How ‘basic b***h’ became a badge of pride, why ‘Karen’ had a year to forget, and why the internet thinks Stanley Tucci is the ultimate ‘zaddy’

One of the silver linings of the pandemic this year was the elevation of the celebrity zaddy, and we can thank actor Stanley Tucci and his negroni for that
Forget everything you know about the average ‘basic b***h’ – in recent times, basic-ness has been reclaimed by women wearing their basic tastes with pride

Fashion

Annie Brown

Published: 2:30am, 24 Dec 2020

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Of all the phrases to enter common parlance in recent years there are few as polarising, instantly evocative and delicious as “basic b***h”, “zaddy” and “Karen”. Indeed, one of the silver linings of the global pandemic this year was the elevation of the celebrity zaddy – it turns out an internet boyfriend is quite the balm in times of uncertainty.

This year was also the one in which Karen became the go-to insult for a certain kind of woman (we all know one!). Oh, and with all that banana bread baking in 2020, we’re probably all basic b***hes. Not sure where you fit? Read on.

Basic b***h

It used to be easy to spot a basic b***h. The Starbucks pumpkin spice latte, Ugg boots, Lululemon leggings and “Live, Laugh, Love” emblazoned upon a throw cushion were a dead giveaway. She was Lauren Conrad in American television show The Hills, or a contestant on reality series The Bachelor saying she wasn’t on the show to make friends.

But that was back in simpler times (circa 2014 when Google Trends data suggests the term reached peak popularity). The term originated in the black community and hip-hop culture, and was popularised by the comedians Lil Duval and Spoken Reasons, with Lil Duval’s song Basic B***h as well as Kreayshawn’s 2011 song Gucci Gucci .

The term entered Urban Dictionary, an online source, in 2009 and it soon became shorthand for a mainstream, pleasantly unoriginal and mostly white woman who never met a sunset she didn’t Instagram. With copious hashtags.

Being basic has become a business opportunity, with brands such as Michael Kors doing the delicate dance of blending mass appeal and desirability. Photo: Getty Images

Over the past decade however, being basic, as trade publication The Business of Fashion noted, became less of an insult and more of a major business opportunity, with brands such as Michael Kors and The North Face doing the delicate dance of mass appeal and desirability.

“Basic” brands have also had a revival in recent years – early 00s mainstay Juicy Couture was revived, Ugg collaborated with buzzy brand Y/Project, and Birkenstocks (long a basic mainstay) have remained not just relevant but desirable, reinterpreted by everyone from Phoebe Philo when she was at Céline and American brand Proenza Schouler.

In recent times, basic-ness has been reclaimed by women wearing their basic tastes with pride – there are, for example, more than 800,000 uses of the hashtag #basicb***h on Instagram. What’s more, as Emily in this year’s divisive show Emily in Paris says in defence of ringardes, i.e. basic b***hes, we need them.

“You think ringardes don’t respect designers. We worship designers so much that we spend all we’ve saved on a dumb accessory just to feel like we’re somehow on your runway. You may mock us but the truth is … you need us. Without basic b***hes like me, you wouldn’t be fashionable.” Let’s all raise our avocado toast to that.

Karen

Spare a thought for people named Karen. This year, the name you might have associated with the woman from the HR department with the “funky” colourful rimmed glasses has become both a go-to insult and an internet meme.

Karen is now shorthand for a certain kind of entitled, middle-class and middle-aged woman. Picture her: she has an “I want to speak to the manager” haircut (think asymmetrical bob with chunky highlights) and is both pushy and ignorant.

The website knowyourmeme.com last year described the term as: “Slang … used as an antagonistic female character in memes. ‘Karen’ is generally characterised as an irritating, entitled woman.”

The origins of the meme are unclear and, according to knowyourmeme, include the “oh my God, Karen, you can’t just ask someone why they’re white” meme from the 2004 movie Mean Girls, and the Dane Cook stand-up comedy routine The Friend That Nobody Likes.

The BBC notes that Karen started being used a few years ago in black communities to satirise the prejudice and hostility they’ve experienced.

However, the name and term took on a whole new life this year following a slew of viral videos depicting white women harassing people of colour, such as the woman who called the police on a man birdwatching in New York’s Central Park.

As per the BBC: “a predominant feature of the ‘Karen’ stereotype is that they weaponise their relative privilege against people of colour – for example, when making police complaints against black people for minor or even – in numerous cases – fictitious infringements.”

Another strand this year has been the “Coronavirus Karens”: those who refuse to wear a face mask during the pandemic. There’s also been a backlash against the Karen insult, such as the feminist writer Julie Bindel describing it on Twitter as “woman hating”.

Meanwhile, the pizza chain Dominos in Australia and New Zealand had to apologise for and withdraw a promotion offering free pizza to “nice Karens” following criticism.

One of the few positives to come out of lockdown was the video of Stanley Tucci making a negroni cocktail. Photo: Instagram

Zaddy

One of the few positives to come out of the global lockdown was undoubtedly the video of the dashing, inordinately elegant actor Stanley Tucci making a negroni cocktail. The actor posted it on Twitter back in April when much of the world was stuck at home.

This would only go part of the way to explain the extreme, well, thirst, the video inspired. Tucci’s charming video lit up the internet, inspiring thousands of lust-filled tweets.

Even Chris Evans, aka Captain America, joined in, tweeting of Tucci, “I. Love. Stanley. Tucci. On some (most) days after we finished filming on the first Captain America movie, Stanley would make us martinis in his trailer. He’s an absolute gem. However cool, fun, witty, and charming you think he is, double it and you’re halfway there.”

Not to put too fine a point on it but Tucci is, without doubt, the ultimate zaddy.

While “Daddy” has been co-opted by the internet from the term used by children under the age of 12 for their father (and also the gay community from the leather subculture) to be a catch-all for an attractive older male, a zaddy, as magazine Esquire notes, has “swag” as well as style and charm in spades.

Urban Dictionary says a zaddy “smells good, looks good and is good” – all of the things the entire internet imagines Stanley Tucci (as well as the likes of former US president Barack Obama, journalist Anderson Cooper, and actors Idris Elba and Ryan Reynolds) to be.

Bonus points if he can shake up the perfect cocktail.

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