“Mansplaining” has become a major problem in our society. Mansplaining is not simply a man explaining something; it is part of a much bigger systemic issue that a lot of women deal with regularly. A man can explain an idea in a way that is respectful and non-problematic. However, mansplaining is when a man tries to explain something she already knows to a woman in a way that is condescending and patronizing, even if she happens to be an expert on the topic.

Women can certainly be guilty of doing the same thing to others, but mansplaining is the perpetuating idea that the man’s voice is the most important and should be valued over the woman’s. Women are more likely to be interrupted by a man, and often times it is to say something the woman already stated or something she didn’t get to say because she was interrupted. In these situations, men are more concerned with their voice being the one doing the talking, than having an actual conversation.

One example of mansplaining in the media is a 2014 CNN clip showing a man explaining street harassment to a woman. In the clip, he tells his female cohost Frederick Whitfield that he knows more about street harassment than women will ever know and that they “wouldn’t care if the guys were hot.” He even says, “I’m more of an expert than you,” right to her face! This immediately sends the message that he does not care about her opinion and undermines her voice by telling her that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. He also continues to interrupt her and tells her she is wrong hen speaking about her own personal experiences. You only have to see the look on her face to know that she is fed up.

I have experienced mansplaining multiple times in my life. The first instance I can think of is a bit of a vulgar conversation in high school when a boy tried to tell me that women pee from their vaginas. Now, any person who knows anything about the female body will tell you that this is false, but this boy contiguously told me when I was wrong when I explained that women urinate from their urethra, not the vagina. I think I would know, considering I actually have one, but he obviously knew better.

Another, more recent, incident occurred his semester in one of my English classes. I have has many altercations with this guy in class so it didn’t really surprise me when we had a disagreement. He tried to explain to me one of the concepts of the novel we were reading. However, I had already read the book for another class along with several other classmates, he had only read to chapter six. The whole class knew that we had already read the novel as well.

This article is not to say that all men are guilty of mansplaining. Perhaps the name suggests sexist connotations, but as mentioned earlier, it speaks to a larger issue revolved around gender inequality targeted towards women. So, to the men, please don’t speak over women. Allow them to share their own opinions without feeling the need to interject. Step back and think, “Has this already been said? Is this something she already knows? Will this add to the conversation?” If the answers are yes, yes, and no, then just let it be. Let women have their own voice without the aid of your own.