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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
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'''Mansplaining''' (a [[blend word|blend]] of the word ''man'' and the informal form ''splaining'' of the verb ''explaining'') means "to explain something to someone, characteristically by a man to woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing".<ref name=mw>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/splain-splaining-meaning '-Splain' predates 'mansplain'. Let us explain.], Merriam-Webster.com</ref><ref name=mw2>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/mansplaining-definition-history Mansplaining], Merriam-Webster.com</ref><ref name=time>{{cite web|last1=Steinmetz|first1=Katy|title=Clickbait, Normcore, Mansplain: Runners-Up for Oxford’s Word of the Year|date=18 November 2014|url=http://time.com/3590980/clickbait-normcore-mansplain-oxford-word-runners-up/|work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|accessdate=24 November 2014}}</ref><ref name=VT>{{cite web|last1=Zimmer|first1=Ben|authorlink1=Ben Zimmer|title=Tag, You're It! "Hashtag" Wins as 2012 Word of the Year|url=http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/tag-youre-it-hashtag-wins-as-2012-word-of-the-year/|website=Visual Thesaurus|accessdate=30 October 2014|date=5 January 2013}}</ref> Lily Rothman of ''[[The Atlantic]]'' defines it as "explaining without regard to the fact that the explainee knows more than the explainer, often done by a man to a woman",<ref name="Atlantic" /> and feminist author and essayist [[Rebecca Solnit]] ascribes the phenomenon to a combination of "overconfidence and cluelessness".<ref name=Nation>{{cite news|last1=Solnit|first1=Rebecca|authorlink1=Rebecca Solnit|title=Men still explain things to me|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/169456/men-still-explain-things-me|accessdate=30 October 2014|work=In These Times|date=20 August 2012}} (...which, in turn, contains a link to [the ''original''] '''Men Explain Things to Me''', [from circa 2008] at the URL http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175584/)</ref>
'''Mansplaining''' (a [[blend word|blend]] of the word ''man'' and the informal form ''splaining'' of the verb ''explaining'') means "to explain something to someone, characteristically by a man to woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing".<ref name=mw>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/splain-splaining-meaning '-Splain' predates 'mansplain'. Let us explain.], Merriam-Webster.com</ref><ref name=mw2>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/mansplaining-definition-history Mansplaining], Merriam-Webster.com</ref><ref name=time>{{cite web|last1=Steinmetz|first1=Katy|title=Clickbait, Normcore, Mansplain: Runners-Up for Oxford’s Word of the Year|date=18 November 2014|url=http://time.com/3590980/clickbait-normcore-mansplain-oxford-word-runners-up/|work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|accessdate=24 November 2014}}</ref><ref name=VT>{{cite web|last1=Zimmer|first1=Ben|authorlink1=Ben Zimmer|title=Tag, You're It! "Hashtag" Wins as 2012 Word of the Year|url=http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/tag-youre-it-hashtag-wins-as-2012-word-of-the-year/|website=Visual Thesaurus|accessdate=30 October 2014|date=5 January 2013}}</ref> Lily Rothman of ''[[The Atlantic]]'' defines it as "explaining without regard to the fact that the explainee knows more than the explainer, often done by a man to a woman".<ref name="Atlantic" /> Feminist author [[Rebecca Solnit]] ascribes the phenomenon to a combination of "overconfidence and cluelessness".<ref name=Nation>{{cite news|last1=Solnit|first1=Rebecca|authorlink1=Rebecca Solnit|title=Men still explain things to me|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/169456/men-still-explain-things-me|accessdate=30 October 2014|work=In These Times|date=20 August 2012}} (...which, in turn, contains a link to [the ''original''] '''Men Explain Things to Me''', [from circa 2008] at the URL http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175584/)</ref>


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Mansplaining differs from other forms of condescension in that it is rooted in the [[sexism|sexist]] assumption that a man is likely to be more knowledgeable than a woman.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Calling Out Academic 'Mansplaining'|date = 16 October 2012|url = http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/10/16/new-website-provides-outlet-victims-academic-mansplaining |last = Jaschik|first = Scott|newspaper = Inside Higher Ed}}</ref> In 2010 it was named by the ''New York Times'' as one of its "Words of the Year".<ref name=Sifton>{{cite news|title = The Words of the Year|date = 18 December 2010|url = http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/weekinreview/19sifton.html|last1 = Sifton|first1=Sam|first2=Grant|last2=Barrett|newspaper = The New York Times}}</ref>
== Definition ==

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Solnit's original essay went further, discussing the consequences of this [[Social construction of gender difference|gendered behavior]] and drawing attention to its effect in creating a [[Conspiracy of silence (expression)|conspiracy of silence]] and disempowerment.<ref name="essay2008">[http://www.commondreams.org/views/2008/04/13/men-explain-things-me-facts-didnt-get-their-way Men Explain Things to Me; Facts Didn't Get in Their Way] - 13 April 2008, essay, [[Rebecca Solnit]]</ref> Solnit later published ''[[Men Explain Things to Me]]'', a collection of seven essays on similar themes. Women, including professionals and experts, are routinely seen or treated as less credible than men, she wrote in the title essay, and their insights or even legal testimony are dismissed unless validated by a man.<ref name="newrepublic">{{cite web|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/118555/rebecca-solnits-men-explain-things-me-scourge-mansplaining|title=The Essay That Launched the Term "Mansplaining"|author=Helen Lewis|date=4 July 2014|work=The New Republic}}</ref> She argued that this was one symptom of a widespread phenomenon that "keeps women from speaking up and from being heard when they dare; that crushes young women into silence by indicating, the way harassment on the street does, that this is not their world. It trains us in self-doubt and self-limitation just as it exercises men's unsupported overconfidence."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.culturalweekly.com/rebecca-solnits-men-explain-things/|title=On Rebecca Solnit's Men Explain Things to Me|author=Mike Sonksen|date= 11 June 2014|work=Cultural Weekly}}</ref>

⚫
Mansplaining differs somewhat from other forms of condescension in that it is specifically gender-related, rooted in a [[sexism|sexist]] assumption that a man will normally be more knowledgeable, or more capable of understanding, than a woman.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Calling Out Academic 'Mansplaining'|date = 16 October 2012|url = http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/10/16/new-website-provides-outlet-victims-academic-mansplaining |last = Jaschik|first = Scott|newspaper = [[Inside Higher Ed]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref>


== Origins ==
== Origins ==
⚫
The verb ''splain'' has been in use for more than 200 years, originally as a colloquial pronunciation of ''explain''. It came increasingly to refer to condescending or verbose explanations.<ref name=mw /><ref>[https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/dictionary/mansplaining-spawns-a-new-suffix/ "Mansplaining" Spawns a New Suffix] by Mark Peters, Vocabulary.com </ref> The term ''mansplaining'' was inspired by an essay, "Men Explain Things to Me: Facts Didn't Get in Their Way", written by [[Rebecca Solnit]] and published on [[Tom Engelhardt|TomDispatch.com]] on 13 April 2008. In the essay, Solnit told an anecdote about a man at a party who said he had heard she had written some books. She began to talk about her most recent, on [[Eadweard Muybridge]], whereupon the man cut her off and asked if she had "heard about the very important Muybridge book that came out this year"—not considering that it might be (as, in fact, it was) Solnit's book. Solnit did not use the word ''mansplaining'' in the essay, but she described the phenomenon as "something every woman knows".<ref name=Solnit13April2008>{{cite web|last1=Solnit|first1=Rebecca|title=Men Explain Things to Me: Facts Didn't Get in Their Way|url=http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174918/rebecca_solnit_the_archipelago_of_arrogance|publisher=TomDispatch, [[The Nation Institute]]|date=13 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="LAT">{{cite news|last1=Solnit|first1=Rebecca|authorlink1=Rebecca Solnit|title=Men who explain things|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/13/opinion/op-solnit13|accessdate=30 October 2014|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=13 April 2008}}</ref>
''Splaining'' and the verb ''splain'' have existed for more than 200 years and were originally simply colloquial pronunciations of the words ''explaining'' and ''explain''. Since some time before the first written evidence in 1989 of a shift in meaning, they have increasingly referred to condescending and often extensive or verbose explanations. Since then, the word has been increasingly prefixed by words to refer to who is doing the splaining, of which ''mansplaining'' was the first. This remains the best known form of splaining, and it has inspired terms for many more,<ref name=mw /><ref>[https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/dictionary/mansplaining-spawns-a-new-suffix/ "Mansplaining" Spawns a New Suffix] by Mark Peters, Vocabulary.com </ref> but in some cases the term is also or mostly used in the original positive sense of "explaining", for example ''gaysplaining''.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2013/08/26/welcome_to_outward_slate_s_new_lgbtq_section.html Welcome to Outward] by J. Bryan Lowder and June Thomas, Slate.com </ref>


⚫
A month later the word appeared in a comment on the [[Social networking service|social network]] [[LiveJournal]].<ref name="Atlantic">{{cite news|title = A Cultural History of Mansplaining|date = 1 November 2012|url = https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/11/a-cultural-history-of-mansplaining/264380/|last = Rothman|first = Lily|work = [[The Atlantic]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref> It became popular among feminist bloggers before entering mainstream commentary.<ref name="Atlantic" /><ref name="ITT">{{cite web|last1=Doyle|first1=Sady |title=Mansplaining, Explained|url=http://inthesetimes.com/article/16552/rebecca_solnit_explains_mansplaining|website=[[In These Times]]|accessdate=30 October 2014|date=1 May 2014}}</ref> The word was included in 2010 by the ''New York Times'' as one of its words of the year,<ref name=Sifton/> nominated in 2012 for the [[American Dialect Society]]'s "most creative word of the year" honor,<ref name="VT" /> and added in 2014 to the online ''Oxford Dictionaries''.<ref name="OD">{{cite web|title=New words added to OxfordDictionaries.com today include binge-watch, cray, and vape|url=http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/press-releases/new-words-added-oxforddictionaries-com-august-2014/|website=Oxforddictionaries.com|accessdate=30 October 2014|date=August 2014}}</ref>
⚫
The [[neologism]]<ref name="ITT" /> ''mansplaining'' showed up simultaneously in multiple places, so its origin is difficult to establish.<ref name="ITT" /> In an essay titled ''[[Men Explain Things to Me]]'', Solnit told an anecdote about a man at a party who said he had heard she had written some books. She began to talk about her most recent book at the time, on [[Eadweard Muybridge]], whereupon the man cut her off and asked if she had "heard about the very important Muybridge book that came out this year" – not considering that it might be (as, in fact, it was) Solnit's book.<ref name="LAT">{{cite news|last1=Solnit|first1=Rebecca|authorlink1=Rebecca Solnit|title=Men who explain things|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/13/opinion/op-solnit13|accessdate=30 October 2014|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=13 April 2008}}</ref>


⚫
Solnit later published ''[[Men Explain Things to Me]]'' (2014), a collection of seven essays on similar themes. Women, including professionals and experts, are routinely seen or treated as less credible than men, she wrote in the title essay, and their insights or even legal testimony are dismissed unless validated by a man.<ref name="newrepublic">{{cite web|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/118555/rebecca-solnits-men-explain-things-me-scourge-mansplaining|title=The Essay That Launched the Term "Mansplaining"|author=Helen Lewis|date=4 July 2014|work=The New Republic}}</ref> She argued that this was one symptom of a widespread phenomenon that "keeps women from speaking up and from being heard when they dare; that crushes young women into silence by indicating, the way harassment on the street does, that this is not their world. It trains us in self-doubt and self-limitation just as it exercises men's unsupported overconfidence."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.culturalweekly.com/rebecca-solnits-men-explain-things/|title=On Rebecca Solnit's Men Explain Things to Me|author=Mike Sonksen|date= 11 June 2014|work=Cultural Weekly}}</ref>
The word is thought to have been first used in 2008 or 2009,<ref>{{Cite news|title = The Art of Mansplaining|date =1 December 2012|url = http://www.nationinstitute.org/blog/nationbooks/3059/the_art_of_mansplaining|last = Robinson|first = Anna|newspaper = [[The Nation Institute]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref> shortly after Solnit published her April 2008 blog post. In it, she did not use the word ''mansplaining'', but described the phenomenon as "something every woman knows".

⚫
A month later, the word appeared in a comment on the [[Social networking service|social network]] [[LiveJournal]], and its use has grown since.<ref name="Atlantic">{{cite news|title = A Cultural History of Mansplaining|date = 1 November 2012|url = https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/11/a-cultural-history-of-mansplaining/264380/|last = Rothman|first = Lily|work = [[The Atlantic]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref> It soon became popular among feminist bloggers, and then in mainstream cultural commentary.<ref name="Atlantic" /><ref name="ITT">{{cite web|last1=Doyle|first1=Sady |title=Mansplaining, Explained|url=http://inthesetimes.com/article/16552/rebecca_solnit_explains_mansplaining|website=[[In These Times]]|accessdate=30 October 2014|date=1 May 2014}}</ref> It was included on The ''[[New York Times]]''{{'}} 2010 word of the year list,<ref name="ITT" /> nominated for the [[American Dialect Society]]'s most creative word of the year honor in 2012,<ref name="VT" /> and added to the online ''Oxford Dictionaries'' in 2014.<ref name="OD">{{cite web|title=New words added to OxfordDictionaries.com today include binge-watch, cray, and vape|url=http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/press-releases/new-words-added-oxforddictionaries-com-august-2014/|website=Oxforddictionaries.com|accessdate=30 October 2014|date=August 2014}}</ref>


== Usage ==
== Usage ==
Since 2010, journalists have used the word to describe people including the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, [[Mitt Romney]];<ref>{{cite news|title = The Mittsplainer: An Alternate Theory of Mitt Romney's Gaffes|date = 1 August 2012|url = https://www.gq.com/news-politics/blogs/death-race/2012/08/the-mittsplainer-an-alternate-theory-of-mitt-romneys-gaffes.html|last = Cogan|first = Marin|work = [[GQ]]|accessdate = 20 August 2012}}</ref> [[Governor of Texas]] [[Rick Perry]];<ref>{{Cite news|title = Mansplaining the Mansplainer: Rick Perry's Accidental Abortion Honesty|date = 27 June 2013|url = http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/06/27/mansplaining_the_mansplainer_rick_perry_s_accidental_abortion_honesty.html|last = Weigel|first = David|newspaper = [[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref> [[MSNBC]] host [[Lawrence O'Donnell]];<ref>{{Cite news|title = Dear Lawrence O'Donnell, Don't Mansplain to Me About Russia|date = 8 August 2013|url = https://newrepublic.com/article/114234/lawrence-odonnell-yells-julia-ioffe-about-putin-and-snowden|last = Ioffe|first = Julia|work = [[The New Republic]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref> various characters on the [[HBO]] drama series ''[[The Newsroom (U.S. TV series)|The Newsroom]]'';<ref>{{Cite news|title = 'The Newsroom' vs. 'Honey Boo Boo': Which one really gives us more to think about?|date = 11 July 2013|url = http://www.wpost.com/entertainment/tv/the-newsroom-vs-honey-boo-boo-which-one-really-gives-us-more-to-think-about/2013/07/11/8d011ca6-e422-11e2-80eb-3145e2994a55_story_2.html|last = Stuever|first = Hank|work = [[The Washington Post]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = Trying to Tolerate The Newsroom, Week Four|date = 5 August 2013|url = http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/08/05/trying_to_tolerate_the_newsroom_week_four.html|last = Weigel|first = David|work = [[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = Death by Newsroom|date = 16 July 2013|url = http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9484137/newsroom-breaking-bad-other-tv-burning-issues|last = Greenwald|first = Andy|work = [[Grantland]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref> music executive [[Jimmy Iovine]];<ref>{{Cite web|title = Dear Jimmy Iovine: Women Don't Need You to Mansplain Music to Them|url = http://observer.com/2015/11/dear-jimmy-iovine-women-dont-need-you-to-mansplain-music-to-them/|website = Observer|accessdate = 20 December 2015}}</ref> Australian Prime Minister [[Malcolm Turnbull]];<ref>{{Cite web|title = PM accused of 'mansplaining' ... but what does it mean?|url = http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pm-accused-of-mansplaining--but-what-does-it-mean-20150916-gjo7sk.html|website = The Sydney Morning Herald|accessdate = 20 December 2015}}</ref> actor [[Matt Damon]];<ref>{{Cite web|title = Bustle|url = http://www.bustle.com/articles/110451-matt-damon-mansplaining-diversity-on-project-greenlight-is-frustrating-but-there-is-a-silver-lining|website = www.bustle.com|accessdate = 20 December 2015}}</ref> and consumer rights advocate [[Ralph Nader]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Ralph Nader Mansplains Monetary Policy to Janet Yellen|url = http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/nader-mansplains-monetary-policy-to-yellen.html|website = Daily Intelligencer|accessdate = 20 December 2015}}</ref>
Journalists have used the word to describe the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, [[Mitt Romney]];<ref>{{cite news|title = The Mittsplainer: An Alternate Theory of Mitt Romney's Gaffes|date = 1 August 2012|url = https://www.gq.com/news-politics/blogs/death-race/2012/08/the-mittsplainer-an-alternate-theory-of-mitt-romneys-gaffes.html|last = Cogan|first = Marin|work = [[GQ]]|accessdate = 20 August 2012}}</ref> [[Governor of Texas]] [[Rick Perry]];<ref>{{Cite news|title = Mansplaining the Mansplainer: Rick Perry's Accidental Abortion Honesty|date = 27 June 2013|url = http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/06/27/mansplaining_the_mansplainer_rick_perry_s_accidental_abortion_honesty.html|last = Weigel|first = David|newspaper = [[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref> [[MSNBC]] host [[Lawrence O'Donnell]];<ref>{{Cite news|title = Dear Lawrence O'Donnell, Don't Mansplain to Me About Russia|date = 8 August 2013|url = https://newrepublic.com/article/114234/lawrence-odonnell-yells-julia-ioffe-about-putin-and-snowden|last = Ioffe|first = Julia|work = [[The New Republic]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref> various characters on the [[HBO]] drama series ''[[The Newsroom (U.S. TV series)|The Newsroom]]'';<ref>{{Cite news|title = 'The Newsroom' vs. 'Honey Boo Boo': Which one really gives us more to think about?|date = 11 July 2013|url = http://www.wpost.com/entertainment/tv/the-newsroom-vs-honey-boo-boo-which-one-really-gives-us-more-to-think-about/2013/07/11/8d011ca6-e422-11e2-80eb-3145e2994a55_story_2.html|last = Stuever|first = Hank|work = [[The Washington Post]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = Trying to Tolerate The Newsroom, Week Four|date = 5 August 2013|url = http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/08/05/trying_to_tolerate_the_newsroom_week_four.html|last = Weigel|first = David|work = [[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = Death by Newsroom|date = 16 July 2013|url = http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9484137/newsroom-breaking-bad-other-tv-burning-issues|last = Greenwald|first = Andy|work = [[Grantland]]|accessdate = 20 August 2013}}</ref> music executive [[Jimmy Iovine]];<ref>{{Cite web|title = Dear Jimmy Iovine: Women Don't Need You to Mansplain Music to Them|url = http://observer.com/2015/11/dear-jimmy-iovine-women-dont-need-you-to-mansplain-music-to-them/|website = Observer|accessdate = 20 December 2015}}</ref> Australian Prime Minister [[Malcolm Turnbull]];<ref>{{Cite web|title = PM accused of 'mansplaining' ... but what does it mean?|url = http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pm-accused-of-mansplaining--but-what-does-it-mean-20150916-gjo7sk.html|website = The Sydney Morning Herald|accessdate = 20 December 2015}}</ref> actor [[Matt Damon]];<ref>{{Cite web|title = Bustle|url = http://www.bustle.com/articles/110451-matt-damon-mansplaining-diversity-on-project-greenlight-is-frustrating-but-there-is-a-silver-lining|website = www.bustle.com|accessdate = 20 December 2015}}</ref> and consumer rights advocate [[Ralph Nader]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Ralph Nader Mansplains Monetary Policy to Janet Yellen|url = http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/nader-mansplains-monetary-policy-to-yellen.html|website = Daily Intelligencer|accessdate = 20 December 2015}}</ref> In February 2016 the term sparked an argument between two members of a [[Australian Senate committees|committee of the Australian Senate]], when Labor senator [[Katy Gallagher]] told Communications Minister [[Mitch Fifield]]: "I love the mansplaining. I'm enjoying it."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/what-katy-gallagher-explains-mansplaining-to-mitch-fifield-during-fiery-estimates-showdown-20160210-gmr3u5.html |title='What?': Katy Gallagher explains mansplaining to Mitch Fifield during fiery estimates showdown |last=Ireland |first=Judith |date=11 February 2016 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref>


In 2013, [[Dictionary.com]] said it was adding both ''mansplain'' and the suffix (libfix) ''-splain'' to its dictionary.<ref name=dictionary.com>{{cite web|last1=Solomon|first1=Jane|title=Word Watch 2013: -splain|url=http://blog.dictionary.com/splain/|publisher=Dictionary.com|accessdate=24 November 2014|date=6 December 2013|quote=The possibilities are seeming endless on the -splain front. This gives Dictionary.com reason to believe that -splain is not just a temporary fad, but rather a stable new addition to English along with its libfix cousins like ''-gate'', ''-pocalypse'', and ''-zilla''.}}</ref> Its announcement read in part: "In addition to being creative, this term, particularly the ''-splaining part'', has proven to be incredibly robust and useful as a combining form in 2013." Dictionary.com noted that the meaning of ''mansplain'' had changed somewhat since 2009, from "intense and serious to casual and jocular", while older ''-splain'' words still have "heavy cultural and political connotations and are often added to the names of politicians".<ref name=dictionary.com/>
In 2013 [[Dictionary.com]] said it was adding both ''mansplain'' and the suffix (libfix) ''-splain'' to its dictionary.<ref name=dictionary.com>{{cite web|last1=Solomon|first1=Jane|title=Word Watch 2013: -splain|url=http://blog.dictionary.com/splain/|publisher=Dictionary.com|accessdate=24 November 2014|date=6 December 2013|quote=The possibilities are seeming endless on the -splain front. This gives Dictionary.com reason to believe that -splain is not just a temporary fad, but rather a stable new addition to English along with its libfix cousins like ''-gate'', ''-pocalypse'', and ''-zilla''.}}</ref> Its announcement read in part: "In addition to being creative, this term, particularly the ''-splaining part'', has proven to be incredibly robust and useful as a combining form in 2013." Dictionary.com noted that the meaning of ''mansplain'' had changed somewhat since 2009, from "intense and serious to casual and jocular", while older ''-splain'' words still have "heavy cultural and political connotations and are often added to the names of politicians".<ref name=dictionary.com/>


Mansplaining has also engendered parallel constructions such as ''womansplaining'', ''whitesplaining'', ''rightsplaining'',<ref name="american speech">{{cite journal | url=http://americanspeech.dukejournals.org/content/87/2/190.full.pdf+html | title=Among The New Words | last=Zimmer |first=Benjamin |last2=Carson |first2=Charles C. | journal=American Speech | year=2013 | volume=88 | issue=2 | pages=196–214 | doi=10.1215/00031283-2346771}}{{subscription required}}</ref> and ''Damonsplaining''.<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-34251224 'Damonsplaining': Matt Damon accused of insensitivity] [[BBC News]], 16 September 2015</ref><ref>Justin Wm. Moyer, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/09/29/matt-damon-has-more-damonsplaining-to-do-this-time-about-alleged-anti-gay-comments/ Matt Damon has more ‘Damonsplaining’ to do — this time about alleged anti-gay comments] ''[[Washington Post]]'', 29 September 2015</ref>
Mansplaining has also engendered parallel constructions such as ''womansplaining'', ''whitesplaining'', ''rightsplaining'',<ref name="american speech">{{cite journal | url=http://americanspeech.dukejournals.org/content/87/2/190.full.pdf+html | title=Among The New Words | last=Zimmer |first=Benjamin |last2=Carson |first2=Charles C. | journal=American Speech | year=2013 | volume=88 | issue=2 | pages=196–214 | doi=10.1215/00031283-2346771}}{{subscription required}}</ref> and ''Damonsplaining''.<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-34251224 'Damonsplaining': Matt Damon accused of insensitivity], BBC News, 16 September 2015.</ref><ref>Justin Wm. Moyer, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/09/29/matt-damon-has-more-damonsplaining-to-do-this-time-about-alleged-anti-gay-comments/ Matt Damon has more ‘Damonsplaining’ to do — this time about alleged anti-gay comments] ''The Washington Post'', 29 September 2015</ref> In November 2017 Dr. Jennifer Gunter suggested in the ''New York Times'' that the collective noun ''rash'' be used for mansplainers, as in "a rash of mansplainers", partly because "[i]n medicine a rash can be a mild annoyance that goes away and never returns."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/style/my-vagina-is-terrific-your-opinion-about-it-is-not.html|title=My Vagina Is Terrific. Your Opinion About It Is Not.|last=Gunter|first=Jen|date=2017-11-16|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-11-18|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In November 2017, Dr. Jennifer Gunter suggested in the ''New York Times'' that the collective noun 'rash' be used for mansplainers, as "a rash of mansplainers", partly because "In medicine a rash can be a mild annoyance that goes away and never returns."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/style/my-vagina-is-terrific-your-opinion-about-it-is-not.html|title=My Vagina Is Terrific. Your Opinion About It Is Not.|last=Gunter|first=Jen|date=2017-11-16|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-11-18|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>


== Criticism ==
== Criticism ==
The usefulness of the term has been disputed.<ref name="mprnews">{{cite news|title=Do we need a different word for 'mansplaining'?|url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/12/19/mansplaining-as-a-term|accessdate=11 August 2017|publisher=MPR News|date=December 19, 2016}}</ref> Given its gender-specific nature and negative connotation, Lesley Kinzel described it as inherently biased, [[Essentialism|essentialist]], dismissive, and a double standard.<ref name=Kinzel>{{cite news|title = Why You'll Never Hear Me Use the Term 'Mansplain'|date = 16 August 2012|url = http://www.xojane.com/issues/why-you-ll-never-hear-me-use-term-mansplain|last = Kinzel|first = Lesley|work = [[XoJane]]|accessdate = 22 August 2013}}</ref> Author [[Cathy Young]] called it "a pejorative term for supposedly obtuse and arrogant male arguments on gender, apparently now also applied to female dissent".<ref>{{cite web|last=Young|first=Cathy|title=Is the Patriarchy dead?|url=http://reason.com/archives/2013/09/29/is-the-patriarchy-dead|website=Reason.com|date=29 September 2013|accessdate=22 January 2015}}</ref> In a 2016 Washington Post article, Young wrote that the term "mansplaining" is just one of a number of terms using "man" as a derogatory prefix, and that this convention is part of a "current cycle of misandry."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Young|first1=Cathy|title=Feminists treat men badly. It’s bad for feminism|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/30/feminists-treat-men-badly-its-bad-for-feminism|work=Washington Post|date=30 June 2016|quote=Whatever the reasons for the current cycle of misandry — yes, that’s a word, derided but also adopted for ironic use by many feminists — its existence is quite real. Consider, for example, the number of neologisms that use “man” as a derogatory prefix and that have entered everyday media language: “mansplaining,” “manspreading” and “manterrupting."}}</ref> Solnit herself has rejected the term as overly gendered, arguing that "[you] don't fight patronizing by patronizing in return."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/12/19/mansplaining-as-a-term|title=Do we need a different word for 'mansplaining'?|last=Staff|first=MPR News|access-date=2017-11-28}}</ref>
The usefulness of the term has been disputed.<ref name="mprnews">{{cite news|title=Do we need a different word for 'mansplaining'?|url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/12/19/mansplaining-as-a-term|accessdate=11 August 2017|publisher=MPR News|date=December 19, 2016}}</ref> Given its gender-specific nature and negative connotation, Lesley Kinzel described it as inherently biased, [[Essentialism|essentialist]], dismissive, and a double standard.<ref name=Kinzel>{{cite news|title = Why You'll Never Hear Me Use the Term 'Mansplain'|date = 16 August 2012|url = http://www.xojane.com/issues/why-you-ll-never-hear-me-use-term-mansplain|last = Kinzel|first = Lesley|work = [[XoJane]]|accessdate = 22 August 2013}}</ref> [[Cathy Young]] called it "a pejorative term for supposedly obtuse and arrogant male arguments on gender, apparently now also applied to female dissent".<ref>{{cite web|last=Young|first=Cathy|title=Is the Patriarchy dead?|url=http://reason.com/archives/2013/09/29/is-the-patriarchy-dead|website=Reason.com|date=29 September 2013}}</ref> In a 2016 ''Washington Post'' article, Young wrote that it is just one of a number of terms using "man" as a derogatory prefix, and that this convention is part of a "current cycle of misandry".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Young|first1=Cathy|title=Feminists treat men badly. It’s bad for feminism|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/30/feminists-treat-men-badly-its-bad-for-feminism|work=The Washington Post|date=30 June 2016|quote=Whatever the reasons for the current cycle of misandry — yes, that’s a word, derided but also adopted for ironic use by many feminists — its existence is quite real. Consider, for example, the number of neologisms that use “man” as a derogatory prefix and that have entered everyday media language: “mansplaining,” “manspreading” and “manterrupting."}}</ref> In 2014 Solnit herself said she had doubts about it: "[I]t seems to me to go a little heavy on the idea that men are inherently flawed this way, rather than that some men explain things they shouldn't and don't hear things they should."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Solnit|first1=Rebecca|title=Men Explain Things to Me|date=2014|publisher=Haymarket Books|location=Chicago|page=14}}</ref> As the word became more popular, several commentators complained that misappropriation had diluted its original meaning.<ref name="Salon">{{cite news|last1=Hart|first1=Benjamin|title=RIP "mansplaining": How the Internet killed one of our most useful words|url=http://www.salon.com/2014/10/20/rip_mansplaining_how_the_internet_killed_one_of_our_most_useful_words/|accessdate=30 October 2014|work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|date=20 October 2014}}</ref> Joshua Sealy-Harrington and Tom McLaughlin wrote in ''The Globe and Mail'' that the term has been used as an ''[[ad hominem]]'' to silence debate.<ref name="globe">{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arguments-should-not-be-silenced-because-of-their-authors-race-or-sex/article17956547/|title=Arguments should not be silenced because of their author’s race or sex|last1=McLaughlin|first1=Tom|last2=Sealy-Harrington|first2=Joshua|work=The Globe and Mail|date=15 April 2014}}</ref>

As the word became more popular, some commentators complained that misappropriation and overuse had in some instances diluted its original meaning.<ref name="Salon">{{cite news|last1=Hart|first1=Benjamin|title=RIP "mansplaining": How the Internet killed one of our most useful words|url=http://www.salon.com/2014/10/20/rip_mansplaining_how_the_internet_killed_one_of_our_most_useful_words/|accessdate=30 October 2014|work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|date=20 October 2014}}</ref> Liz Cookman writing for ''[[The Guardian]]'' says that the term "reeks of gender essentialism – the idea that specific physical, social or cultural traits are native to a particular gender" and considers it degrading.<ref name="Cookman">{{cite news|last1=Cookman|first1=Liz|title=Allow me to explain why we don't need words like 'mansplain'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2015/feb/12/allow-me-to-explain-why-we-dont-need-words-like-mansplain|accessdate=24 January 2016|publisher=The Guardian|date=12 February 2015}}</ref> Joshua Sealy-Harrington and Tom McLaughlin write in ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' that the term has occasionally been used as an ''[[ad hominem]]'' to silence debate. They suggest that faulty arguments should instead be refuted.<ref name="globe">{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arguments-should-not-be-silenced-because-of-their-authors-race-or-sex/article17956547/|title=Arguments should not be silenced because of their author’s race or sex|last1=McLaughlin|first1=Tom|last2=Sealy-Harrington|first2=Joshua|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|date=15 April 2014|accessdate=13 February 2016}}</ref> Denby Weller, writing in [[The Sydney Morning Herald]] said the use of the term is hypocritical. She described it as "generalist sexism" and a "gendered slur".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Weller|first1=Denby|title=Ban 'mansplain' from the feminist vocabulary|url=http://www.smh.com.au/comment/ban-mansplain-from-the-feminist-vocabulary-20161226-gti76q.html|accessdate=15 October 2017 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |publisher=Fairfax Media|date=31 December 2016}}</ref>

In February 2016, the term sparked an argument between two members of a [[Australian Senate committees|committee of the Australian Senate]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/what-katy-gallagher-explains-mansplaining-to-mitch-fifield-during-fiery-estimates-showdown-20160210-gmr3u5.html |title='What?': Katy Gallagher explains mansplaining to Mitch Fifield during fiery estimates showdown |last=Ireland |first=Judith |date=11 February 2016 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |publisher=Fairfax Media |access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==

Revision as of 20:58, 31 January 2018

Mansplaining (a blend of the word man and the informal form splaining of the verb explaining) means "to explain something to someone, characteristically by a man to woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing".[1][2][3][4] Lily Rothman of The Atlantic defines it as "explaining without regard to the fact that the explainee knows more than the explainer, often done by a man to a woman".[5] Feminist author Rebecca Solnit ascribes the phenomenon to a combination of "overconfidence and cluelessness".[6]

Mansplaining differs from other forms of condescension in that it is rooted in the sexist assumption that a man is likely to be more knowledgeable than a woman.[7] In 2010 it was named by the New York Times as one of its "Words of the Year".[8]

Origins

The verb splain has been in use for more than 200 years, originally as a colloquial pronunciation of explain. It came increasingly to refer to condescending or verbose explanations.[1][9] The term mansplaining was inspired by an essay, "Men Explain Things to Me: Facts Didn't Get in Their Way", written by Rebecca Solnit and published on TomDispatch.com on 13 April 2008. In the essay, Solnit told an anecdote about a man at a party who said he had heard she had written some books. She began to talk about her most recent, on Eadweard Muybridge, whereupon the man cut her off and asked if she had "heard about the very important Muybridge book that came out this year"—not considering that it might be (as, in fact, it was) Solnit's book. Solnit did not use the word mansplaining in the essay, but she described the phenomenon as "something every woman knows".[10][11]

A month later the word appeared in a comment on the social network LiveJournal.[5] It became popular among feminist bloggers before entering mainstream commentary.[5][12] The word was included in 2010 by the New York Times as one of its words of the year,[8] nominated in 2012 for the American Dialect Society's "most creative word of the year" honor,[4] and added in 2014 to the online Oxford Dictionaries.[13]

Solnit later published Men Explain Things to Me (2014), a collection of seven essays on similar themes. Women, including professionals and experts, are routinely seen or treated as less credible than men, she wrote in the title essay, and their insights or even legal testimony are dismissed unless validated by a man.[14] She argued that this was one symptom of a widespread phenomenon that "keeps women from speaking up and from being heard when they dare; that crushes young women into silence by indicating, the way harassment on the street does, that this is not their world. It trains us in self-doubt and self-limitation just as it exercises men's unsupported overconfidence."[15]

Usage

Journalists have used the word to describe the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney;[16] Governor of Texas Rick Perry;[17] MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell;[18] various characters on the HBO drama series The Newsroom;[19][20][21] music executive Jimmy Iovine;[22] Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull;[23] actor Matt Damon;[24] and consumer rights advocate Ralph Nader.[25] In February 2016 the term sparked an argument between two members of a committee of the Australian Senate, when Labor senator Katy Gallagher told Communications Minister Mitch Fifield: "I love the mansplaining. I'm enjoying it."[26]

In 2013 Dictionary.com said it was adding both mansplain and the suffix (libfix) -splain to its dictionary.[27] Its announcement read in part: "In addition to being creative, this term, particularly the -splaining part, has proven to be incredibly robust and useful as a combining form in 2013." Dictionary.com noted that the meaning of mansplain had changed somewhat since 2009, from "intense and serious to casual and jocular", while older -splain words still have "heavy cultural and political connotations and are often added to the names of politicians".[27]

Mansplaining has also engendered parallel constructions such as womansplaining, whitesplaining, rightsplaining,[28] and Damonsplaining.[29][30] In November 2017 Dr. Jennifer Gunter suggested in the New York Times that the collective noun rash be used for mansplainers, as in "a rash of mansplainers", partly because "[i]n medicine a rash can be a mild annoyance that goes away and never returns."[31]

Criticism

The usefulness of the term has been disputed.[32] Given its gender-specific nature and negative connotation, Lesley Kinzel described it as inherently biased, essentialist, dismissive, and a double standard.[33] Cathy Young called it "a pejorative term for supposedly obtuse and arrogant male arguments on gender, apparently now also applied to female dissent".[34] In a 2016 Washington Post article, Young wrote that it is just one of a number of terms using "man" as a derogatory prefix, and that this convention is part of a "current cycle of misandry".[35] In 2014 Solnit herself said she had doubts about it: "[I]t seems to me to go a little heavy on the idea that men are inherently flawed this way, rather than that some men explain things they shouldn't and don't hear things they should."[36] As the word became more popular, several commentators complained that misappropriation had diluted its original meaning.[37] Joshua Sealy-Harrington and Tom McLaughlin wrote in The Globe and Mail that the term has been used as an ad hominem to silence debate.[38]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b '-Splain' predates 'mansplain'. Let us explain., Merriam-Webster.com
  2. ^ Mansplaining, Merriam-Webster.com
  3. ^ Steinmetz, Katy (18 November 2014). "Clickbait, Normcore, Mansplain: Runners-Up for Oxford's Word of the Year". Time. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  4. ^ a b Zimmer, Ben (5 January 2013). "Tag, You're It! "Hashtag" Wins as 2012 Word of the Year". Visual Thesaurus. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  5. ^ a b c Rothman, Lily (1 November 2012). "A Cultural History of Mansplaining". The Atlantic. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  6. ^ Solnit, Rebecca (20 August 2012). "Men still explain things to me". In These Times. Retrieved 30 October 2014. (...which, in turn, contains a link to [the original] Men Explain Things to Me, [from circa 2008] at the URL http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175584/)
  7. ^ Jaschik, Scott (16 October 2012). "Calling Out Academic 'Mansplaining'". Inside Higher Ed.
  8. ^ a b Sifton, Sam; Barrett, Grant (18 December 2010). "The Words of the Year". The New York Times.
  9. ^ "Mansplaining" Spawns a New Suffix by Mark Peters, Vocabulary.com
  10. ^ Solnit, Rebecca (13 April 2008). "Men Explain Things to Me: Facts Didn't Get in Their Way". TomDispatch, The Nation Institute.
  11. ^ Solnit, Rebecca (13 April 2008). "Men who explain things". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  12. ^ Doyle, Sady (1 May 2014). "Mansplaining, Explained". In These Times. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  13. ^ "New words added to OxfordDictionaries.com today include binge-watch, cray, and vape". Oxforddictionaries.com. August 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  14. ^ Helen Lewis (4 July 2014). "The Essay That Launched the Term "Mansplaining"". The New Republic.
  15. ^ Mike Sonksen (11 June 2014). "On Rebecca Solnit's Men Explain Things to Me". Cultural Weekly.
  16. ^ Cogan, Marin (1 August 2012). "The Mittsplainer: An Alternate Theory of Mitt Romney's Gaffes". GQ. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  17. ^ Weigel, David (27 June 2013). "Mansplaining the Mansplainer: Rick Perry's Accidental Abortion Honesty". Slate. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  18. ^ Ioffe, Julia (8 August 2013). "Dear Lawrence O'Donnell, Don't Mansplain to Me About Russia". The New Republic. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  19. ^ Stuever, Hank (11 July 2013). "'The Newsroom' vs. 'Honey Boo Boo': Which one really gives us more to think about?". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  20. ^ Weigel, David (5 August 2013). "Trying to Tolerate The Newsroom, Week Four". Slate. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  21. ^ Greenwald, Andy (16 July 2013). "Death by Newsroom". Grantland. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  22. ^ "Dear Jimmy Iovine: Women Don't Need You to Mansplain Music to Them". Observer. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  23. ^ "PM accused of 'mansplaining' ... but what does it mean?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  24. ^ "Bustle". www.bustle.com. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  25. ^ "Ralph Nader Mansplains Monetary Policy to Janet Yellen". Daily Intelligencer. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  26. ^ Ireland, Judith (11 February 2016). "'What?': Katy Gallagher explains mansplaining to Mitch Fifield during fiery estimates showdown". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  27. ^ a b Solomon, Jane (6 December 2013). "Word Watch 2013: -splain". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 24 November 2014. The possibilities are seeming endless on the -splain front. This gives Dictionary.com reason to believe that -splain is not just a temporary fad, but rather a stable new addition to English along with its libfix cousins like -gate, -pocalypse, and -zilla.
  28. ^ Zimmer, Benjamin; Carson, Charles C. (2013). "Among The New Words". American Speech. 88 (2): 196–214. doi:10.1215/00031283-2346771.(subscription required)
  29. ^ 'Damonsplaining': Matt Damon accused of insensitivity, BBC News, 16 September 2015.
  30. ^ Justin Wm. Moyer, Matt Damon has more ‘Damonsplaining’ to do — this time about alleged anti-gay comments The Washington Post, 29 September 2015
  31. ^ Gunter, Jen (16 November 2017). "My Vagina Is Terrific. Your Opinion About It Is Not". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  32. ^ "Do we need a different word for 'mansplaining'?". MPR News. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  33. ^ Kinzel, Lesley (16 August 2012). "Why You'll Never Hear Me Use the Term 'Mansplain'". XoJane. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  34. ^ Young, Cathy (29 September 2013). "Is the Patriarchy dead?". Reason.com.
  35. ^ Young, Cathy (30 June 2016). "Feminists treat men badly. It's bad for feminism". The Washington Post. Whatever the reasons for the current cycle of misandry — yes, that's a word, derided but also adopted for ironic use by many feminists — its existence is quite real. Consider, for example, the number of neologisms that use "man" as a derogatory prefix and that have entered everyday media language: "mansplaining," "manspreading" and "manterrupting."
  36. ^ Solnit, Rebecca (2014). Men Explain Things to Me. Chicago: Haymarket Books. p. 14.
  37. ^ Hart, Benjamin (20 October 2014). "RIP "mansplaining": How the Internet killed one of our most useful words". Salon. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  38. ^ McLaughlin, Tom; Sealy-Harrington, Joshua (15 April 2014). "Arguments should not be silenced because of their author's race or sex". The Globe and Mail.
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