed bob, has encouraged a poor self-image for her daughter Lindsey by mocking her slender daughter's weight, keeps her grown son Buster wrapped around her manicured finger, and looks down on anyone more poor or hard-working than she. |
| 113 | * ''Series/BigLittleLies'': |
| 114 | ** Renata is a classic example. She is extremely wealthy, garishly dressed, prone to throwing tantrums and using her money to get what she wants, and responds to her daughter Amabella being physically abused at school by trying to stoke a "war" between those who support Iggy (who has been [[spoiler:falsely]] accused of the crime by Amabella) and those on her side, seeking to isolate anyone who doesn't agree with her. |
| 115 | ** Madeline is a slightly more heroic version. Madeline sides with Jane out of feeling Renata's quest is unfair (which it is), and assuming that Jane is nice because she helped her out on the first day of school. However, Madeline too is extremely petty, pits the mom cliques against one another, and is constantly wading into arguments that have nothing to do with her. She is also furious about her daughter's plan to auction off money for her virginity because she "doesn't give a shit about the Third World." |
| 116 | * ''Series/BreakingBad'': |
| 117 | ** Walt's wife [[TheScrappy Skyler]] had some shades of this, as early on she was a shrill, nagging WetBlanketWife that did things like forcing Walt to eat soy bacon or flipping out on him for smoking weed and threatening his "dealer" (Jesse) behind his back. However, as Walter slides into increasingly erratic, destructive, and criminal behavior, she's portrayed more sympathetically. |
| 118 | ** Skyler's sister Marie was even worse, as she was very self-centered and according to Skyler always had to be the [[ItsAllAboutMe center of attention]] even in childhood. Early on in the series, she shoplifts an expensive tiaram as a baby shower present and initially refuses to apologize after Skyler almost gets arrested over it. When her husband Hank starts to suffer PTSD after a firefight and takes the day off work after receiving a big promotion, she chews him out over it, chalking his out-of-character behavior up to laziness and not bothering to ask if anything's wrong until his condition worsens. |
| 119 | * ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'': Played with. Florinda lost most of her wealth once she became a widow, but tries to hide her own poverty by belittling her neighbours, showing contempt for the "riffraff lifestyle" and alienating others with her bossy and arrogant attitude. |
| 120 | * The Queen Mum Elizabeth Bowes Lyon in ''Series/TheCrown'' is a Royal sort within her own household. She tends to meddle in the affairs of her daughters (even making comments that dig at their confidence, even her monarch daughter) and grandchildren (breaking up her grandson Charles's relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles because the girl isn't a virgin), displaying a FemaleMisogynist attitude towards women educating themselves or expressing their sexuality, showcasing elitist and classist attitudes (even to the faces of the self-made Thatchers), helping to keep her disabled relatives locked away because of what their subjects would think if the Royal blood was "tainted", and in general being a [[BitchInSheepsClothing sweet dotty]] GrandDame ObfuscatingStupidity with [[LadyDrunk a glass in hand]] when trying to turn things towards her way when she isn't whining about [[ItsAllAboutMe how something would affect her rather]] than how beneficial it'd be for her subjects or family members. |
| 121 | * ''Series/DanceMoms'': Jill has been known to bribe teachers, bully other students, and change studios in the name of getting her daughter ahead. When these tactics don't work, she pitches a fit. As a bonus, she once suggested that her white daughter play the role of Rosa Parks, and had no idea why that might be controversial. |
| 122 | * ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' has all of the housewives that have children play this role from time to time, generally DependingOnTheWriter and/or the storyline: |
| 123 | ** Bree was the first example. In a HappyMarriageCharade with her doctor husband Rex, Bree initially henpecks him, is obsessively clean, nosy, and is furious when her (spoiled, bordering on sociopathic) kids want to go to a restaurant rather than eat her home-cooked food. She has extremely traditional values and doesn't take Andrew coming out as gay well, but she is also desperate to maintain her status within the neighborhood. After Rex's death, she became a more disorganized person as she became an alcoholic, but bounced back to a more "obnoxious" status after Danielle, her daughter, got pregnant and [[FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo she tried to raise the baby as her own rather than admit the truth]]. From around Season 4 onwards, Bree loosened up and became more career-focused and slightly more open-minded. |
| 124 | ** Played with by Lynette, who started off as more of a deconstruction of the idea; while she ''did'' PTA and had a brood of uncontrollable kids, she was very unhappy with the amount of pressure that she felt under to do everything like that and she was often stood up to characters who fell into this bracket. However, she also bounced backwards and forwards between the idea, such as when she was so concerned about her son's romantic life that she posed as a girl his own age online (and caused him to fall in love with her...) and she frequently made excuses for her sons' wild behavior. |
| 125 | ** Maisy was a clearer example, as her EstablishingCharacterMoment was complaining that ''Little Red Riding Hood'' was too violent and they should change the ending. She was also noted for being "perfect" among all the PTA moms. However, Maisy turns out to be a deconstruction, too, as she was really [[spoiler:secretly a prostitute to the husbands of Wisteria Lane and revealed that Rex was one of her clients because Bree snubbed her.]] |
| 126 | ** Martha Huber was a bitter, passive-aggressive, judgmental woman who seemed to take pleasure in judging other women's sexual activity or observing whatever was going wrong in their lives. Then it was revealed that [[spoiler: Martha was the one who discovered Mary Alice Young's big secret--that she'd bought a child from a heroin addict and later killed the addict in a rage when she came back to "reclaim" her son--and left her the taunting note ("I know what you did -- it makes me ''sick'' -- I'm going to tell") that [[DrivenToSuicide compelled Mary Alice to kill herself]]. Even after being confronted, Martha insisted that it [[NeverMyFault wasn't her fault]] and claimed Mary Alice just felt guilty about her actions.]] Even her own sister hated her, and [[AssholeVictim no one was sad when she was murdered]]. |
| 127 | * ''Series/{{Glee}}'': Terri Schuester's older sister, Kendra is a horrible mother, as well as rude, arrogant, and constantly manipulates and bullies others to get her way. |
| 128 | * ''Series/TheGoldbergs'': Beverly Goldberg ticks a lot of the boxes; she is a wolverine where her kids are concerned and is forever looking for the get-rich-or-at-least-noteworthy scheme (for instance, trying to get her recipe book published on her own account, or vicariously via her children, who are of course brilliant, talented and gifted) Her "mom logic" that nothing is ever her kids' fault, always sands to speak to the manager and constantly barges in on authority figures to the point it's a running gag. |
| 129 | * ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'': Amy Duncan is a more likable version of this trope. Despite being pushy, vain, and attention-seeking, she does have a good hart. |
| 130 | * In ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' when the Gang decide to make Lethal Weapons 7, one of the villains that Dee plays is "Karen White", an evil housewife complete with the hairstyle who threatens to call the cops on Murtaugh and Riggs (both of whom are played by black actors). The Gang notes that entitled white women are one of the few acceptable targets by the 2020s but ultimately cut the character for being too "cunty" and uncomfortably real. |
| 131 | * Kate Gosselin of ''Series/JonAndKatePlusEight'' is widely considered to be the TropeCodifier, down to the infamous bob haircut and obsession with health food. |
| 132 | * ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'': Hyacinth Bucket (who insists [[RunningGag it's pronounced "Bouquet"]]), whilst mostly a pretentious social climber, also has shades of this. Her deluded attempts at appearing upper class have left a large number of people utterly terrified of her and attempting to avoid her at all costs. Her postman in particular goes out of his way to avoid her frequent and unrealistic demands that her posts receive first-class status regardless of the stamp. She attempted to force her HenpeckedHusband Richard to call the Chinese ambassador to force the local Chinese takeaway to change its phone number, due to it being only one number different from theirs and leading to people mistakenly calling them. At one point, when shopping for a new kitchen counter, she brought along a series of hard-to-clean foods which she deliberately tipped over the display model to see if it would stain. She even forces the Vicar to visit to consult him about whether kitchen counters should be angel Gabriel blue coloured or Lucifer grey. |
| 133 | * The titular character of ''Series/KevinCanFuckHimself'' serves a prominent GenderInverted example. Kevin thinks the whole world literally revolves around him, acts entitled, and believes he owns everyone around him, especially the people in his family and friend-group. The prime example of his [[EvilIsPetty pettiness]] is when he punishes Patty by humiliating her in front of the friend-group and then freezing her out, with the "transgression" against him simply being that she went to his favorite fast-food chain (while she was on a trip out of state) and didn't buy a burger for him while she was there. |
| 134 | * In ''Series/{{Impeachment}}'', Linda Tripp (Creator/SarahPaulson) comes off as this due to her self-important SmallNameBigEgo attitude and entitlement, she bullies her co-workers, holds herself as a beacon of morality and is judging others for not meeting her exacting and conservative standards, she looks down on the Clintons for being middle-class and using communal bathrooms in the White House and throwing pizza parties for staffers, judging other women like her younger friend Monica Lewinsky and First Lady Hillary Clinton for not meeting her standards for ladylike, chaste behavior, slut-shames Monica and former friend Kathleen (who admitted that Bill Clinton groped her), considers the politically right-leaning (and no less scandalous and hypocritical) Reagan and Bush to be beacons of purity, and fat-shames Monica as part of her gaslighting the girl into not dry cleaning the infamous dress. Add to that Linda appears to be the typical suburban matron image of Karen in appearance with conservative (rather mostly frumpy) clothing, glasses, a pageboy, and glasses. |
| 135 | * ''Series/LawAndOrder'': The VillainOfTheWeek in the episode "Driven" was a gentrifier who spent all her time filing nuisance suits against her black neighbors. She forced her son to get into a fight with his teammate on the soccer team and then pulled him off the team when the coach benched him for it. She forced her sons and a friend of theirs to confront playground bullies at night with baseball bats. Detective Lupo calls her "soccer monster". |
| 136 | * ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': The VillainOfTheWeek in the episode "Granting Immunity" was the AlphaBitch of the moms in her son's private school. She was an anti-vaxxer who conspired with a doctor to falsify the medical records of the children of her fellow anti-vaxxer moms, resulting in a huge measles outbreak. |
| 137 | * Harriet Olson from ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'' is the Frontier Karen of the 1870s. She is bossy, judgemental, gossipy, bosses and embarrasses her husband, spoils her children rotten, often shows prejudiced attitudes (though not anathema for the Gilded Age or even the 1970s) towards members of minority groups, and very proud of her position as one of the few wealthiest members of the small town of Walnut Grove. In one episode she even pens a malicious gossip column with a Rupert Murdoch {{Expy}} (though in the 1870s and 1880s). |
| 138 | * ''Series/MadMen'' has a couple: |
| 139 | ** Betty and Don Draper's neighbor Francine Hanson comes off as one in early seasons. She is a [[GossipyHens Gossipy Hen]] who demands to ask why the "scandalous" divorcee takes long walks, she made two anti-semitic remarks in her first three seasons, she is petty and judgmental, active in the PTA and Junior League, bored in her role as a housewife and AwfulWeddedLife. The last time in the series we see her happier and more fulfilled, as she became a successful travel agent whose husband enjoys the extra income and good-naturedly calls Betty out on her passive-aggressive hypocrisy. |
| 140 | ** Speaking of Betty, she is often this trope at her least sympathetic. She endures an AwfulWeddedLife with her husband Don, she is unfulfilled due to being a housewife who was a former model with a bachelor's degree in anthropology, she doesn't have many avenues to use her high intelligence, she is often judgmental and prejudiced, using an image of a passive, pretty, "house cat" to keep from getting her hands dirty. Even after she gets into a more loving marriage with Henry Francis, her unhappiness causes her to abuse her children (especially the more rebellious Sally) and Betty is shown to be hostile to women who don't content themselves with the traditional role that makes her miserable. |
| 141 | * [[ExaggeratedTrope Exaggerated]] with Lois in ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', as two decades of raising hellions for boys turned her into a [[HairTriggerTemper loud, irrational, pig-headed, and tactless]] ControlFreak. In one episode she freaks out at the family's favorite pizzeria after they added a 15% service charge, and stands outside waving cars away for an hour before banning the rest of the family from eating there to their dismay (resulting in shenanigans as they start going behind her back). When Reese [[Really17YearsOld runs away to join the army]], she almost gets herself arrested for assaulting some recruiters who try to explain that they don't know where he is, before selling the family car and ''[[MamaBear flying herself to a warzone]]'' to get him back. |
| 142 | * ''Series/MrsAmerica'' is full of this trope, as one-half of the cast are anti-feminist religious MoralGuardian types who are threatened by the rising social and economic status of women dwarfing their traditional roles. We also see that several of them turn to the counter-movement out of homophobia and racism, or as a socially appropriate outlet for their desires to become more powerful or achieve fulfillment. |
| 143 | ** Phyllis Schlafly is a frustrated Right-Wing lobbyist who considers herself NotLikeOtherGirls due to her education and ability to talk policy with men in contrast to her shy friend Alice Macray but is impeded by a sexist husband and peer group. We also see her force her youngest daughter to swim despite the girl's fears, push her gay son to stay in the closet, blame a young housewife for the DomesticAbuse she receives from her husband, and align herself to White Supremacists (as long as they keep it quiet) for the [[MoralGuardian Pro-Family Rally]]. |
| 144 | ** Phyllis's friend Rosemary Thomson is shown as this. She is passive-aggressive, snarky, critical, judgemental, and uses her position in the movement to exercise her ControlFreak tendencies and bully her friends Alice and Pamela. |
| 145 | ** Phyllis's other friends, Alice and Pamela, avert this trope despite being as right-wing and religious as she. Alice is shown to be a very proper but shy housewife who worries about image and is threatened by the rise of professional women due to the feminist movement. Later on she opens up her worldview [[spoiler: and leaves the counter-movement]] after seeing how the movement is corrupted by Phyllis's ego and by white supremacists. Pamela, notably, is a beleaguered young housewife who is being abused at home by her husband. |
| 146 | ** From the feminist movement, Betty Friedan comes off as this to her peers. She is bitter over not being the star of the movement due to the popularity of younger and prettier women like Gloria Steinem, she is regressive regarding queer people, and a bit of an AttentionWhore. |
| 147 | * ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfOldChristine'': The wealthy, entitled "meanie moms" Marly and Lindsay are more passive-aggressive variants. They often brag about how great their children are while putting Christine down for being poor and divorced. |
| 148 | * Alison's initial characterization in ''Series/OrphanBlack'' is a spiteful, petty StepfordSnarker housewife who would rather coach her kids' soccer games than deal with the clone conspiracy. Over time she [[TookALevelInKindness grows out of this]], to the point that she even starts calling out her neighbors for similar behavior. |
| 149 | * Creator/KristenWiig used this trope for the recurring character, Aunt Linda, on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'''s "Weekend Update". The character is a middle-aged blonde with stereotypical teased and layered bob, wears a conservative and feminine blazer, she is often grouchy and disapproving of anything in pop culture (either low or high brow), mostly angrily defending media and stars of more middle-brow comedy that evoke particular thoughts or emotions in her, has a bitter and narrow-minded outlook on life, WordOfGod has it that she is married to the racist ''Drunk Uncle''. It is often rare for her to find anything that makes her happy, eating crabs all over Maryland wasn't a nice experience because "too many shells" and she doesn't express any enthusiasm for her more positive movie reviews. |
| 150 | * If the instigator on ''Series/SayYesToTheDress'' isn't a {{Bridezilla}}, then it's often an older female relative (like her mother) or mother-in-law who insists that the grown (usually ExtremeDoormat) bride follow her demands for the style of bridal gown (or bridesmaid dresses), even using tantrums or guilt-tripping to get her way. It even stands out when the instigator body-shames the usually younger women for their appearance in gowns, especially when they are heavy, despite the tormentor being overweight herself. One mother of the bride even hits an employee in the original NYC show. |
| 151 | * ''Series/SilentWitness'': Since the 2015 SoftReboot this has become an OnceAnEpisode type character, and very often they're a RedHerring. Often they'll be a HateSink, but on occasion some (but not all) particular examples of this character type are NiceAllAlong and they're only this trope because of PeerPressureMakesYouEvil (although to call some of the obnoxious entitled housewife characters ''evil'' would be a stretch; at worst, they're HarmlessVillain, DesignatedVillain or IneffectualSympatheticVillain types. Others would fall into AntiVillain Type IV or villain in name only). However, because this is a BritishSeries, their interpretation of "Karen" types is quite different from others on this list. |
| 152 | * ''Series/{{Superstore}}'': In "Color Wars," Cheyenne has to ring up a prissy woman who keeps talking on her phone about how entitled her obviously suffering maid is for wanting time off because the woman doesn't get time off for being a stepmom. |
| 153 | * In one episode of ''Series/{{Superwog}}'' wherein Wog and Theo become policemen, they're shown interacting with the townsfolk to showcase [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero how ill-suited they are to the job.]] One of these is an obviously fake Verbal Violence complaint made by an older woman trying to get a teenager arrested. The old lady is tazed while the teenager is reassured that nothing will come of it because this is the ''third time today'' they've had to taze someone for abusing the VV laws. |
| 154 | * ''Series/TheWatcher'': Despite being employed as a realtor rather than being a housewife, Karen Calhoun definitely counts as this. She's a fake friend to Nora, hiding her pompous and passive-aggressive nature with a bubbly exterior. It comes out when Nora beats her at tennis, leading to her [[VillainousBreakdown throwing a tantrum]] and demanding that Nora and her husband Dean be banned from their country club. |
| 155 | * ''Series/WillAndGrace'': |
| 156 | ** [[TheAlcoholic Karen Walker]] occasionally falls into this trope, as she's quick to complain about any lack of service or openly mock those she deems inferior, especially working-class people. The latter is best seen in her relationship with [[VitriolicBestBuds Rosario]], her personal maid and frequent target of racist insults, although Rosario is able to fire right back and, in one case when Karen tried being nicer to her, told her that she ''enjoyed'' their repartee and nearly quit because of the lack of it. Unlike most examples, though, she hates spending time with her children and often whines whenever she has to attend one of their activities--for instance, when she went to her son Mason's swim meet, she griped "A public pool? Why doesn't someone just pee on me directly?" |
| 157 | ** The episode "Gypsies, Tramps and Weed" [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs]] the trope. The group is out for dinner on Will's birthday, and when Grace complains (albeit more politely than most examples of this character) about their waiter's inattentiveness, the manager apologizes and tells her that he's just been fired. Grace feels absolutely horrible about this and hires the guy to work for her interior design firm... but it turns out that he sells marijuana and turns her office into his latest dealer's spot. She realizes that the waiter really ''is'' just a lazy jerk and happily fires him again. |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 | |
| 160 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 161 | * The Lady Smith splicers of ''VideoGame/BioShock'' embody this trope, with several quotes complaining about servants ("Charles! I think the negro cook's been stealing. It's always like that with the coloreds. Take, take, take"), poors ("They talk talk talk, but in the end, they've got nothing to offer society. Just more mouths to feed") and her predicament ("The times may be unkind, but did you have to take our home? I raised my children there! Bastards!"). |
| 162 | * ''VideoGame/FashionPoliceSquad'' has these as a recurring enemy type, armed with pepper spray they can use to temporarily turn themselves into {{Airborne Mook}}s. |
| 163 | * Discussed in ''VideoGame/TheForgottenCity''. At the beginning of the game, your character is saved from drowning in a river by a young woman. But when you press your savior for her name, she admits she'd rather not tell you, because it's not a name with a great reputation. Keep asking, and she'll finally admit that it's Karen... and your character can then proceed to note that all the Karen memes in the world have really ruined that poor name, but that she's nice nonetheless. [[spoiler:[[SureLetsGoWithThat In which case she'll play along]], but most endings reveal that the name she ''actually'' gave is spelled "[[LouisCypher Charon]]" and has [[TheFerryman a very different reputation]].]] |
| 164 | * ''VideoGame/KarenSees'' centers around one of these terrorizing the mall where the protagonist works as a security guard. As Bob tries to clean up all of the complaints she left plastered around, she stalks him [[PsychoKnifeNut with a knife]] and every intent of killing him. |
| 165 | * In ''VideoGame/LegoStarWars: The Skywalker Saga'', Anakin Skywalker acts like one in the Geonosis Droid Factory; repeatedly asking for the factory's manager. [[SubvertedTrope Granted]], his complaints aren't exactly [[NoOSHACompliance invalid...]] |
| 166 | -->'''Anakin:''' I'm serious now! Where is your manager? Is he on break?! This factory should be shut down! [[NoOSHACompliance Nothing here is up to code!]] |
| 167 | * ''VideoGame/Mother3'' has Elmore, the wife of Tazmily's mayor. She is easily one of the most unpleasant villagers of Tazmily, even before the Pigmask army's corruption of the village, and treats everyone with indifference [[RichBitch because of her social status]]. She even outright tells Lucas, a child, that she ''hates him''. Elmore also states that she wants her son Ollie to be a successful person one day just so he will make her and her husband Pusher's lives easier. |
| 168 | * ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest4OpenSeason'' has Rosa Garcia. When her son, officer Rene Garcia, dies, she complains to detective John Carey about how useful he was, was saving himself for a good girl, and is mad that some pervert killed him and exposed his body. She even demands that the detective finds the person responsible and punishes him and insinuates that he doesn't understand the weight of the situation because he doesn't have a son. Additionally, she is mentioned to have been giving the Lieutenant an earful beforehand and Carey's partner Hal Bottoms calls her one tough bitch. |
| 169 | * ''VideoGame/PostalBrainDamaged'' has Karen the Manager Slayer as the boss of its first episode. She's a [[EvilIsBigger big]], [[FatBastard overweight]] white woman who attacks by throwing money at the Postal Dude and stomping her foot, causing earthquakes. |
| 170 | [[/folder]] |
| 171 | |
| 172 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 173 | * In ''VisualNovel/CrownDelightsDeli'', one of your customers is an obnoxious, middle-aged white woman with a blonde bob who's always on her phone and is allegedly named Karen according to you. She first enters your bodega asking for some sunscreen, but even if you remind her that there's none available, she storms out and calls your shop "dingy". [[spoiler:She even comes back the second time to insult your bodega after the new supermarket is built.]] |
| 174 | * Not a housewife, but a "customer" with this attitude comes into the diner once in ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert''. After a very weird conversation with the protagonist, she states matter-of-factly that she never had intention of ordering any food. Kathy is not amused and expels the woman. |
| 175 | [[/folder]] |
| 176 | |
| 177 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 178 | * ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo'': |
| 179 | ** Skyler's mother Helen is an obnoxious, entitled RichBitch, a PTA member who has gotten into {{Cat Fight}}s with other parents at meetings, and goes as far as [[UnsatisfiableCustomer demanding a refund on a coffee]] [[http://ennuigo.thecomicseries.com/comics/537/ that she'd already finished]]. |
| 180 | ** [[http://ennuigo.thecomicseries.com/comics/616 When Izzy gives Tanya her own coffee shop]], one of the customers Tanya has to deal with is an obnoxious late-middle-aged housewife who wants to give her dog coffee so "it can be perky" for the judges at a dog show she plans to enter. Tanya refuses to sell the woman coffee, pointing out that coffee is lethal for dogs. The woman then demands to see Tanya's manager in a demeaning tone, [[BewareTheNiceOnes prompting Tanya to pull out a shotgun]] [[CrazyPrepared Izzy had left for her]]. |
| 181 | [[/folder]] |
| 182 | |
| 183 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 184 | * ''WebAnimation/AsukasRevenge'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyoAaAtKH2g Rina]] stole Asuka's gift that is intended for her niece. When confronted by Asuka, Rina refuses to return the gift to her and Rina's husband chooses to side with her despite various evidence being provided by Asuka, forcing her to call the police on Rina. |
| 185 | * ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': During the B-Plot of ''[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E4WesternEnergy Western Energy]]'', Blitzo has an encounter with a deep sea demon that fits the stereotype perfectly. Nicknamed "Deep Sea Karen" by the fandom, she polices Blitzo's language (at a time he is frantically trying to calm Loona down from her [[AfraidOfNeedles fear of needles]]), is visibly unhappy about [[FantasticRacism sharing the hospital waiting room with two lower-class demons]] (referring to them as "Unwashed Masses"), refers to Blitzo as a "filthy Wrathian" (even though Blitzo is not from Wrath) and doesn't bat an eye when her son refers to Blitzo with what is implied to be a [[FantasticSlur pretty nasty racial slur]], instead [[DoWrongRight telling him to wait until they are out of earshot]] to use slurs. Although not confirmed, she appears to be from the Envy Ring which hadn't made an on-screen appearance at the time but was implied to be significantly more well-off than the rest of Hell, with an attitude to match. |
| 186 | * ''WebAnimation/MangaSoprano'': |
| 187 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2fB1u8b9Ak "Mom Friend Makes Me Pay For Her Restaurant Bill → But When I Said I Canceled My Reservation…"]]: Kechimi met Haru at a maternity hospital and always gave her unwanted advice on how to care for her baby son Nari since the former was the mother of three kids. Moreover, she takes advantage of Haru's kindness and rich husband Narita to eat out at expensive places and force her to pay the tab. She even yelled at the waitress on her way to the restaurant near the Puni Shrine and started to throw tantrums when Haru refused to pay the tab for her as she canceled the reservation. However, she gets better once she [[WorkOffTheDebt works to pay off the food she ate]]. |
| 188 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWmPC5nNQHU "Mom Friend Makes Me Pay For Everything → But When She Goes To The Wrong High End Restaurant…"]]: Takako started to take advantage of Haru's kindness and her husband Narita's wealth ever since the latter treated her to a high-end restaurant and forced her to pay for everything she bought. Moreover, both she and her daughter Misa even resorted to ''emotional blackmail'' to manipulate Haru into buying them stuff. However, their luck runs out when they eat at a high-end barbecue restaurant and it turns out Haru was in a different one, leading her to run off without paying until Haru refuses to pay for her. |
| 189 | * ''WebAnimation/MangaWaido'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRv62gKU9iw Mrs. Kamei]] was known for leeching off of other neighbors, either by badgering them into giving her stuff or outright stealing it. She brings her husband when someone refuses, which also results in her undoing when he accuses Aiko of giving their child a defective trampoline, to which she reveals it was in her backyard she always planned to throw it away. To add to the punishment, other housewives come out and tell him this wasn't the first time she steals something. |
| 190 | * ''WebAnimation/MoniRobo'': |
| 191 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U5LugHP49A "Serving justice to a selfish and entitled neighbor!"]]: Kazuko Kinouchi was a stuck-up young housewife who asked her next-door neighbor Sana Chiyoda for the keys to her car ''in the very first day they met'', because Sana's car has a toddler seat, unlike her husband Shu's two-seater car. When she refused, she threatened to sic Shu on Sana's husband Rikiya to have him fired. When Sana caved in, Kazuko returned the car with the tank empty and ''full of trash''. |
| 192 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv_rEE3E4dQ "My car got stolen so I checked on the security camera who did it, and..."]]: Monohoshi was a mom friend of Nano's who stole her car while she and her husband Masayoshi were away. When Nano called her out for her theft, she initially justified it as "borrowing it". Moreover, she even demands Nano pay ''$5000'' to get it back. After she threw a fit over Nano calling the cops on her and threatening to sue her for defamation if she insisted, Monohoshi's husband reveals his wife's attitude is because she was cheating on him and refused to divorce him, even demanding ''him'' to pay her money. |
| 193 | * ''WebAnimation/PanicCollection'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKigxPPcWO0 Paige]]'s mother-in-law and her daughter Ariana gave her a hard time about working from home, thinking that she just plays games all day. When Ariana broke Paige's laptop after failing to log in, she told everything to her husband and father-in-law. Paige's father-in-law divorced his wife and cut ties with his daughter Ariana. Ariana also got caught having an affair after her husband got suspicious of her going to Paige's house. |
| 194 | * ''WebAnimation/RevengeFilms'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymPNX5hEhnc A woman]] tried to plow through snow on private property not seeing a koi pond that had been drained for the winter. Her car went inside and she had to be rescued. The woman went ballistic and demanded compensation from the doctors and the landowners. However her husband forced her to apologize threatening divorce and moved her back with his parents so they can keep a close eye on her. But she getting into more trouble after that, leading to the couple splitting up. |
| 195 | * ''WebAnimation/{{Shishihara}}'': A housewife forces Sota to give her son one of his meatloafs, but he can't give it to him because he added some "special touch" to them and he also intended to give them to Yurika. When Sota and Yurika left their food for a while, they find out that the former's lunchbox has been stolen by the housewife. She later returns to complain about the meatloafs she stole from Sota because her son started to cry after eating it. Sota reveals the meatloafs were filled with Jalapenos to prevent summer fatigue. The housewife's husband hears everything regarding the incident and apologizes to them while also scolding her for stealing their food. |
| 196 | * ''WebAnimation/TanabataManga'': A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jh3bQ9Vgk8 housewife]] uses her son to steal Shinya's bag which contains a lot of his belongings, she also tries to frame him that he was the one who stole the bag. Fortunately, Shinya is able to prove the ownership of his bag and belongings, causing the obnoxious woman's husband to divorce her. |
| 197 | * ''WebAnimation/TroubleBusters'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMQb63ENfFI "A terrible Mom leaves her baby in the car to go have an affair..."]]: Rose was an obnoxious mom friend of Helen's who always badgered her into raising the former's baby daughter Heather. When Helen turned her down one too many times, Rose stuffed Heather into Helen's car to make sure she was forced to comply, but Helen reveals she went overseas with her husband Alan. However, Rose also went overseas and tried to have Helen pick her up. It turns out Rose was having an affair and didn't want to be a mom anymore. |
| 198 | [[/folder]] |
| 199 | |
| 200 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 201 | * In Jenny Lorenzo's ''[[WebVideo/{{Abuela}} Abuela's Family]]'' sketches (which center on a Cuban-American grandmother, her three daughters, and three granddaughters, all played by Lorenzo), Tia Gloria is this to a T. She displays a HolierThanThou attitude coupled with razor-sharp wit that [[Series/SaturdayNightLive The Church Lady]] would envy, a sleek blonde bob and an exaggerated Anglo-American accent (in contrast to her mother's and sisters' Cuban-American accents) along with snooty commentary aimed towards her sisters and her families for not being as religious, wealthy, organized, or classy as her. In one Instagram sketch, she is used to lampoon colorism in the Latino community that prioritizes Anglo features (blond hair and blue eyes) as superior enough to have Jesus Christ possess them as an infant. |
| 202 | * One of comedian [[https://www.instagram.com/beckyrobinson4/ Becky Robinson]]'s sketch characters is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the Entitled Housewife]], a caricature of the stereotypical rude, arrogant Karen. She's obsessed with winning at golf and tennis, makes others' lives hell, and dresses in garish clothing that accentuates Robinson's fuller figure. She initially introduced the character in her standup, complete with an exaggerated Midwestern accent. |
| 203 | * WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic: |
| 204 | ** In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmaXZpc3hik Curse of the Commercials]]", there is a brief sketch where the trope is mocked. Tamara plays a lady with curlers in her hair calling the Critic who wants him to arrest a black person selling lemonade outside her apartment. When the Critic asks if the black person is filming her, he tells her that she's "on her own, bitch" and the police come to her apartment, presumably to arrest ''her''. |
| 205 | ** Another episode has Miles playing a psychologist who gets a call from the same woman. He prescribes drinking an entire bottle of Raid. |
| 206 | * ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' is rife with stories about every type of this trope possible and the saner worker/coworker/relatives/passerby's struggle against them. The usual range is between [[PsychopathicManchild entitled]] [[AbusiveParents parents]] and [[ConspiracyTheorist scheming]] [[TinFoilHat crazies]]. |
| 207 | * ''Website/TheOnion'': [[https://youtu.be/BHtaU1IW4OM "Middle-Aged Woman Angrily Demanding Price Check Was Once Carefree Youth, Onlookers Speculate"]]. |
| 208 | * Website/{{Reddit}} has the [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FuckYouKaren/ "Fuck You Karen"]] subreddit, which originated as a series of memes about an obnoxious ex-wife and is now dedicated to memes about the entitled, argumentative suburban mom stereotype. Many of these kinds of people (male and female -- entitlement knows no gender) also feature in stories from subreddits like [[https://www.reddit.com/r/EntitledParents/ "Entitled Parents"]], [[https://www.reddit.com/r/IDontWorkHereLady/ "I Don't Work Here, Lady"]], [[https://www.reddit.com/r/IDOWORKHERELADY/ "I Do Work Here, Lady"]], [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromRetail/ "Tales from Retail"]], and [[https://www.reddit.com/r/ChoosingBeggars "Choosing Beggars"]]. |
| 209 | * ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by the Foundation, who sent one of their operatives undercover posing as one of these (with the tongue-in-cheek codename "Karen of Justice") to investigate [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-4703 SCP-4703]], an EldritchLocation grocery store that maims its customers and [[RealityWarping warps reality]] to repel any intervention by the authorities. After threatening to castrate an employee over an expired coupon, she demands to see the manager and is led into the basement to speak with a desiccated corpse. |
| 210 | * ''WebVideo/TheTake'' examines this phenomenon in their video [[https://youtu.be/YSkYlJxWVrk "The Karen Trope, Explained".]] |
| 211 | * There's a Platform/TikTok that presents the point of view of an such a person, who has spent her life supporting conservatives values and opposing feminism now making a scene in a supermarket because "don't these people know -- [[OriginalPositionFallacy exceptions are supposed to made]] for ''you.''" |
| 212 | [[/folder]] |
| 213 | |
| 214 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 215 | * ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'': Joann Bishop, mother of Dodie and Hoodsey, is considered to be an "intensely crabby" woman. Her abrasive personality and her status as a middle-class stay-at-home mom often clash with the Foutley family's working-class values, rarely showing a side of her that isn't rude or at least passive-aggressive. She dominates her entire family, particularly her [[HenpeckedHusband sensitive husband, David]]. She often tries to meddle in the affairs of her children's lives, including trying to make Hoodsey abandon Carl as a friend and [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents living through Dodie's sudden popularity as a high school cheerleader]]. |
| 216 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'': Malory Archer is blatantly racist, refuses to admit when she's wrong, insists that everything always has to be her way, and is [[SmugSnake condescending towards everyone around her]]. |
| 217 | * ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': Logan's mother Cynthia is a snobby, judgmental woman from an affluent family who tends to judge those who make the neighborhood look bad, particularly the Belchers and their antics. While her first appearance made her understandable as she was shocked at the biker gang that threatened to cut off her son's ears, later appearances made her more passive-aggressive and stubborn about her family's image. |
| 218 | * ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'': [=BoJack=]'s mom [[Characters/BojackHorsemanBeatriceHorseman Beatrice Horseman]] is used to the upper-class life of her childhood and resents giving up her life to marry Butterscotch. She takes out her bitterness on everybody around her, [[AbusiveParents her son most of all]], condescending anybody she deems lower-class and forcing her son to perform at her dinner parties just to keep up her good reputation. She's also a textbook example of a malignant {{narcissist}} and [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain quite culturally insensitive]], referring to 1990s Hollywood as "full of AIDS" and telling everybody at her supper club that her friend's son "is a gay." |
| 219 | -->'''Beatrice:''' The man sitting next to me was wearing a T-shirt. A ''T-shirt'', [=BoJack=], [[SeriousBusiness in the theater]]! The T-shirt told me to "[[{{Slogans}} Just Do It]]." I don't know to what "it" the T-shirt referred, but I will not be spoken to in that tone by an article of clothing. |
| 220 | * ''WesternAnimation/CentralPark'': In Season 3 "[[Recap/CentralParkS3E08LunarPalaver Lunar Palavar]]", while Cole is playing in the park, he jumps out of the bushes and startles a woman who was walking by. The woman acted very defensively towards him, seeing him as a threat even after he apologized, and even after Owen pointed out that he was just a kid with an obvious toy sword. She clearly doesn't feel any remorse and acts as if she was in the right all along. |
| 221 | * ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': Operation: M.A.T.A.D.O.R. marks the debut of Soccer Mom, an elderly blonde haired woman with a nasty temper. |
| 222 | * ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn'': Season 3 introduces Debbie Shirley, a racist, stuck-up soccer mom who's so nasty that [[HorrifyingTheHorror she gives]] ''[[HorrifyingTheHorror the Joker]]'' {{catapult nightmare}}s and bullies his stepkids for being Hispanic. |
| 223 | * ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': |
| 224 | ** Peggy Hill is a more [[DownplayedTrope down-to-earth]] variant. While she is friendly, optimistic, and means well, she is also arrogant, self-centered, and [[KnowNothingKnowItAll not nearly as smart as she likes to believe]]. She gets herself deeply involved in her family and friends' lives, whether she was welcomed or not, and attempts to manage almost every community event in Arlen because of her need to social climb. Needless to say, most people that come across Peggy Hill find her to be obnoxious and try to avoid her or knock her down. |
| 225 | ** Minh Souphanousinphone is a more straight example. Like her husband Kahn, she looks down on her neighbors as "hillbillies" or "rednecks" and disapproves of her daughter Connie's relationship with Bobby Hill, though she's still slightly more sensible than Kahn. |
| 226 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyB'': Mary Frances Gibbons is the den mother of the Honeybees who flaunts her position within the upper-middle class and always looks for imperfections in her own daughter, the other scouts, and especially Bessie. Her suburban respectability serves as a {{Foil}} to the down-to-earth, bohemian small business lifestyle of the Higgenbottoms. |
| 227 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Odalia Blight is not really a housewife since she has a lucrative full-time job (and she is clearly the one in charge of the family business), but overall she's a wealthy, high-status woman who's stuck-up, haughty, controlling, selfish, vindictive, manipulative, expects everyone else to accede to her personal wants, and goes to unreasonable extremes just to assert her authority over others. [[AbusiveParents Her daughter is afraid of her]], [[HenpeckedHusband her husband is exasperated with her]] and Principal Bump only reluctantly goes along with her demands because she's the head of the Boiling Isles' equivalent of the PTA. |
| 228 | * ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': In "Take the Cake" while getting Mr. Maellard's birthday cake at Top Tier Cakes, Mordecai and Rigby shift over to the empty pre-paid pick-up line due to them having a receipt in advance, giving them priority. Unfortunately for them, a stubborn lady keeps insisting that they cut the line when they very clearly didn't, feeling privileged to be served first since she's apparently waited longer than anyone else. Nobody listens to her, eventually culminating in her attempting to cut Mordecai and Rigby with a cake cutter for taking away what she feels are her privileges. |
| 229 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 230 | ** Helen Lovejoy is characterized as this after {{Flanderization}}; while she was originally characterized as Revered Lovejoy's nagging wife, nowadays she is an annoying woman who always [[GossipyHens goes out of her way to get dirt on other people's lives]], especially Marge's, for no reason other than [[ItAmusedMe because she wants to]]. Helen is also quick to demand things to be banned if she finds them offensive with the argument to ThinkOfTheChildren (while ignoring that [[{{Hypocrite}} her own daughter is a huge troublemaker]]) and the few times she does something nice for others [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk it is only for her own benefit]]. |
| 231 | ** The saintly, late Maude Flanders has been Helen's comrade protesting for censorship and an alcohol ban with the ThinkOfTheChildren argument and even behaving like an AlphaBitch where Marge is concerned. She even went to Bible Camp in "Bart of Darkness" to learn how to be more judgemental. |
| 232 | * ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': |
| 233 | ** In the early seasons, Sheila Broflovski was prone to picking fights and starting campaigns against anything she found [[ThinkOfTheChildren offensive to her children]]. This reaches its apex in ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' when she starts a full-blown war with Canada because they produced the vulgar ''Terrance and Phillip'' movie. However, she learns her lesson at the end of the movie and is [[TookALevelInKindness considerably less antagonistic afterwards]]. |
| 234 | ** Mayor [=McDaniels=] could also be considered this. She looks down on the residents of South Park, referring to them as "hillbillies," and [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk only ever does nice things for her own benefit]]. |
| 235 | ** By the time of ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkTheStreamingWars'' Randy Marsh's weed-growing (and smoking) has caused him to develop this sort of persona to the point that the residents of South Park ''up to and including [[EveryoneHasStandards the police department]]'' have even taken to calling him "Karen". He even has the overdone-fringe haircut. He eventually snaps out of it hard enough to go back to his original geologist persona. |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
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