With the current election, I have seen more "mansplaining" in the media than ever before. Every time a male speaks on this election, they speak down to the women they are talking to. They act like these highly educated women don't speak English, when in fact, these women are among the most intelligent in the country. Mansplaining has become an epidemic in this country, and I have never been so frustrated.
Mansplaining is when a man explains something to a woman in a way that seems condescending or patronizing. It's one of those things that you can't quite understand until you are the victim of it. Unfortunately most women fall victim to it every day. In every situation, some men feel the need to speak down to a woman. When there is a large age gap, the mansplaining only intensifies. It is as though a young woman could not possibly have any understanding of the world around her. This is beyond frustrating for women because, contrary to popular belief, we are not total idiots. Most of us are actually highly educated, and intelligent beings. So, when we are spoken down to, we tend to become frustrated, which is then regarded as PMS. Now this is another topic entirely, but it is a part of the vicious cycle.
In my personal experience, mansplaining is the worst in athletic situations. While this is not the only place I have experienced it (I am a STEM major after all), it is one of the most prominent situations it occurs in. Whenever I show up to a practice or a game where there are men, they somehow feel the need to speak to me like I have never seen any athletics before in my life. It's like a am a child seeing a football game for the first time. This is crazy to me because I have been an athlete for longer than most of the men I am surrounded by. Surprisingly I can follow a football game fairly easily. It is even worse when a male coach speaks down to you. It is like they truly have no respect for you at all. When you actually ask questions, they seem to think that you have forgotten how to speak English, and begin to speak slowly and loudly. Actually, I can speak English just fine, your instructions were just unclear, and no one else on the team is brave enough to risk humiliation to ask for clarification. But thank you for treating me like an idiot. It's a real confidence boost.
Mansplaining is one of those things that come with being a woman. It's like you get boobs, and then all of the sudden your brain shrinks and everything thinks you have the intelligence of a two year old. It is even more unnerving that men in power feel the need to do this. They are already in charge, people respect them, and then they open their mouths and ruin it. They have the dominance, why do they need to continue to shove it down our throats?
I guess I have learned to find this entire situation to be quite humorous. I unfortunately have learned that there is very little i can do to get the respect that I deserve. It doesn't matter how many degrees I have, or how long I have done something, I will always be a woman. I will always be the lesser individual in a mans eyes. It is also one of those things that I can learn so much from. I have the opportunity to let this motivate me, and make me a better person. It can make me want to work harder, so one day I can look at a man who spoke down to me, and treat them with the respect that they didn't give me. I can be the bigger person in the situation, and I don't even have to talk down to the person to do it.
Hey men of the world, I know this is kind of crazy, but you should try it sometime.
