When a man explains a subject to a woman when she is already knowledgeable in said subject but the man feels he needs to explain because she's a woman and doesn't really understand
I was at the hospital today when a man started mansplaining the nervous system to me. I have a doctorate in neuroscience.
by Jolanata May 25, 2017
A verbal tool, generally used by men, to speak over a woman, based on the assumption that he knows better than her. This assumption is generally because she is a woman. Note that the term is especially applicable when the man is wrong anyway.
Man: Listen, do you know the difference between a screw and a nail? Here, I can show you.
Woman: Dude, I own this hardware store. Please stop mansplaining to me.
Woman: Dude, I own this hardware store. Please stop mansplaining to me.
by Ms. Activist May 04, 2017
A term used to describe an exaggerated definition of a simple idea given by a man to woman if he feels that she is not educated enough or would not understand the meaning of said word. The idea is generally something that the woman in very familiar with.
Man: *explains how breastfeeding works to a breastfeeding mother*
Woman: Stop mansplaining. I think I would know how breastfeeding works.
Woman: Stop mansplaining. I think I would know how breastfeeding works.
by TheUnfeminist September 22, 2017
An instance where a man explains something to a woman in a condescending manner when he either knows little-to-nothing on the subject, or knows far less than the woman he is talking to yet persists with an air of superiority.
by Eristar March 22, 2017
Mansplain = man + explain. When a male explains something to a female under the false pretence that he knows and understands the topic better (i.e. because he is a male). This is often done in a condescending manner that disregards her intelligence.
e.g a dude explaining to a woman how numbers work AFTER she says she tells him she's an engineer. Yes thank you for mansplaining my f-ing degree/career to me.
by telitlikeisit September 09, 2017
The word “mansplain” can been traced to Rebecca Solnit, a writer whose 2008 essay “Men Explain Things to Me” laid out the mansplaining fundamentals (though the actual term only began croppping up on feminist blogs months later). In its early incarnation, it had a straightforward definition: when a man condescendingly lectures a woman on the basics of a topic about which he knows very little, under the mistaken assumption that she knows even less. In the piece, Solnit describes attending a party at which an oblivious male, “eyes fixed on the fuzzy far horizon of his own authority,” patronizingly attempts to tell her all about a new book on the photographer Eadweard Muybridge, which it turns out Solnit actually wrote. This all-too-typical experience of being unthinkingly talked down to, she writes, “trains women in self-doubt and self-limitation just as it exercises men’s unsupported overconfidence.”
by LemonyElmony August 24, 2017
To no fault of either gender, the entire concept is simply a misunderstanding of men, most likely due to the accommodation for sensitivity being a relatively subconscious act on the part of women (reducing in-group conflict), something otherwise subverted among males through mutual mockery, etc.
As males tend to be more "aggressive", including how they cope with their ego's, a social divide in speech among men and women becomes apparent, such as women often reading between the lines, unlike men.
When an individual of "male stature" (not specific to a gender) speaks casually in a "masculine" manner; making no attempt to be sensitive, comforting or discreet (typical of the male psyche). Women may confuse this apathy with a sinister driven insult, when in fact the identified "insult" was void of intent & a result of unresolved insecurity among the recipient.
>Fallacious use of the term;
The word "mansplain" is now recently used to insult any male perspective that doesn't agree with ones agenda or deflect attention from ones failure to provide counterargument against a figure or argument deemed male/patriarchal
As males tend to be more "aggressive", including how they cope with their ego's, a social divide in speech among men and women becomes apparent, such as women often reading between the lines, unlike men.
When an individual of "male stature" (not specific to a gender) speaks casually in a "masculine" manner; making no attempt to be sensitive, comforting or discreet (typical of the male psyche). Women may confuse this apathy with a sinister driven insult, when in fact the identified "insult" was void of intent & a result of unresolved insecurity among the recipient.
>Fallacious use of the term;
The word "mansplain" is now recently used to insult any male perspective that doesn't agree with ones agenda or deflect attention from ones failure to provide counterargument against a figure or argument deemed male/patriarchal
mansplaining: "hey don't forget my potatoes, they need to be fresh"(could be received as a condescending remark to a female as an attempt to imply poor memory and lack of common sense, rather than the simple request it is)
womensplaining: "just as long as we have some fresh potatoes"(the same concept but less confrontational and more of an insinuation than a request)
>Fallacious use of the term;
Anonymous John Doe: "if you're really a feminist you'd be trying to help real oppressed women in 3rd world countries"
triggered snowflake: "You pathetic shitlord, i don't have time for your mansplaining!" *exists abruptly* &/or *blocks user*
womensplaining: "just as long as we have some fresh potatoes"(the same concept but less confrontational and more of an insinuation than a request)
>Fallacious use of the term;
Anonymous John Doe: "if you're really a feminist you'd be trying to help real oppressed women in 3rd world countries"
triggered snowflake: "You pathetic shitlord, i don't have time for your mansplaining!" *exists abruptly* &/or *blocks user*
by mechanikilla November 27, 2016