I recently had to have a heart to heart with someone I care for very much, and who's a notorious 'mansplainer'.
What is a mansplainer you may ask?
Well,according to Wikipedia: "
"Mansplaining is a pejorative term meaning " to comment on or explain something, to a woman, in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner". Author Rebecca Solnit ascribed the phenomenon to a combination of "overconfidence and cluelessness".
Basically, it's when men tell you infomation as if a) you didn't know already and b) has asked for an explanation in the first place.
Here's an example:
Jane is preparing some dinner. She's making lasagna. Jon walks into the kitchen and says 'Well, you know, Jane, Lasagna is from Italy and the best way to make a lasagna is to add fresh tomatoes. See, fresh tomatoes have more lycopin and the acid really cuts through the fat and oil.'
Little does Jon know that Jane has made lasagna 1000 times. She's from Italy. She grows tomatoes in her garden. In fact she's a pro chef and studies food science.
Jon didn't bother to ask Jane if she needed advice or an explanation. In fact he assumed she knew nothing about it.
And this, my ladies, is a mansplanation.
It's the assumption that women are clueless and need to be taught by men, and then that what is offered as an explanation is often uninformed and crude.
Why do men mansplain?
Well, I have my theories.
One is that men, especially white men, have been taught that they run the world and therefore that their word is law. They feel responsible for it all and yet simulatenously incapable and powerless.
It's a built in impotence driven by the false narrative of supremacy since, guess what?
It's biologically and metaphysically IMPOSSIBLE for men to be responsible for the world on their own.
So the false story of male dominance keeps them measuring themselves to an unreachanble standard, feel like they're not enough, and then project that insecurity on women, especially smart women.
And let's be frank.
Women are often smarter than men. No offense but we literally utilize more of our brains. We literally have double the hz decibles in the tones of our voice. We birth babies for crying out loud. So I'm just gonna say it, we're special.
We're natural born teachers and leaders. It's built into our physiology as the ones who bleed, the ones who birth, and the ones who nurse.
We are naturally in charge of life. And maybe that's why men in this world have to work reaaaaaally hard to keep us women oppressed which includes forcefully enforcing their own voices over our own through interuption and controlling spaces as lawmakers of the land.
Have you ever heard a man say things to you like, 'Here's the thing' before he speaks, or 'So, this is how it works', or the classic 'While you're under my roof it's my rules'?
It's as if unconsciously he believes that he is in control of, well, anything at all, when we all know the truth about who's really in control.
We know who's really running the show and it's not human men or women or trans or any one person or gender or race or class or creed.
MOTHER. FREAKIN' NATURE. IT"S THE BOSS.
GOD/GODDESS. SOURCE CREATION. CREATOR.
That's who's really in charge.
The elements are in charge. The air, the water, the earth. The womb is in charge of whether we get here. The land is in charge of whether we stay.
This is an undeniable truth.
So...yeah.
We've been living in this story for thousands of years that men are the leaders, the teachers, the responsible ones. But they're making a mess!
Yes, men. Your seed is powerful. Without you there's also no life. But you've gotta remember that you can direct your seed with intention to decide consciously what you wanna see grow and flourish.
When you finally can fall to your knees in humility before the greatness of nature and ask her 'How can I help', maybe, just maybe, you'll learn.
In the meantime, ladies...
How do we address this issue on a personal level in our day to day lives?
How do we deal with a mansplainer...or a manterupptor, or a manologuer?
Well, first of all. Call em out.
If you feel like you have the confidence just straight up say
'Hey, you're mansplaining me right now. I already know about this and it sounds condescending when you speak to me like that.'
See what happens.
Does that feel unsafe to do?
Here's insight from the career contesa:
*For the quick and dirty way to explain mansplaining to a mansplainer, here are some phrases you can use to explain:
*If a woman asked you to explain something, it’s not mansplaining.
If you’re explaining a topic to a woman who has more expertise and knowledge on a topic than you, you’re probably mansplaining.
If you’re explaining a topic to a woman differently than you would a man, you might be mansplaining.**
For may ladies out there who deal with this on the daily, I'm here to support you. Don't take the bait. Don't allow men to dominate the narrative and law down false law to you.
You are a woman and your womb is a portal to the infinite.
If you need more knowledge, you'll ask for it.
Blessed Be
Hace poco tuve que hablar con una persona a la que aprecio mucho y que es un notorio "mansplainer".
¿Qué es un "mansplainer"?
Bueno, según Wikipedia: "
"Mansplaining" es un término peyorativo que significa "comentar o explicar algo, a una mujer, de forma condescendiente, demasiado confiada y a menudo inexacta o demasiado simplificada". La escritora Rebecca Solnit atribuye este fenómeno a una combinación de "exceso de confianza y falta de visión".
Básicamente, es cuando los hombres te cuentan información como si a) no la supieras ya y b) te hubiera pedido una explicación en primer lugar.
He aquí un ejemplo:
Jane está preparando la cena. Está haciendo lasaña. Jon entra en la cocina y dice: "Bueno, Jane, la lasaña es italiana y la mejor manera de hacer lasaña es añadir tomates frescos. Verás, los tomates frescos tienen más licopina y el ácido realmente corta la grasa y el aceite'.
Jon no sabe que Jane ha hecho lasaña mil veces. Ella es de Italia. Ella cultiva tomates en su jardín. De hecho, es una chef profesional y estudia ciencias de la alimentación.
Jon no se molestó en preguntar a Jane si necesitaba consejo o una explicación. De hecho, asumió que ella no sabía nada al respecto.
Y esto, mis señoras, es un mansplanation.
Es la suposición de que las mujeres no tienen ni idea y necesitan que los hombres les enseñen, y luego que lo que se ofrece como explicación es a menudo desinformado y burdo.
¿Por qué se quejan los hombres?
Bueno, yo tengo mis teorías.
Una es que a los hombres, especialmente a los blancos, se les ha enseñado que
Traducción realizada con la versión gratuita del traductor www.DeepL.com/Translator
