What
is mansplaining?

"Mansplaining" is global.
The context where a man is repeating something a woman just stated is common
for numerous women that it appears to be a worldwide problem, an undeniable
truth for every girl.


Moreover,
this idea of "explain what she just stated" without giving it a
thought is a horrible way of asserting dominance over the female or other
genders.


Women
have indeed been conquering more space and freedom in most cultures, but
sexism and misogyny are prevalent. The impression that women know less or can
not express themselves is universal. It is not uncommon to observe a man
explaining a concept a woman had just stated or mentioned.

When
men rephrase what a woman says, it is a way to demonstrate that they assume
women are intellectually inferior to them. It also shows that their opinion is
less important than a male's opinion.


The
first time I heard the term mansplaining was when a character explained it in
the American show One Day at a Time. After that, I began to
observe and notice that it was more common than I had assumed.


Where
does it happen?


My
father, grandfather, relatives, and classmates did this to women frequently, in
a way to show how they understood the subject better.
Besides,
it did not matter if she was a nurse discussing a disease she had been
studying. Or if she was a teacher with a Ph.D. on the subject, and he read two
paragraphs about the theme on a doubtful website. What mattered for them was to
be heard and show how they knew everything and how the girls should not be so
stubborn with them.
Moreover,
not many people noticed it. It was almost natural for them to witness a guy
(who did not know anything about the topic whatsoever) correct a woman.
It
is also common for employees to call their female bosses names for being
austere, something that could be done by male bosses without even been noticed.


Furthermore,
these are not only found in the workplace or educational environments.


This
disrespect is not only common in regular life, but it also includes women who
succeed in high positions of the social hierarchy.


The
best example is Brazil's ex-president, Dilma Rousseff. The men who were
directly under her supervision considered her hysterical. The reason for this
is that she was a serious person and an austere leader. Moreover, she did not
let others put her down. She was repudiated by the men around her because of
that. She was impeached by those same men, who did not believe in her, even
though she was democratically elected.

With
this in mind, mansplaining is not only bothersome, but it is also about
respect, about space to express ourselves, about the standpoint speech.


This
is one of the reasons why feminism is important, as it
makes people rethink their position in society, understand social privileges
and try to break the "traditional" toxic structures that are present
until nowadays.