All stories included in here are true, and anonymous. While they do not all pertain to the actual act of having men explain things to women, they are still symptoms of a greater sexist society, and their stories are indicative of the importance of recognizing this power difference.

These are only a handful of the ones submitted to me for this piece -- I received dozens of texts, Facebook messages and comments about the times women (of all backgrounds and ages) have experienced sexist dialogue from men, even those closet to them. I selected these because I feel they best exemplify men's tendency to explain things to women, and also what happens when sexist interchanges become commonplace and even acceptable in our daily lives. They have been lightly edited for clarity.

I purchased a book of essays entitled "Men Explain Things To Me" by Rebecca Solnit on a whim, when I saw it in the souvenir shop of the Tate Modern. I was already enamored by the title and the knowledge that no matter what, its titular and opening essay would speak to the universality of the female experience. And I was right; the essay details the ways in which Solnit herself had her own book explained to her by another man, who had not even read it himself but rather just a New York Times review.

I was on a date once and we were having a good conversation and talking about what we were doing in school, and I told him I did research in the neurodevelopment disabilities lab. He said, "That's cool, do you know anything about autism?" I told him, "Yes, I work with kids who are on the autism spectrum and Fragile X Syndrome, so I know what it is." He continued to explain what autism was anyway. (20 years old, pre-med receiving grant money to continue her research)

But the essay doesn't stop there, nor does it continue in the same humorous tone for the rest of the piece. As I sat reading, I was overwhelmed by the realism of the piece and by how strongly I related to it -- although I am by no means an academic or a historian, and people are not explaining my own hard work and research to me, I have had so many similar experiences with men (young and old).

I once had a boss ask me why I worked when my husband worked and made enough money for both of us (40 years old)

I was at work and a man saw my engagement ring and said, "If your fiancé isn't making enough to support you both, you shouldn't be getting married." (20 years old)

On this very study abroad experience, during a creative writing workshop, I attempted to give one of the members of my group constructive criticism about his work; he is in his mid-fifties and a substitute teacher in the States.

I tried to explain why part of his piece was unclear and confusing, and it took me several read-throughs to understand.

Despite his proclamations that he "loves and needs feedback," he was quick to dismiss my words and responded, "That's just a style of writing, you understand?" I continued to tell him that yes, I understood, but the way he went about writing it was still unclear. It was a simple fix. Yet he continued to talk over me and say the same words, as though it was my own failings as a reader and writer that created this dissonance, as though I was not intelligent enough to "get" his creative work.

Almost every single time politics come up in the presence of a man (often in the context of someone else bringing up all of MY involvement if it's a stranger, or someone who knows my involvement if not a stranger), he tries to explain to me how things work -- the system, campaigns, political strategy, polls, the White House, etc. The funny thing is that the one exception to this is men who are actually ver political involved and would know what they are talking about. (34 years old, political activist who has worked on several campaigns for U.S. Senate and for President Barack Obama)

This is a universal female experience for a reason.

Women in STEM fields are among the minority, and although the humanities are dominated by women, graduate and doctoral programs are not. We exist in a world where men are the leading voice, and thus no matter their stature, they take up the "teacher" role where the woman is the "student."

And this is not limited merely to peers; in one of my honors courses this year, my professor posed a question to the class about why we thought the other invoked the French "royal we" in his work. Rather than answer her question, a freshman boy responded, "Oh, you know, that's just something the French do. It's part of their language."

My professor reads, studies, and analyzes French texts frequently, and there was an uncomfortable beat between his response and the continuation of discussion.

When talking to my doctor about being done having children, he explained to me that I should have my tubes tied rather than my husband having a vasectomy because it was just "better." (49 years old)

I don't believe all men do this, nor do I believe all men who do this are doing so intentionally or maliciously. This boy did not mean to undermine or ridicule our professor, and it is very likely he simply misunderstood her question.

But the fact that he believed, even for a moment, that he was more intelligent and aware of a French-translated text than our professor, whose degrees from Columbia and Duke are in postcolonial studies, is indicative of how pervasive and commonplace such conversations are.

I participate in a summer service where we work on and repair homes. One year, I was learning how to use a chop saw as I had never done it before, and boy walked up to me and told me I should probably go paint and do the other "women's work on site" and leave the power tools to the boys. It was our first day on site, and little did he know I ran the whole roof crew that week because I know exactly how to roof a house. Plus, he couldn't even cut a straight line and I could. (20 years old)

It doesn't even have to be a male specifically speaking over or targeting a female -- how many instances have you seen a male student proclaim his answer to the class loudly and without consideration for any opinion around him, and then continue to speak over other students as they attempt to contribute?

This is another instance in which Explaining Men (as Solnit puts it) continue to subjugate the women around them, leashing them to a role of "learner" rather than "teacher." And while learning is unequivocally important, and there are instances in which a man does explain things to me I don't know, it's the moments in which he assumes he knows more and I know less and refuses to acknowledge my own intelligence that there is an issue.

I was in a sociology class once and the teacher (a woman) brought up the wage gap. She made the statement that women make about 76 cents to the dollar compared to men. Almost immediately after she said this, a boy raised his hand and said, "That's not true." The professor looked at him strangely and said, "I do research for a living and this is from a reputable source. I know what I'm talking about." He then brought up a survey he'd just found on his phone and said that it is more equal now. She had to tell him that the survey he was looking at was probably not verified, and also he was not supposed to be on his phone in class." (21 years old, political science minor)

As Solnit states, "I do believe that women have explained things in patronizing ways, to men among others. But that's not indicative of the massive power differential that takes far more sinister forms as well or of the broad pattern of how gender works in our society."

Men explaining things is not simply that they know more -- it's that they assume they know more, that society and our institutionalized understandings of gender roles provide them with enough arrogance to refuse to accept female opinions and intelligence in whatever form that may be displayed.