Stop mansplaining! It’s annoying and unacceptable
Most women would have experienced a male colleague, friend or even a family member take the liberty to interrupt or cut short the woman’s conversation and explain their own take on the matter. This is mansplaining, where the woman is being politely t
Despite our efforts towards undoing it, workplaces are still largely maledominated. Often in such workplaces a few men (across all levels of hierarchy) even judge their women colleagues less for their talent than they do for their sexual appeal. They think nothing of side lining women, interrupting them mid-conversation in the assumption that they are bound to be less aware, less intelligent or for that matter less capable — doesn’t matter that the women they deride and think less of may have gotten to the office much before the men there despite having cooked for an entire family, dropped their kids off at school, with enough time to spare for themselves in the gym.
Unfortunately, this commonly seen behavior is a form of psychological abuse that women have to go through on daily basis. Many capable women have been working twice as hard as their male colleagues to prove their calibre and gain recognition for their talent.
One such mistreatment women have had to tolerate for a very long time mansplaining.
In fact, according to Dr Samhita Sharma, MD in neuro psychiatry, mansplaining is a systematic form of oppression that continues to suppress the voices of women. “Classic mansplaining is when a man explains simple concepts to a woman, treating her as if she was born yesterday. They sometimes even re-explain something a woman has said a while ago back to her as if she hadn’t really understood what she was talking about,” says Dr Sharma.
MANSPLAINING IS NOT
ACKNOWLEDGED
Psychologist Richa Khetawat shares the bitter reality of society, and illustrates why mansplaining is not even considered a problem.
“The social reality today is that a woman has to negotiate her way through everything,” says Richa, who considers mansplaining a form of reinforced gender inequality or gender stereotypes existing at work and other places. “Men interrupting women in a condescending manner when they explain their perspective also increases when women are more powerful and knowledgeable.”
Richa also believes that while men easily get intrusive, women generally take such interruptions well with a nod or a smile, making mansplaining seem like something
subtle and natural. “However, the power differences between genders have been changing lately as women have a representation in all spheres today. There are women who politely, firmly and diplomatically ask men around them to stop and wait for their turn to speak while they finish talking.” So why do some men do it?
Dr Sharma believes it men’s inbuilt desire to impress women. “And to do this, they go to any extent, hoping to show their superiority in front of others,” she adds.
MANSPLAINING DECREASES CONFIDENCE
According to Julie Fragar a psychologist in San Francisco, mansplaining has negative mental effects on a woman.
Mansplaining is not just about men explaining to women but it’s a man explaining something to a woman in a condescending way because they believe that they know more and have more power than a woman.
Mansplaining can lead to a decrease in a woman’s self-confidence, sometimes even causing some anxiety. It even makes some women question what they know and make them feel like what they know is not valuable. At work, mansplaining can even affect a woman’s career satisfaction and her confidence while applying for a promotion.
According to psychologist Julie
Fragar, mansplaining has negative mental effects on a woman. Mansplaining is not just
about men explaining to women but it’s a man explaining something to a woman in a condescending way because they believe that they know more and have more power than a
woman.
WHAT MANSPLAINING LOOKS LIKE
Sharing someone else’s experience as their own, as if they are experts on the subject at hand
Having confusing differences in opinions They do not listen
They keep interrupting and talk over women
Speaking to women differently than they do with men
Asserting their dominance by raising their voice.
TRICKS TO STOP SOMEONE MANSPLAINING TO YOU
Do not let them interrupt you during meetings and seek the support of friendly colleagues.
Let them know your credentials. Counter them with more information. Ask them questions to make them aware of their lack of knowledge.
Don’t let anyone take the credits for your work or idea.
Fill up on humorous or sarcastic comebacks instead of getting aggressive as that may give them a chance to name you aggressive.