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40 Women Share Stories About Men Who Confidently Mansplained Something Obvious To Them
Interview With Author
The term “mansplaining” is a relatively new one. After first being innovated by the author Rebecca Solnit in 2008, it allowed women to describe a common experience they share for which they never had the terminology. “Mansplaining” went beyond the generics like “patronizing” and “presumptuous” and shed light on a profoundly negative side that men explaining things to women has.
Unfortunately, unsolicited explanations from men who are neither your teacher nor your manager are all too common. But to see the level of absurdity and obviousness of the things women have mansplained to them, we have to look at the actual instances that happened to them in real life.
So when Twitter user Nicole Froio, who’s a PhD on sexual violence and masculinity, asked women to share “the most obvious thing a man has ever mansplained to you,” the answers started pouring in one after another. Both ludicrous and plain irritating, they speak thousands of words about power imbalance and gender bias, which shouldn’t be the case when we live in 2021.
Read more irritating mansplaining cases as shared by women in our previous article right here.
Image credits: NicoleFroio
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#3
H Edwards 3 years ago
I witnessed an American man trying to explain a Spanish girl's name to her. He was insisting that one of her names was a 'middle' name, and she was patiently saying that names work differently in Spain. She finally snapped and said 'I know what my own name is'. He was also manspreading in the worst possible way. It was quite hilarious to watch.
Bored Panda reached out to the author of the thread, Nicole Froio, who is a feminist writer and researcher. Nicole explained that “mansplaining is one of many daily aggressions women go through in a sexist and misogynistic society, so it has to be understood as a part of a larger system of oppression rather than an isolated incident.”
It comes from the assumption that “women and other non-men don't have the intelligence to understand the topic at hand, which is a sexist and misogynistic assumption. The mansplainer will explain something that the woman probably already knows already, usually in a condescending and infantilizing way.”
According to Nicole, it depends where the act of mansplaining happens. For example, when it’s in a professional setting, “this can result in the woman in a professional setting feeling disrespected and/or inept for doing their job, they could feel like they've been publicly humiliated in front of their colleagues and feel a general loss of respect for her expertise."
#8
Paul K. Johnson 3 years ago
I don't know the situation there and it sounds like he was a moron. I've written a lot of code and at least a couple of times someone told me what it was really doing which wasn't what I thought it was doing. So they were right. I wrote in a bug and they caught it.
For the men who’re wondering about not coming across as mansplainers, Nicole says that simply asking can go a long way. “Instead of assuming a person doesn't know about a certain topic, why not ask 'Do you know how this works?' or 'I'm not sure if you're familiar with this, but if you do, feel free to stop me.'” These simple questions can correct the behavior that might accidentally harm someone.
Even though Nicole said that mansplaining is not one of the worst things experienced by women in a patriarchal system, she sees it wrong because “it rectifies the gender structure on an interpersonal level.”
“For example, you might be a woman in a male-dominated industry where your expertise is already undervalued because that field is male-dominated, and then one of your colleagues mansplains a simple concept everyone in the office is familiar with.”
Such cases can do long-term harm to women. “This can lead to things like imposter syndrome and an unwelcome work environment for women, where people's suspicions about the woman's supposed lack of expertise are rectified by the mansplaining."
When asked how one should react to being mansplained to, Nicole said that personally she finds being assertive quite important when responding to mansplaining. “I usually respond by saying things like 'Thanks for explaining, but I already knew that' or even interrupting the mansplainer and saying 'Sorry to interrupt, but I already know that, so we can move onto the next topic instead of wasting time?’”
Your response can just be a gentle nudge to the fact that you are knowledgeable and that you don't need an explanation, Nicole concluded.
#25
Annika Jorgensen 3 years ago
Maby it's more a case of he learned and read up about it and wanted to share it? My partner did the same for our son, not that he was be the breastfeeder xD. But i was happy that he took his time to read up and understand allot of things about having kids. And even if me and his mom already knew things. It's not hard to just listen, and be happy that at least they try instead of not caring about it.
#26
#31
Carrie Laughs 3 years ago
I said something about that very issue to my sister who had no idea of the direction one should wipe.
#32
Donkey boi 3 years ago
I didn't even know there were such things as trucks with 36 gears! Does it work like bicycle gears?
#35
Samantha Lomb 3 years ago
In fairness I have met a lot of people who didn't know the political history of their home country. And no they were not just Americans. Some of my Russian students have said some really funny stuff too, like when one tried to tell me the statue on the main square was Stalin. Its a bearded bald guy who is pretty obviously Lenin. And my colleagues used to have students tell them in English about the history of their home town ( Kirov) and none of the students seemed to know who that was despite the town being named for him and us having statues of him dotted around. In fairness I study Soviet history, but they would say, "Let's ask the American" and then I of course knew who Sergei Mironovich was and students would study harder for their next dialogue.
#36
Samantha Lomb 3 years ago
I'd suggest he also go look up infant and maternal mortality rates in Africa and then report him
#38
Periwinkle 3 years ago
Do they get a kick out of wrongly declaring things for women? Alternate drug high?
#39
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What do you think ?
troufaki13 3 years ago
In most of these cases, a woman could just as easily said these stupid remarks. It's just stupidity and ignorance, not mansplaining.
Hello 3 years ago
It's both. There isn't a term called "womansplaining", but the idea behind mansplaining and 'womansplaining' is being ignorant and dismisve.
Load More Replies...
Hans 3 years ago
Just a few days ago, we had a "mansplaining" post and most people will agree that the term is merely a sexist stereotype for behaviour that simply shows a lack of respect, gender of either side notwithstanding. In case of this list, most of these are not even when the term supposedly should imply, but examples of rude beaviour from men towards women, typically not really "explaining" something but merely stating it. Therefore, the whole post is boring but to those who want to be infuriated.
Full Name 3 years ago
I think the VAST majority of mansplaining incidents are not that at all. I know lots of dudes who "mansplain" things to men all the time. They're just idiots. It's not a sex thing so stop looking for something to be offended by.
Mohammad Ammar 3 years ago
Exactly! Mansplaining is like "ok boomer", there's some truth to it but now it's just used to dismiss people.
Load More Replies...
troufaki13 3 years ago
In most of these cases, a woman could just as easily said these stupid remarks. It's just stupidity and ignorance, not mansplaining.
Hello 3 years ago
It's both. There isn't a term called "womansplaining", but the idea behind mansplaining and 'womansplaining' is being ignorant and dismisve.
Load More Replies... Hans 3 years ago
Just a few days ago, we had a "mansplaining" post and most people will agree that the term is merely a sexist stereotype for behaviour that simply shows a lack of respect, gender of either side notwithstanding. In case of this list, most of these are not even when the term supposedly should imply, but examples of rude beaviour from men towards women, typically not really "explaining" something but merely stating it. Therefore, the whole post is boring but to those who want to be infuriated.
Full Name 3 years ago
I think the VAST majority of mansplaining incidents are not that at all. I know lots of dudes who "mansplain" things to men all the time. They're just idiots. It's not a sex thing so stop looking for something to be offended by.
Mohammad Ammar 3 years ago
Exactly! Mansplaining is like "ok boomer", there's some truth to it but now it's just used to dismiss people.
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