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CBS Philly screenshot

Last week, when explaining the history, etymology, and context behind "Becky," I referred to Iggy Azelea as Darth Becky. Which A) she is (duh) and B) was one of those jokes that wasn't really a joke. Because she's not the only one. There really are swarms of Darth-ass Beckys out there — stealing swag, taking up sidewalk space, sabotaging conversations with strategic tears, ruining office potlucks with cucumber casseroles, and tattle telling to human resources because you put a period after the "Good morning" you replied to her "Good morning!" email instead of an exclamation point and she was hurt and threatened by that — and they really do need to be stopped. And they need to be acknowledged as what they are. Terrorists.

Perhaps this characterization seems harsh, but there's no other way to describe their knack of using their Whitewomanness — and the sympathy and consideration they're often given for merely possessing it — as a means to infiltrate, disrupt, and manipulate. For instance, let's consider what happened to University of Pennsylvania economics professor Guido Menzio for having the misfortune of sitting next to the Darthest of Beckys on a plane.


After this particularly Darth Becky — described in the Washington Post as a "blond-haired, 30-something woman sporting flip-flops and a red tote bag" — noticed him scribbling something on a notepad, her antenna went up.

She decided to try out some small talk.

Is Syracuse home? She asked.

No, he replied curtly.



One thing led to another, and the plane was eventually prevented from taking off, and he was questioned for being a terrorist. All because A) this Darth Becky was perturbed that this man had the audacity not to recognize that she, a nice White woman, was attempting to make small talk with him and B) this Darth Becky thought his scribbles were some secondhand terrorist Cliffnotes and didn't realize it was a fucking math problem.

Had the crew or security members perhaps quickly googled this good-natured, bespectacled passenger before waylaying everyone for several hours, they might have learned that he — Guido Menzio — is a young but decorated Ivy League economist. And that he’s best known for his relatively technical work on search theory, which helped earn him a tenured associate professorship at the University of Pennsylvania as well as stints at Princeton and Stanford’s Hoover Institution.


In summary, if you see a Darth Becky today, tell the authorities. Because Darth Beckys are terrorists.


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