Martina
01-26-2013, 02:39 PM
So I had never heard of this till recently. I read an article in Mother Jones called "The Problem With Men Explaining Things: Countless women are being told that they are not reliable witnesses to their own lives, that the truth is not their property, now or ever (http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/08/problem-men-explaining-things-rebecca-solnit)." It begins with the writer telling the story of having to listen to some pompous dweeb tell her all about this new book that came out, which she herself was the author of.
And I saw the meme of Hillary gifs -- showing her reaction to the pompous Senators grilling her about Libya.
How to Deal with a Mansplainer Starring Hillary Clinton (http://feministing.com/2013/01/24/how-to-deal-with-a-mansplainer-starring-hillary-clinton-in-gifs/)
Anyway, while the name is new to me, the experience is certainly not. In fact, I think it was a formative experience for me. I am old, and I grew up when girls and women had to fight to be taken seriously. I also was raised by a southern mama to be polite, so I have spent many a wasted hour listening to people hold forth on shit they know little to nothing about.
One of the reasons I actually quit a job was because my boss, a former Navy captain, used to call us into his office so he could bullshit about his good old days in the Navy. I had a principal too who used to do that. He'd get this expression -- the article in Mother Jones calls it "that smug look I know so well in a man holding forth, eyes fixed on the fuzzy far horizon of his own authority" -- and just talk on and on.
Historically there was no good way to respond to this because men could get mean if they were embarrassed.
Anyway, the thread is about this subject in general. Funny stories. How has it affected you? How do you respond?
Do you see it as much as you did? Is it part of butch-femme relationships too?
Seems like an old complaint coming back to light. But in a funny empowered way. I am kind of enjoying reading about it. I certainly enjoyed the Hillary gifs.
Here are some definitions from Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mansplain)
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/hua_hsu/rothman_mansplain_post.png
And I saw the meme of Hillary gifs -- showing her reaction to the pompous Senators grilling her about Libya.
How to Deal with a Mansplainer Starring Hillary Clinton (http://feministing.com/2013/01/24/how-to-deal-with-a-mansplainer-starring-hillary-clinton-in-gifs/)
Anyway, while the name is new to me, the experience is certainly not. In fact, I think it was a formative experience for me. I am old, and I grew up when girls and women had to fight to be taken seriously. I also was raised by a southern mama to be polite, so I have spent many a wasted hour listening to people hold forth on shit they know little to nothing about.
One of the reasons I actually quit a job was because my boss, a former Navy captain, used to call us into his office so he could bullshit about his good old days in the Navy. I had a principal too who used to do that. He'd get this expression -- the article in Mother Jones calls it "that smug look I know so well in a man holding forth, eyes fixed on the fuzzy far horizon of his own authority" -- and just talk on and on.
Historically there was no good way to respond to this because men could get mean if they were embarrassed.
Anyway, the thread is about this subject in general. Funny stories. How has it affected you? How do you respond?
Do you see it as much as you did? Is it part of butch-femme relationships too?
Seems like an old complaint coming back to light. But in a funny empowered way. I am kind of enjoying reading about it. I certainly enjoyed the Hillary gifs.
Here are some definitions from Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mansplain)
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/hua_hsu/rothman_mansplain_post.png