Woman have one brain, one heart, one vagina, two breasts, and an unwelcome assumption from the men around us that our thoughts/ideas/skills are not valid and have no place in constructive conversation. If you’re a man reading this, then I applaud you for wanting to be more informed about just how infuriating it is to get interrupted with a “well hold on now sweetie.”

Mansplaining can be easily defined as when a man explains something to a woman in a patronizing way. For example, when my roommates and I needed to have a discussion regarding our bills I was interrupted, shushed, and even at one point told to shut up. That is a perfect example of mansplaining and just plain misogynist behavior, but let’s circle back to that in a second. Females at a young age are unknowingly put down by males, from getting pushed on the ground during recess out of “flirtation” to being catcalled on the street and getting screamed at that you’re a whore if you don’t respond positively. Woman are sexualized by men and therefore not viewed as intelligent as men. Our opinions seem to matter when it comes to home décor, planning an event, or gossiping about Wendy next door, but don’t play a role in politics, humanitarian efforts, and basically any conversation where our opinion is the opposite of the man doing the mansplaining. As woman we are viewed as incorrect for our thoughts and that we just “haven’t learned enough yet” when truthfully we might just have a different standpoint. While our conversation is heading towards reflection for others it is often interrupted by someone who is too ignorant just to say the words “agree to disagree.”

Just because women have breasts we are supposed to cover ourselves up for the boys who cannot control their sexual desires and because we shed a layer from our uterus each month (to provide more children for this earth), we are deemed as unpredictable, unstable and overly emotional. A woman can be stunningly beautiful while still being highly intelligent. The only differences between a Male and a Female are our sexual reproductive organs and some born physical differences that provide more physical strength in the Males favor; but besides that our brains function in the same exact way. So Mansplaining has no actual need besides just a power play towards the females of this world and a way to try to remind us that men will always be “correct” and “know” more.

Well, ladies, that is complete and utter bulls**t. Our intelligence will change the world, our kindness will provide love for centuries, and our beauty will only be matched by how many hearts we have touched. Pay no mind to the men who speak to you like this and continue speaking your truth! They can keep trying to interrupt us as we continue to change the world but they will not deter us. Remember the words I said to that man that I mentioned earlier, “you will treat me like a human being, not just a female. You will listen to the words I have to say, not just interrupt them. You will treat me with the respect I deserve all the time, not just decide when. Understood?”