Mansplaining is a real problem. And it is very much alive and well at ACC. With this being a STEM school with 7 boys for every 3 girls, it’s honestly not surprising, yet incredibly disappointing. I myself have experienced mansplaining by students at school (and beyond), and pretty much every female friend I have has too.
What even is mansplaining? Mansplaining is the term used for the phenomenon where a man speaks to a woman in a condescending or patronizing way when explaining a subject he assumes she knows nothing about, despite her having sufficient knowledge on the topic. To put it simply, mansplaining is when a man gets great pleasure in feeling smarter than another woman.
But why is that so bad? For someone who hasn’t experienced it, it seems like no big deal. Some might say that it is OK to assume minimal knowledge on a topic when explaining to another person, and that “mansplaining” has nothing to do with gender. Except it does. It is literally about gender. The term specifically describes an interaction between a man and a woman where the man views the woman as less competent because she is a woman. Some men derive pleasure from seeing women as helpless and prop themselves up as the savior. I believe mansplaining exists as an ego boost for men. However, I believe that mansplaining is a microaggression. It is totally possible, in fact very likely, that men do this unintentionally. There is a deeply rooted bias towards women in STEM.
I highly recommend taking the Harvard Implicit Associated test for Gender-Science. I feel like, especially if a woman is seen as attractive, men automatically assume she is dumb or not qualified enough in her field. For example, a man tried to mansplain female anatomy to a female gynecologist. She is obviously more qualified on the subject, yet the man assumes he knows more and is always right.
If you are still confused, here are some real examples of mansplaining experienced by female students at ACC:
Upon asking my friend Lilah if she had experienced mansplaining at the school, she immediately replied, “YES!” She went on to say, “I think that if you are not able to have a new and intelligent idea, you should keep your mouth shut.” In one specific instance, Lilah got mansplained how to open the camera on the computer. Lilah also said, “If you want to teach me something I already learned, keep your mouth shut. Just because I am a woman does not mean I am stupid.”
Another one of my friends recounts a time in engineering when she came up with an original idea for a mouse trap vehicle. She described how a group of arrogant boys criticized her design, only for her vehicle to be better than theirs.
Madi offered her insight, saying, “I understand if you want to explain things to me, but do not talk down to me as if I am lesser than.” She also recounted experiences where men explained something wrong, but only realized they were wrong because another man said so; they don’t listen to women.
I hope this article brought awareness to this issue: both in school and beyond. Here are some noteworthy quotes to take with you:
“You’re not trying to help someone, you are helping your ego” -Madi Do
“Women are smarter than your opinion” -Lilah Anderson-Vosper
