(no subject)

[serene]

Men who explain things.

(I allow men to explain things to me that I already understand, far too often. They should stop it, and I should stop allowing it.)

[Edit: To those men who are explaining linux text editors to me, I didn't mean you. I *don't* understand this, and I appreciate the help. It's coincidence that I ran across this article at this time. :-)]

Comments

[surelars.livejournal.com]

I love that article. Always worth reading again. And, yeah - guilty as charged.

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

I recently ran across the term "mansplaining". :)

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I agree with the author that men are more likely than women to hold forth on things they really don't know anything about, but in my experience, "educated" women are also likely to do this to women, and sometimes men, they perceive as less educated and/or intelligent than themselves. So my theory is that people in general tend to do this to people they perceive as less educated and/or intelligent than themselves and that men generally perceive more people--and especially women--as being such.

[algor-langeaux.livejournal.com]

I am guessing that it might be boiled down to the difference between *asking* to have someone explain something to you, and having someone that is insecure about the size of their... intellect... try to tell you something you didn't ask to know. Some people with no social skills confuse talking *at* someone with actually having a conversation...

That said, it should be noted that this is not necessarily a matter of male privelege... my mother for example will go on to explain all about the Christian bible to me and how I am going to hell - without my asking for her opinion on the subject - despite the fact that I have five graduate degrees in Theology, and am fluent in the original languages the book was written in.

I think it is a matter of respect, and as soon as you go into an encounter with someone you have decided is your intellectual subordinate, you have already lost the game...

[amythis.livejournal.com]

This is a good article, but I agree with a couple commenters that some women do this to other women, too. Because I don't present myself as INTELLIGENT (in an aggressive or even assertive way), "strong-minded" women like to condescend to me, even on topics like literature and history, where I know a great deal more than they do.

I think I tune it out more when men do it, because I grew up with a father who thought he was a genius and wasn't, but he never cared if I was actually listening.

[ptor.livejournal.com]

There was some story I saw once. Where a woman stands by a car with an open hood, presumably broken. Random men folk gather. They poke at the engine, yank on the hoses, and talk down to her about carburetors. Like automotive peacocks.

But it's not even her car. She's just waiting for a bus.



Thanks for that article link!

[mollyf.livejournal.com]

That was interesting. It reminded me a little of This American Life's Modern Jackass Magazine mentioned here: http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1090

Like cakmpls, I have encountered this behavior in women, too.

[violet-tigress1.livejournal.com]

People do that to me all the time. To not let them is very hard to do.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

I try not to do that!