As I dive headfirst into my junior year of college, in the second half of my major, I’ve noticed that most of my peers happen to be uh, well, dudes. Although we’ve come a long way for equality, there are still undergrad majors that are still predominantly male, and I’ve come to realize that my major is one of them. With the realization of this, I’ve also noticed a particular increase in mansplaining.

Mansplaining is a new term, referring to when a man explains something to a woman in a condescending tone, that she already understands, or is inaccurate. In other words, assuming that a woman doesn’t know what she’s talking about, because she is a woman.

Most of my male peers in my major don’t do this. I’ve made some great guy friends in the major, all who have treated me as their equal. However, during class discussions, study groups, and of course, the ever-hated group projects, I’ve noticed my guy classmates tend to explain basic concepts to me, out of the blue.

There’s usually one in every class. I voice an opinion, or even a fact, and the mansplainers start revving their engines.

You can hear it in their voices. Eyebrows raised, a slight smirk forming on their faces. They slow down their speech, lighten their voice, patronizingly nice. “Well you see,” they say, “you’ve probably never heard of this before, but….” Excuse me? Why are you assuming that I haven’t?

We have the same GPA. We’re in the same major. We have similar passions, goals, and career paths. So why turn to me and explain something that even a freshman in a 100-level course would understand? Why question my knowledge of something, when you accept what your male friends have to say without a blink of an eye?

Majors that are heavily male-oriented are mostly STEM related, but in my experience, the history major is almost as bad. I’ve found myself gravitating towards clusters of women, craving an academic conversation, rather than getting talked down to. I’d rather be able to share my ideas without being smiled at like I’m a small child. I’d rather hear what another person has to say, without feeling like they are dominating the conversation, and not letting me speak.

For a while, I resorted to just not speaking at all. When I’m not being talked down to like I’m a child, my ideas are dismissed instantly-getting interrupted halfway through a thought to be told I was wrong. What was the point of speaking up if I was going to get treated like this? I could pass my classes and start my career by being a wallflower, passing through my classes without making my mark.

But then I think back to when I did my practicum teaching at a high school. I was a female intern, for a history department with six men. Every single one of them were more educated, more experienced, and much older, than myself. However, I was not once treated with disrespect. I was regarded as a colleague, seen as “one of the guys,” so to speak. I was never once talked down to, and in fact, when there was something I didn’t know about, they would explain it to me in the way you’d explain something to a friend, or a peer. Despite still being in my undergrad, and most of them with multiple degrees under their belt, I was equal.

So why isn’t it the same in a college classroom, where I am equally ranking to these men? Why do my fellow history majors feel the need to explain to me how democracy works? Why are they telling me how to research? Why are they explaining these basic concepts that I learned right along side with them?

I don’t have an answer, but I do have a solution. I’ve started talking back:

Guy Classmate: You’re probably really struggling to find good resources, you should try using the library archive online.
Me: Thanks, I’ve been doing that since fall quarter of my freshman year.
Me: Well I think-
Guy Classmate: Well I don’t know if you know this, but in American military history-
Me: You just interrupted me, please let me finish.
Guy Classmate: Yeah, just in case you don’t know, FDR was the reason that we have term limits for presidents.
Me: Yeah, I actually wrote a paper about that in high school!

I can stand up for myself, without causing a problems. Usually when I reply with these sort of things, guys look a little surprised, and move on. I’m not a confrontational girl, I never have been, so these are small ways I can let people know that that’s not okay.

Men like this, they’ll never change. They’ll always see women as lesser, and that’s just who they are. I’m not here to change people’s minds and I’m not here to magically turn a sexist into a feminist. What I am here for, is to get an education, and I’ll never let some dude stop me from doing that.