Have you ever had to suffer through a man trying to explain something to you that they don’t understand themselves? Perhaps you have encountered a know-it-all male who thinks they know your area of expertise better than you? If so, chances are you have run into someone mansplaining. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.
Meaning
The act of mansplaining means to explain something in a manner that assumes the listener is less than intelligent. Typically, the listener or audience is female and the man doing the explaining makes a point of oversimplifying their explanations. The phrase mansplaining is pejorative and is always used in a manner that is negative. There is no good way to “mansplain” something to a woman.
Mansplaining is always done in a way that is overconfident, condescending, and usually in a manner that is inaccurate. This patronizing manner of speaking is due to cluelessness on the part of the main which is paired with an uncanny amount of overconfidence that has no basis.
Example Usage
“John spent most of the night mansplaining the law to one of the highest-paid lawyers in the room”.
“It is so cringy to see a man mansplaining woman’s bodies and emotions”.
“Don’t bother mansplaining the book to be, after all, I am the actual author of the book you are trying to dissect”.
“It is always amusing to see an Alpha male try mansplaining a topic to a room full of highly educated women”.
Origin
The word mansplaining started off being the root of an assumption about male dominance. While verbal condescension between the sexes was always around, it became more prevalent during modern times. The phrase has been used to explain the behavior of men speaking in a condescending tone to people of all ages and sexes regardless. In 2010, mansplaining was named the most creative new word by the American Dialect Society.
The verb explain has been around for 200 years, and its colloquial origins can be traced back to Late Middle English times. Eventually, it became a standard part of the English language. Mansplaining came to be thanks in part to an essay that was penned by Rebecca Solnit. In this essay, which was published in 2008, she went on to detail verbose explanations performed by men who are not always on par with facts. She created the term due to an interaction at a party with such a man. She was in the midst of speaking about Eadweard Muybridge and the books written on the topic. The person who cut her off was unaware that she in fact wrote the bestselling book on the subject as he was simply trying to detract from her part of the conversation.
Phrases Similar to Mainsplaining
- To explain
- Water down
- Outline
- Instruct
- Divulge
- Pontificate
Phrases Opposite to Mainsplaining
- Teach
- Collaborate
- Seek growth
- Offer guidance
What is the Correct Saying?
- The proper saying is – mansplaining.
Ways People May Incorrectly Say Mainsplaining
The phrase mansplaining only refers to a man explaining things to a female. When it is a female explaining something to a male or other female, the phrase holds no meaning. The same is true when a man is explaining something to another man. Some ways that Mainsplaining is misused are:
- I am going to need you to mansplain this to me in a more complex manner.
- Try mansplaining the instructions to him if you want things done properly.
- Getting the answers right is only possible through mansplaining, not by actually studying the topic.
- He decided that mansplaining to the boy's soccer team was the best way to explain the play.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase Mainsplaining
Some ways that Mainsplaining is used correctly are:
- Watching our boss mansplaining sexual harassment is not only insulting, but it’s also degrading.
- We can expect the majority of the meeting to be filled with copious amounts of mansplaining since there are mainly women here today.
- Did you see that man try mansplaining vaccines to Dr. Nargis? She was just boiling under her skin the whole time.
- The quickest way to gain enemies in class is by not resisting the urge to mansplain concepts to your peers.