“Mansplaining”
“Mansplaining” as coined is when a man explains something to (usually) a woman in a condescending or patronizing way. I get that. I understand why that is a bad thing. No problems at face value. However, in our current society, it has turned into a far greater, uglier thing than it already was on it’s own. Lot’s of men and even women have regarded this term as sexist. I am not sure I agree per say, because it is specifically referring to when a man does it, usually to a woman and it is implied that it is done because of some basic belief that she is inferior to him. That happens. I’ve seen it. So again, at face value, no issue. It does not in any way imply that it ONLY happens with men and thus to me is not sexist. Here is where the issue comes in. First, where the original term does not imply that only men do this, and only to women, it is being treated as if it does. That becomes sexist. The biggest example of “mansplaining” I know of is actually on Tumblr, from Tumblr’s hardcore feminist movement that continuously speak to men, and cis women in the exact same tone, treat them exactly this way, but because they are considered mitigated or oppressed it is not a problem. It doesn’t get a term coined after it. It is acceptable. Secondly, our society has become more and more afraid of being wrong. Especially of being called out on being wrong, while at the same time we take less and less time to verify anything we are saying. This creates an environment in which the pure act of being told you are wrong, even respectfully, is “Condescending” and “Patronizing” Combining this societal attitude with the concept of “mansplaining” has morphed an acceptable culture where any time a man corrects a woman, regardless as to how polite and reasonable he is about it, and regardless of the fact that she was legitimately incorrect, it is now “mansplaining” There is an issue in our country. Many issues. Misogyny is a part of that. You can’t beat it with misandry. If you had to look that word up, you might take a moment wonder why. If your answer is “because it’s not a thing” you might be contributing to the gender war. The question is - do you care?
