These masks that are sure to strike fear in people’s hearts this Halloween are now on sale for a steep $180. They are modeled after a terrifying (but all too real) meme known as “Karen.”
The concept of a “Karen” has been an internet meme for several years, but it rose to national prominence earlier this year as a catch-all term for an angry problematic or racist white woman who is caught antagonizing people of color.
The full-head latex masks were created by Los Angeles designer, artist and occasional drag queen Jason Adcock, who advertised the creepy masks on his Instagram page, writing, “scare all ur friends with ur big hair and narrow mind.”
The use of the term “Karen” has increased exponentially this year as it seems more “Karens” are rearing their heads. They include hot-headed, frequently shrieking women looking to start a fight with a POC. Like, for instance, Amy Cooper, a white woman who called the police on a Black bird watcher in Central Park in May; and a woman who went viral on TikTok after physically blocking a woman of color from leaving a parking lot. There was also a San Franciscan Karen who garnered internet attention after telling a homeowner he couldn’t write “Black Lives Matter” on private property — that turned out to be his own home.
Adcock created two versions of the Karen mask, one that’s a terrifying, yelling white woman with the stereotypical “Karen bob” haircut, and another that is a zombie-fied Karen with bulging eyes and sores all over her face, called “Karen-19.”
“She thought she was slick calling you all sheep and look what happened,” Adcock wrote in the product’s description — the mask is poking fun at conservative women across the country who’ve pushed back against mask mandates, calling the coronavirus a hoax.
“I was starting on this year’s Halloween projects and kept seeing “Karens” pop up in my news feed and thought, ‘Damn this is the real monster of 2020,’” Adcock told Business Insider. Adcock added that orders take three to four weeks to process given demand.
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