Mansplaining infects professional and social life

Martina Bretous/ Editor-in-Chief

If you’re a woman, you’ve probably had a man interrupt you mid sentence to explain something he thinks he understands better than you. It’s been going on for ages, we just now have a name for it.

“Mansplaining” happens when a man assumes he has more knowledge on a topic than a woman does. In the workplace, it can be the easy to spot but the hardest to navigate.

A 2012 study conducted by researchers at Brigham Young University and Princeton showed that when in professional meetings, the amount of time women spoke was significantly less than their proportional representation, less than 75 percent of the time men spoke.

As a woman, ensuring your contribution is heard and accepted in a professional workplace can be draining, especially if you don’t fit the typical mold: minority, disabled, LGBTQ.

But as an additional stressor, everytime you say something, John from accounting has to jump in the conversation with “actually,” only to repeat exactly what you said.

We still live in a world where some men believe they have the right to tell women what to do with their bodies and brains so mansplaining is only an extension of that.

Let’s take it back to the Sept. 1903 issue of “The Atlantic,” when New England theologian, Lyman Abbott wrote an article titled “Why Women Do Not Wish The Suffrage,” in which — you guessed it— he explains why the suffrage movement is not wanted by most women and those are the women for whom he speaks. It’s also in this piece that he calls masculine women and feminine men “monstrosities of nature.”

Mansplaining isn’t limited to the professional scope, it penetrates and infects social issues as well.

In 2014, after Hollaback! —an initiative dedicated to raising awareness on street harassment— published a video showing a woman being catcalled in the streets of New York, CNN correspondent, Fredricka Whitfield, hosted a segment with stand-up comedian and actor Amanda Seales and so-called relationship expert and book author Steve Santagati to discuss the viral video.

It didn’t take long for Santagati to start mansplaining catcalling.

“…The bottom line is this, ladies. You would not care if all these guys were hot. They would be bolstering your self-esteem, your ego. There’s nothing more a woman loves to hear than how pretty she is,” said Santagati, which garnered raised eyebrows and side eyes from both Seales and Whitfield.

There’s no perfect way to deal with mansplaining but I’d say a 90 percent Michelle Obama’s mantra, “When they go low, we go high,” and 10 percent pettiness combination might do the job.

Some recommend letting the offender know or simply ignoring it.

However, with all things, let’s not focus on how the victim should protect themselves. Instead, teach the guilty parties how to behave.

Men: don’t be John from Accounting — or Santagati. Recognize your male privilege, how that impacts those around you and take an active role in uplifting the women around you.

One Martini, Please is a column written by Martina Bretous focusing on social commentary. The opinions expressed in this column do not reflect the views and opinions of Student Media’s editorial board. 

Photo retrieved by Flickr.

About the Author

Martina Bretous
Afro- Caribbean. Communication Arts Major. Cat lover. TV Junkie.

Be the first to comment on "Mansplaining infects professional and social life"

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*