Paris' 2024 Olympics logo looks like a 'Karen,' according to critics

• The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics logo was unveiled back in October 2019.
• This week, Twitter users pointed out similarities between the design and the popular "Karen" meme.
• The logo honors female athletes and recalls the Paris Games of 1900, according to the Olympics website.

Memes about Paris' 2024 Olympics logo are back - and this time, social-media users say the design reminds them of a "Karen."

When the logo was unveiled in October 2019, Insider's Ashley Collman reported that the symbol had an optical illusion with three different images: a gold medal; an Olympic flame; and the face of Marianne (the symbol of the French Republic embodying values of liberty, equality and fraternity, according to the French government's website).

At the time, social-media users poked fun at the symbol, comparing it to the logo for the dating app Tinder. Others thought it looked like an ad for a new shampoo or hair salon.

This week, as the rescheduled 2020 Olympics take place in Tokyo, jokes about the logo for the next summer games resurfaced on the internet, with Twitter users comparing its short hairstyle to the "Can I speak to the manager?" haircut that has become synonymous with the "Karen" internet meme.

-Chris Williams (@chrwil82) July 23, 2021

-Felipe Aka Philip Aka Filipi (@FESAUGUSTOS) July 25, 2021

-Andrew (@tandrewwww) July 26, 2021

As Insider's Rachel E. Greenspan previously reported, the cropped hairstyle was a popular meme before the name
"Karen" became a meme in its own right. The best example of the style was worn by TV personality Kate Gosselin, of the reality show "Jon & Kate Plus 8," in 2008.

As Matt Schimkowitz, a senior editor at Know Your Meme, previously told Insider, the haircut imagery contributed to the "Karen" character.

"It's a very easy, recognizable thing to meme," Schimkowitz said of the hairdo, adding that it's hard to make memes out of a name alone. "All of these elements kind of blend together."

According to Schimkowitz, while the origin of the "Karen" meme is hard to pin down, the term is "usually used as a pejorative for middle-aged white women."

"It's almost like they have an entitlement, where they're kind of lording their privilege over another," he added, speaking of the typical qualities a "Karen" might have.

In recent years, the name has become associated with white women who call the police on Black people, as Greenspan noted in her article.

Although the design of the 2024 Olympics logo has had a mixed response from the public, Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant, the chair of the International Olympic Committee Coordination Commission, has called it "innovative" and a "wonderful calling card for the Olympic Games Paris 2024," according to the BBC.

And, according to the official Olympics website, the "feminine nature of the emblem" holds significance as it honors the 1900 Paris Games - the first Olympics where women competed.

Representatives for the Paris 2024 Olympics did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.