- Mansplaining, another form of machismo
- How would we define it?
- To understand, an example
- How does the term appear?
- What is not considered mansplaining: let's clarify
- To understand us…
Despite the fact that we are in the 21st century and that the struggles against machismo have been moving the balance towards a much more balanced point in the search for equality, many of us continue to encounter a type of sexist behavior that, precisely because it is more subtle, goes more unnoticed: We refer to mansplaining.
Do you want to know what it is about and find out if it has ever happened to you? We tell you.
Mansplaining, another form of machismo
Surely if you are a woman, on more than one occasion you have felt treated in an unnecessarily paternalistic way by a man who insists on explaining to you certain things, as if your comprehension capacity were that of a little girl while her wisdom is unfathomable.
Another peculiarity that must be added is that this "sir" has taken the liberty of doing it without anyone asking him to. Nobody. And more specifically, you have not asked him to show his supremacy before you because it is absolutely unnecessary to you
Is this situation familiar to you? If your answer is yes, you can say that you know what mansplaining is first hand.
How would we define it?
It is a neologism of the English language in which the words “man” and “explain” are combined.
Mansplaining is used to define that type of propensity of some men to explain certain topics to women, doing so in a in such a condescending way as if they were people with little ability to understand, even in aspects in which his interlocutor might have superior knowledge to him.
To understand, an example
Let's put a perfectly feasible case of mansplaining:
We met a young woman, with a degree in Industrial Technical Engineering specializing in Chemistry, who has been selected among other candidates for her personal profile, training, and experience of several years in a similar position, to working in a quality control lab and leading a team of four men, older than her, skilled but younger than her. Shall we situate ourselves?
Okay, so now imagine that every time she tries to comment on a topic related to their results, she has to put up with them explaining their arguments to her in the same way as if they were receiving the visit of a group of primary school children who want to know what their work consists of.
That is mansplaining and yes, unfortunately it is common in everyday life, in many jobs and quite systematic in professional fieldsthat until recently were exclusively male.
How does the term appear?
The first time this word was used was in 2014, with the publication of the book Men explain things to me by Rebecca Solnit. Since then the term has become popular with astonishing speed, probably because how common it is to recognize this behavior in the day-to-day lives of many women
In her book, this well-known writer and activist in the fight for women's rights was inspired by her own personal experience where, ironically, a man tried to explain to her a book that she had written precisely (data that he did not know). Come on, the last straw.
What is not considered mansplaining: let's clarify
Eye! The fact that this macho attitude is something common does not mean that now we begin to perceive mansplaining where there really is none. Something that is sensible is to have the ability to apply good judgment in detecting this attitude to avoid unnecessary sensitivity and unfair judgments.
The peculiarity of mansplaining is not that a man discusses or gives his opinion on certain issues related to feminism or women.
Neither is it true that in certain work or social contexts a man (or several) offer certain explanations to a woman on a certain subject, of whatever nature, with which they broaden their vision and knowledge that she may have on that subject.
The problem is when this happens systematically, when it is wrongly assumed that because she is a woman she is more inexperienced or incompetent, when the Condescension is so pronounced that it is denigrating, because in all this you perceive that this man grants himself a superiority over her that does not really exist.
Yes, when a competent woman is treated like a girl unaware of what she could be an expert in, we can affirm that it is a case of mansplaining.
To understand us…
The issue of mansplaining is a complex issue both because of its subtlety, as well as how it can blur the margins of treatment between equals and because of the ease that can be when detecting this form of machismo when maybe there really isn't.
In any case, in those situations where mansplaining is clearly evident, perhaps unconsciously and due to the cultural prevalence of patriarchy , what is certain is that it pursues the purpose of underestimating, making invisible even going so far as to nullify women, as if this were a task of “normalization”.
But what is undeniable in this case is the power of words, because thanks to the popularization of this term, many women have found a way to focus attention on something they suffered andpassed unnoticed by society.
Now that we have a name for this silent belittlement, let's hope to move to the next level soon; that mansplaining ceases to be tolerated by men and women until it becomes a thing of the past.