Mansplaining

 

“Mansplaining” is about raising awareness of how deeply embedded misogyny is in our society, down to little interactions that men aren’t aware of, but women put up with constantly. Then there’s the “make me a sandwich” guys who genuinely believe women are inferior and enjoy attacking women across all kinds of platforms, think women belong at home having babies, basically being domestic servants/laborers for men. Then you’ve got guys who are actively dangerous to us, who abuse the women in their lives (physically/mentally/emotionally/financially, etc), who will beat, rape, and kill us. Men are much more likely to kill their female partners than the other way around. Never mind politicians making sweeping policies of exclusion, limiting access, to healthcare and other services.

I’m not saying that all men do these things, but it’s all connected, all variations on misogyny. So many men who would never rape or beat a woman still don’t see us as actual people who are their equals, and still behave in ways that are harmful and reinforce the existing norms.

You’re right, there are a lot of injustices in the world. But when you boil them down, most of the root causes are the same: disregard for those who are ‘different’. To fight back and make things better, we need to address the fundamental issues at all levels, and that includes within ourselves.

You can avoid being a mansplainer by asking yourself these questions:

• Did she indicate any desire to hear this information?
• Is it possible that she knows more about this topic than I do?
• Did I read the room before starting to speak?