Gender biases have a way of permeating into our daily lives. Before you know it, a mundane conversation with a man becomes a battlefield with him asserting his dominance by constantly interrupting and speaking over you. Though, mansplaining is looked upon as a popular cultural term but it is in fact a systematic form of oppression which continues to suppress the voices of women. Women are mansplained in order to make them feel incompetent, in comparison to men. Unlike other forms of oppression, it is subtle and carries with itself the assumption that opinions of men weigh more than that of women.
Though, mansplaining is looked upon as a popular cultural term but it is in fact a systematic form of oppression which continues to suppress the voices of women.
In mixed-sex conversations, women and queer people find it hard to assert themselves and often feel invalidated. Many times, women simply refrain from participating in conversations for the fear of being interrupted. This ultimately results in low self-confidence and hampers professional lives of women. Mansplaining is most visible in the workplace, classrooms and gymnasiums.
Also read: Mansplaining 101: Why Do Men Explain Things To Women?
This sexism is not just limited to verbal communication; power is snatched from women in other areas as well. As per a recent study, men are retweeted twice more often than women. Women are also overwhelmingly under-represented at senior levels in public organisations.
Mansplaining is most visible in the workplace, classrooms and gymnasiums. It is especially in these spaces that women are made to feel incompetent and ignorant.
One study revealed that men continue to dominate op-ed and editorial pages. Of the 579 contributors, women accounted for only 20 percent across the Hindi and English dallies. Similarly, as per statistics revealed by the government of India, of the judges in the Supreme Court and several High Courts, only 12 percent are women. This form of silencing is equivalent to mansplaining, where society assigns low value to voices and narratives of women.
Also read: Mansplaining: Men And Their Unsolicited Explaining Every Time I Travel
It is high time that women stop giving benefit of the doubt to men who infantilise women under the garb of their unsolicited ‘advice’ and start calling out their sexism. It doesn’t matter if mansplaining was done intentionally or not, women need to reclaim the conversational floor and not leave it till they are done saying what’s on their minds.
Featured Image Source: Metro
