by: Gregory Teo
Mansplaining was named by the New York Times as one of its “Words of the Year” in 2010. According to New York Times, “mansplain” is defined as “A man compelled to explain or give an opinion about everything — especially to a woman. He speaks, often condescendingly, even if he doesn’t know what he’s talking about or even if it’s none of his business.” (Sifton & Barrett 2010) The word was first coined by a commenter on social media, but it soon became popular amongst feminists bloggers (Rothman 2018). It is accepted that mansplaining is done by a man who has a belief system in which women know less and therefore need to be enlightened. Such a belief system is one that is, no doubt, sexist in nature. Collins would likely view mansplaining as an act that perpetuates controlling images wherein women are viewed as incompetent. According to Collins, "controlling images are designed to make racism, sexism, poverty, and other forms of social injustice appear to be natural, normal, and inevitable parts of everyday life" (Collins 2009). Controlling images give people reason to justify their prejudices and since such prejudices are normalised in our society, one can evade being morally reprehensible for their actions to some extent. By engaging in mansplaining, it may lead to a process whereby, over time, women doubt their competence and begin to conform to the controlling images. Moreover, with someone trying to explain something we did not ask in a condescending manner, it conveys how much or how little our competence is valued which may be psychologically damaging. Apart from perpetuating controlling images, mansplaining might also be the case of exerting power as domination. By mansplaining to women, the man seeks to dominate the interaction by imposing his superiority over women.
The act of mansplaining should not be condoned given its sexist nature. However, the word itself should not be used in the resistance against sexism. “Mansplaining” uses “man” as a derogatory prefix, and the word is used in a manner denigrating to man. The use of the word “mansplaining” in itself is a form of power as domination because it perpetuates the controlling image that all men engages in the act as described by the word. It does not make sense for one to exercise power as domination to end domination. Since the word linguistically exercises power as domination, using it in the fight against sexism maybe counter-productive as it calls into question the consistency in the resistance. Moreover, the word is gender-specific and it implicitly makes men the enemy in the resistance against sexism. According to hooks, setting up man as the enemy is an “unconstructive paradigm” (hooks 1989). This might be because many women in society have caring bonds with men. To use words like “mansplaining” is to perpetuate negative stereotypes of men and to implicitly ascribe the stereotype to the men they have caring bonds with.
The act described by the word “mansplaining” is not gender-specific and is an act that any gender could engage in. Overall, the word itself is problematic and using it in the fight against sexism may not be the best thing to do for the cause. However, this should never trivialize the sexist belief system adopted by men who are compelled to condescendingly explain or give an opinion about everything to women who did not ask for them. It is just not a good idea to resolve it by setting up men as the enemy.
References:
Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought. Routledge, 2000.
Hooks, Bell. Feminist Theory: from Margin to Center. South End Press, 1989.
Rothman, Lily. “A Cultural History of Mansplaining.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 17 May 2018, www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/11/a-cultural-history-of-mansplaining/264380/.
Sifton, Sam, and Grant Barrett. “The Words of the Year.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Dec. 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/weekinreview/19sifton.html.
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