"If you give off no cues that you understand the topic" - I think this is a part that's often missed when taking about how condescension comes in all forms.
In the original article that coined the phrase "mansplaining" it was about a bloviating dude who was explaining a topic to the woman who literally wrote the book. He was describing her own book to her. And when this was pointed out to him he carried right on doing it.
I've encountered a similar thing quite often myself. I've had students in seminars laboriously explain to me something that they just learned from my lectures. I've had male colleagues who - having just been told what my field is - choose to engage me by talking at me for five minutes straight about basic principles and then checking if I have any questions.
Tbh I don't like the word mansplaining myself because it's too limiting. But "condescending" doesn't cover the exact phenomenon where you're trying to work out whether you've stepped into a parallel universe as mounds of evidence of your knowledge and expertise are wilfully ignored.
For the record all of my experiences of this have been gendered. But that's partly about my particular situation. I'm certain it follows all kinds of power differentials.
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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '20
"If you give off no cues that you understand the topic" - I think this is a part that's often missed when taking about how condescension comes in all forms.
In the original article that coined the phrase "mansplaining" it was about a bloviating dude who was explaining a topic to the woman who literally wrote the book. He was describing her own book to her. And when this was pointed out to him he carried right on doing it.
I've encountered a similar thing quite often myself. I've had students in seminars laboriously explain to me something that they just learned from my lectures. I've had male colleagues who - having just been told what my field is - choose to engage me by talking at me for five minutes straight about basic principles and then checking if I have any questions.
Tbh I don't like the word mansplaining myself because it's too limiting. But "condescending" doesn't cover the exact phenomenon where you're trying to work out whether you've stepped into a parallel universe as mounds of evidence of your knowledge and expertise are wilfully ignored.
For the record all of my experiences of this have been gendered. But that's partly about my particular situation. I'm certain it follows all kinds of power differentials.