'Mansplaining'

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I work with 95% women...so I am guessing I would get womensplained more often then I mansplain just because of the %.

 
knapplc said:
But it's only "mansplaining" if it's done from a man to a woman.

If the exact same thing is done in any of these combinations, it's something else:

Man to man

Woman to man

Woman to woman

So the term itself isn't useful.  Either we need four terms for the exact same thing, one for each of those situations, or we need one term that encompasses that behavior from everyone to everyone. 
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that makes no sense.  A man patronizing another man based on making a stereotypical assumption about men?  how would that even be an insult?  Its a non-starter and thats why the word doesn't exist.

 
Kiyoat Husker said:
that makes no sense.  A man patronizing another man based on making a stereotypical assumption about men?  how would that even be an insult?  Its a non-starter and thats why the word doesn't exist.
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That is not true.  Think high school.  Dumb Jock vs the Nerd.  So the male-nerd (me) talks down to the dumb jock.  #Mansplaining

The Male-Nerd assumes the dumb jock is a dumb jock...Just like the dumb jock assumes the male-nerd is good at math.

 
I think there is still something missing from this definition: The unintentional aspect.

The offending "mansplainer" is not intending to be patronizing (i.e. also not being sarcastic).  He is patronizing primarily because of the stereotype-based assumption.

 
Kiyoat Husker said:
I think there is still something missing from this definition: The unintentional aspect.

The offending "mansplainer" is not intending to be patronizing (i.e. also not being sarcastic).  He is patronizing primarily because of the stereotype-based assumption.
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Hmmm, So that sort of makes it about how the other person infers things...which could very well be a "them" problem.  

 
Kiyoat Husker said:
that makes no sense.  A man patronizing another man based on making a stereotypical assumption about men?  how would that even be an insult?  Its a non-starter and thats why the word doesn't exist.
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I agree it makes no sense.  Men patronize men, men patronize women, women patronize men, women patronize women. 

Kiyoat Husker said:
I think there is still something missing from this definition: The unintentional aspect.
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Please don't Splain to me.

 
teachercd said:
That is not true.  Think high school.  Dumb Jock vs the Nerd.  So the male-nerd (me) talks down to the dumb jock.  #Mansplaining

The Male-Nerd assumes the dumb jock is a dumb jock...Just like the dumb jock assumes the male-nerd is good at math.
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Ok, I can go with that as far as being a 'splain, (unintended patronizing using stereotype-based assumptions) but neither stereotype is gender-based, so it isn't the definition of a man-man 'splain.

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Kiyoat Husker said:
Ok, I can go with that as far as being a 'splain, (unintended patronizing using stereotype-based assumptions) but neither stereotype is gender-based, so it isn't the definition of a man-man 'splain.

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So that would be, Nerd-splain and Jock-splain?  Right?  

I guess since you splained it to me...its poster-splain?

 
teachercd said:
I work with 95% women...so I am guessing I would get womensplained more often then I mansplain just because of the %.
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The vast majority of my professional life has been spent working with >75% women. In my current employment, until recently I was the only male in my office, and it had been that way for years.  Now it's about 60/40 women-to-men.

Further, just about everything I know about football I learned from my mom. Same with cooking - mom & grandma.  My dad is a good cook but didn't teach me, and he didn't really like football much until he moved to Nebraska & mom educated him. 

So to me the concept of patronizing a woman because she's a woman, as in, presuming superiority over her because of her gender & mine, is pretty farfetched.  I am aware of the plight of women in the world and how *some* men behave toward them because I am a normal human & I have the same general knowledge everyone has, but to tell me that my gender is guilty of this is simply wrong.  SOME of my gender is, but it's not common enough to dedicate a 5+ page thread about haggling over the definition, that much I can tell you.

 
The term is useful, despite knapp saying it isn't, because if a female friend of mine is telling me a story about how some guy at the bar was mansplaining something to her, I know exactly what she's getting at. 

At the same time, it's become overused and diluted, like most cultural vernacular does. 

 
Here's a possible reason why woman-splaining could technically be a thing, but isn't invoked:

Someone being weak, helpless and dumb  and needing correction isn't a male stereotype, its a female stereotype.

 
knapplc said:
...but to tell me that my gender is guilty of this is simply wrong.  SOME of my gender is, but it's not common enough to dedicate a 5+ page thread about haggling over the definition, that much I can tell you.
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I think it's more that all women have had legitimate negative experiences with your gender than it is that all members of your gender perpetuate those things.

 
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