I should start off saying that this is not a Poe (hoax). Read on…
Mansplaining is one of those topics that doesn’t come up every day in my life. Maybe it’s because I try not to explain anything to anyone.
Well, I try not to explain things, but sometimes the rage (or alcohol) coaxes me to offer one or two up.
What I can say is that my 11-year-old daughter knows enough to ask anyone “How do you know what you know?” My 14-year-old son understands the burden of proof and the need to have good evidence to support one’s assertions.
Meh, let’s move on and talk penis-fueled rhetoric.
For those of you unacquainted with mansplaining, a definition of terms is in order.
1. verb (used with or without object)
(of a man) to comment on or explain something to a woman in a condescending, overconfident,and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner:
He mansplained to her about female friendships.
Thank you, Dictionary.com
Apparently, Sweden has a mansplaining hotline. You can call up, kvetch and consult with a variety of feminist experts.
Check out this informative video I found in the online article Why Sweden launched a ‘mansplaining’ hotline.
Arwa Mahdawi over at The Guardian has a tongue in cheek piece titled Now we’ve got a mansplaining hotline, what other modern problems could technology fix? I found it funny and worth the read.
Here’s a slice of it.
When I first heard about this mansplaining hotline, I thought it was a stunt to raise awareness in an engaging way about the gendered condescension many women are all-too familiar with. Boy, was I wrong. After speaking to some men, I now realise that mansplaining is an oppressive, sexist term that reinforces centuries of women silencing men. It is a shame that men don’t have a platform to educate people about this much-overlooked point. Perhaps Sweden should think about setting up a men-explaining-mansplaining hotline next, to ensure that men have their voice heard too? – read more
Perhaps America should have a political dog-whistle hotline? I’d like that.
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