Ever had anything mansplained to you? You know, when a guy starts explaining something to (most likely) a woman about something that they very well know themselves in a condescending or patronizing way.
Sure, it is definitely a serious issue, one that hints at sexism and rudeness, among other things, but also one that can be satisfying and even funny—particularly when the one being mansplained to claps back with an educated response that makes the mansplainer rethink their decisions.
In celebration of the recent Valentine’s Day, Twitter user @J_Dot_J asked people what was the most obvious thing that was mansplained to them. Dozens upon dozens of people shared their best mansplaining stories, not only voicing their frustrations, but also pointing out how nobody should ever assume that you don’t know things.
Image credits: J_Dot_J
Bored Panda has collected some of the best responses from the Twitter thread and made it into a list for you to enjoy. While you’re scrolling, why not share your thoughts and vote on the ones you liked the most, and share your mansplaining stories, if you have any, in the comment section below!
Oh, and if this ain't enough, Bored Panda has two other articles on the topic here and here, so be sure to check them out once you're done here!
This post may include affiliate links.
Look on the bright side, cement proof that he did you a favour by showing you his true colours.
To the 'Mansplaining Deniers' out there : The point is that those men make the assumption that the woman knows nothing, without knowing anything about her. When we meet a new person, we could all just assume they are equally intelligent as us.
I got a C in art once for ‘plagiarising’ Devil Wears Prada (had just come out at the time). We had to design a shoe. I made mine into a dragon with a tail going up the leg and scales all over looking like fire. All the work showed it was inspired by Smaug from The Hobbit. The art teacher who was ALSO and English teacher said what’s the hobbit? Who’s Tolkien? Said I was lying and still gave me a C for ‘plagiarising’ Devil Wears Prada 🤦🏼♀️
I am 45yrs old and am in full blown menopause. I started peri menopause when I was 38-39yrs old. I had a man child explain menopause and proceed to tell me that it is impossible for a woman to start it that young and to be in menopause at my age. While it is not common it does happen and my last period was actually almost 6yrs ago. He said it was something else and insisted that the Gynecologist was wrong due to her being a woman and I NEED TO SEE A MALE DOCTOR to be correctly diagnosed. I had blood work done and am currently on hormone therapy. Kicker....... this Man/Child was 22yrs old and was going to college for a degree in physical education. LMFAO SMH
I wouldn't be able to stop laughing if somebody insulted me like this.
The craving to feel superior, regardless of what the topic, or who the person, may be.
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You should have encouraged him not to wear sunscreen and go stand outside in the middle of the Sahara the hottest day of the year.
I would really like to know who 'they' are they seem to have a lot of opinions they cant back up.
Was that random man supposed to know that this woman is a doctor?
Of course not, but why is he butting into a conversation that he has no part in? It's not exactly mansplaining by even the loosest definition of the term but really, who does that?
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you have to wonder which disinformation a.m. channel he listens to OR how bad our education system truly is
Hey doc, quick question. In your professional opinion, in future instances, such as these, would it be ok, if we, as a gender, just agreed to say, "Go away you stupid little dumb dumb". Just curious.
I like the fact she just asked for a shaded part of the patio, for all he knew she might not like the sun in her eyes, but he decided to talk to her about the dangers of sunscreen. Why?
Maybe he was trying to be helpful, he didn't know you are a cancer specialist. Not necessarily mansplaining.
Agreed there, more of a "I know everything and must spread the truth" sort of attitude.
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Sounds like the uninvited comment was supporting the request. Not mansplaining.
It's just just men who dumb-splain. I know a few women like this. They read something on the interweb and know everything now.
Stop with the made up Covid nonsense, “doctor”! You’re just distracting us from the real and imminent threat of the Lizard People from Planet X! Not to mention the cannibals in the pizza basement.
If “girls” can’t play bass, then what was Carol Kaye doing on all 10,000+ recording sessions she played on? If he’s ever enjoyed a famous bass line from the last half of the 20th century, she probably played it.
yeah that's really annoying when you aren't even interacting with them and men still insist in butting in and "showing off"
In fairness it often feels like Texas doesn't have science. Like when they make energy policy, or claim that wind turbines and solar panels don't work in cold weather . . .
I worked for attorneys for 22 years. One time a three-year practicing attorney was looking for a plea on a criminal case. I advised him it's called an Alford plea, he argued with me, continued to try to think of what he believed it's called and then proceeded to get a book to find the answer. Which was. And Alford plea.
Fictional TV from the eighties is ~totally~ more valuable that modern research.
But how is it pronounced? Is it Woo-ster? Now I'm curious.
A bit odd he felt the need to explain it to you as if you didn’t know, but maybe he was just trying to relate? I dunno, seems more like he was trying to “fit in” as it were rather than look down on you...? 🤷🏻♀️🙂
Where's the 2nd part? Ppl are upvoting a story that doesn't tell what she was waiting on or what happened?
All you ladies have this all wrong. As a man, I can tell you that this is simply not the case. We men just want the information out there to be as accurate as possible, and the world doesn't need hormones and emotions all over our data. In fact, mansplaining......is....uh.....wait a minute....see its.....whew.....*throws smoke pellets on the floor, disappears from room*
I feel like some men's worlds are crumbling now that they're no longer considered smarter simply because they're men, and they have to actually do something with their lives to be considered an attractive company. Is that how incels became a thing?
No joke. I know a guy who ended up in therapy after becoming suicidal over women being able to do a man's job. He was a truck driver. He couldn't get over the fact that women are capable of driving a truck.
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I've been teaching English at a technical college for 16 years now and (if I may be so smug), I'm pretty darn good at it, especially when it comes to the connection with the young people I teach (I just adore my guys, they are the best people ever). I got in a discussion with some guy who claimed he knew better than I how to approach the students, how to talk to them, how to discipline them etc. I could not convince him that, possibly, just perhaps, my dealing with this particular group of young adults gave me a good idea how to handle them. His point? He'd been a young man, I had not. End of discussion. I still think I'm doing a fine job.
Women need an award just for existing alongside men like that and not going mental and killing us all.
But men get thanked and applauded for doing the bare minimum for “helping” women. The world is crazy.
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I was doing graphic design work on a website and had one of the clients start explaining to me how the colors didn't go well together. Dude was color blind. When I found that out, I thought "oh, okay, so he's just seeing it differently" and tried to politely explain the color theory behind the design. No dice. He doubled down on it and said he had read an article or two online so knew what colors went together far better than I did. So I said, "Okay, whatever you want is what we'll do" and they now have the ugliest website you've ever seen.
tbh I want to start a petition to get mods on BP. The amount of sexist comments I've seen on this article makes me think that we need at least 10 moderators on BP. I just can't believe the kind of stuff I'm seeing here. I don't know though, let me know what you think in the reply's.
It’s crazy people seem to actually believe (even trolls to an extent) the ridiculousness they spew! I agree.
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I was walking into a robotics team meeting, and it was the first day. i had been using power tools/saws for years, but was new to this team, as i explained to the supervisor. he brushed it off. on the second day, he told a boy who was a grade below me to explain how to use a miter saw, that he had learned how to use the day before. both the supervisor and the guy ignored me when i said multiple times that i already knew how to use it. he tried to show me how to use it, and i just took it from him, cut the block of wood, and told him "i've got it."
We have an apprentice in our workshop for a year. Lasers, any kind of work with granite, printing, we do a lot of things. Whenever his teacher comes to see his progress, my coworker (who began working in this place 3 years before me but haven't touched anything else than a computer these past 4 years) suddenly wants to explain to me how the machine I manage work. When said teacher can hear us. Last time I just answered (with fake cheerfullness) "Oh, I know that! I've been doing it for the past 6 years, I can manage it! But what you just told isn't entirely true, you know, since we changed the machine 3 years ago?" Bonus round : he tried to tell me that I'm totally wrong, only for my boss (15+ yo of experience) to overhear us and say I'm right. No more mansplaning happened after that
I chimed in on an argument about why police had attended with two ambulances to a supermarket in a local online group. I pointed out that if someone is in cardiac arrest in a public area then the ambulance service always informs police to help with crowd control. A guy on the group decided I was wrong because police didn't turn up when he was involved in a trauma incident as a first aider. I asked if it was cardiac arrest. He said no but he knows someone who works for the ambulance service. I pointed out that I work in the 999 control room and once of my roles is to contact police and ask them to attend any public cardiac arrests. He told me I was wrong and they wouldn't send two ambulances for a cardiac arrest too. I told them it's policy to send two ambulances, one crew to swap out whilst doing cpr whilst the other crew gives medication, gets the defib set up etc. He told me again I was wrong as he'd never had that happen to him even though he'd never attended a cardiac arrest
And for the people here who clearly don't know, mansplaining is when a man assumes a woman has no knowledge of what she is talking about and in turn, attempts to explain a topic in a condescending way even though he knows less than she does. An innocent conversation is much more preferred.
I play Sea of thieves a lot and I always run into men who explain every single thing. Do you not see the Clothing Items I have EARNED for everything I've done? I'm not stupid. I know what sword dash is. I know you can sell kegs. If I have a question I'll ask. And then when I prove I know stuff I'm forced to be a crew hand, Parking the ship and always staying behind to repair as they go off fighting skeletons.
Can we get a more specific term than Mansplaining? As a man I find it offensive because it's too general. I've had guys try to explain something to me not knowing that I was an expert in the subject they were talking about. Maybe call it what it is arrogant asshole speak.
I agree. I'm not a man and me too fond this a bit restrictive. I've had women and men trying to explain me things I already new well. How about noneedsplaining?
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My adoptive family are if French descent. I don't pronounce my last name the ultra-French way. I can't. I'm not French so, I use the non-francophone pronounciation. Last year, my company buys another company in Quebec. A Quebecois manager left me a voicemail ... explaining how to pronounce my own name. And to call him back so he can teach me the proper way.
I have an unusual variant of an Irish surname. I have so many people mispronounce it even after many explanations. Also a male doctor said that I (female) couldnt be autistic because "you have friends, don't you?
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This must be the fourth mansplaining-article in the last few weeks. I find them just as entertaining as the next person, but most of them are reposts.
B itch you don't even know what a Mary Sue is
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Guy at rental car counter mansplained the key fob to me, like what each button did and how to use them. I'm pretty sure I know how to unlock the car, bro.
I noticed on almost every post there was someone at the bottom that would say something that didn't have to be said. If you don't like reading things like this then you shouldn't even be here...
I'm genuinely interested in hearing a man explain what he thinks is the reason for mansplaining, and also the best response to shut it down. Thanks
the best i can think of is most likely what you all have figged out already, they're just idiots, just ignore them.
Load More Replies... I play dungeons and dragons with my family and my brother always explains my own spells to me. I’m like “I’m going to cast chromatic orb” and he’ll cut in and go “that’s 3D8 damage”. Dude, I know, it’s my spell. I’ve played it a hundred times.
Thanks for this, it got my blood pressure up to operational level to tackle my day.
I'll never get past a man trying to explain to me that my son wasn't really on the autism spectrum, he was just manipulating the rest of us. Called him a selfish, lazy b-word, yadda, yadda, yadda. This was after meeting him once for about 2 hours in our home (he was a wannabe friend, it was his first and last visit). My son was 33 at the time and didn't do one thing "wrong" while this guy was there. As he left, I was pleased and thought it had been a cool visit. And then the phone rang and he proceeded to rip my son apart. Wild. Pretty sure the dozen or so doctors, teachers, specialists, friends, and loving family that have spent years with him know the fruit of my loins better than you do.
When I was pregnant, I once went to a male GP because I was having some pregnancy symptoms and needed to take a sickie from work. He mansplained that I couldn't possibly be feeling pregnancy symptoms so early on in pregnancy, despite that I have gone to a obgyn and for sure was pregnant.
How can you say somebody has no critical awareness of media when you have almost -4000 points. How does that happen. If BP just posts things for attention and clicks, have you not figured out the system already? Even if what you said is true, BP is a loving community, and people in comments always make sure of that. You must post a lot of crap like that, and people aren't having it. Twitter isn't a great place for fair debates, but this is. This Is a good topic to discuss. That's the whole point.
My husband (scientist) told me (licensed psychologist/PhD) I was using the word 'gaslighting' wrong. He then incorrectly explained it to me. When I objected nicely, he non-ironically told me I was wrong, no one ever used the term that way, I had made it up. I responded "you are literally gaslighting me about gaslighting!" . We laugh about it now!
yeah, I feel bad about being a girl sometimes. But if you try and make a difference and stand up for what is right, it would really help. Trust me.
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For the record, there is also womansplaining. I have experienced it many times over the years. I won't compare it to mansplaining as do believe because of the male ego it is surely worse and more frequent. Men will also mansplain to other men.
I kind of have a mansplaining story. When I was 10, I was reading a book about the bionic ear. It was really interesting, and I had read a bunch of other books about them. So I'm reading my book and some rando who was like 12 starts talking to me about it. I don't remember it all but hey here it is Him: Oh you like Dr Clarke? Me: Yes his research is really interesting Him: Do you know the surgery to get one? Me: Yes I'm reading that bit now actually Him: (insert incredibly wrong explanation) Me: Um no (insert correct explanation as it in the book) We had to go to the principal so he would stop saying I was stupid and dumb. Idiot.
To the !diot that posted "Where do men come from? Oh that's right, women." How did those men get in there to be born the first place? Oh that's right, men. Obviously we're are a team.
Some of these are just a matter of know it all people. Some situations I doubt it's a matter of the person being a man looking at a woman and thinking they need to explain just because it's a woman. Other times it's more, I need to explain because I think I'm smarter. Like the student teacher one. Surely he can't think he's smarter than the professor just coz it's a woman. More like he thinks he's just generally smarter than the average person
That is the point of this particular site. Move on if it bothers you and don't give anyone a reason to put YOU on it.
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Women will never be superior to men. There is just not enough support behind the women's rights movement. And you make a point, we have more rights now, but that part of history will always leave a mark. How can women be superior when there are still parts of the world where we don't have rights?
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I see where you're coming from. It's very difficult to explain to somebody who's never experienced it how frustrating it feels when a woman gets constantly belittled by men, even when she's the one who actually knows better. If it happens one, it's a fluke, but if it happens all the time, to many people, it's a trend, which needs to be highlighted by posts like this.
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Do women assume that you can't possible know how to do something simply because you're a man? No? Then you are not being womansplained.
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All you ladies have this all wrong. As a man, I can tell you that this is simply not the case. We men just want the information out there to be as accurate as possible, and the world doesn't need hormones and emotions all over our data. In fact, mansplaining......is....uh.....wait a minute....see its.....whew.....*throws smoke pellets on the floor, disappears from room*
I feel like some men's worlds are crumbling now that they're no longer considered smarter simply because they're men, and they have to actually do something with their lives to be considered an attractive company. Is that how incels became a thing?
No joke. I know a guy who ended up in therapy after becoming suicidal over women being able to do a man's job. He was a truck driver. He couldn't get over the fact that women are capable of driving a truck.
Load More Replies... I've been teaching English at a technical college for 16 years now and (if I may be so smug), I'm pretty darn good at it, especially when it comes to the connection with the young people I teach (I just adore my guys, they are the best people ever). I got in a discussion with some guy who claimed he knew better than I how to approach the students, how to talk to them, how to discipline them etc. I could not convince him that, possibly, just perhaps, my dealing with this particular group of young adults gave me a good idea how to handle them. His point? He'd been a young man, I had not. End of discussion. I still think I'm doing a fine job.
Women need an award just for existing alongside men like that and not going mental and killing us all.
But men get thanked and applauded for doing the bare minimum for “helping” women. The world is crazy.
Load More Replies... I was doing graphic design work on a website and had one of the clients start explaining to me how the colors didn't go well together. Dude was color blind. When I found that out, I thought "oh, okay, so he's just seeing it differently" and tried to politely explain the color theory behind the design. No dice. He doubled down on it and said he had read an article or two online so knew what colors went together far better than I did. So I said, "Okay, whatever you want is what we'll do" and they now have the ugliest website you've ever seen.
tbh I want to start a petition to get mods on BP. The amount of sexist comments I've seen on this article makes me think that we need at least 10 moderators on BP. I just can't believe the kind of stuff I'm seeing here. I don't know though, let me know what you think in the reply's.
It’s crazy people seem to actually believe (even trolls to an extent) the ridiculousness they spew! I agree.
Load More Replies... I was walking into a robotics team meeting, and it was the first day. i had been using power tools/saws for years, but was new to this team, as i explained to the supervisor. he brushed it off. on the second day, he told a boy who was a grade below me to explain how to use a miter saw, that he had learned how to use the day before. both the supervisor and the guy ignored me when i said multiple times that i already knew how to use it. he tried to show me how to use it, and i just took it from him, cut the block of wood, and told him "i've got it."
We have an apprentice in our workshop for a year. Lasers, any kind of work with granite, printing, we do a lot of things. Whenever his teacher comes to see his progress, my coworker (who began working in this place 3 years before me but haven't touched anything else than a computer these past 4 years) suddenly wants to explain to me how the machine I manage work. When said teacher can hear us. Last time I just answered (with fake cheerfullness) "Oh, I know that! I've been doing it for the past 6 years, I can manage it! But what you just told isn't entirely true, you know, since we changed the machine 3 years ago?" Bonus round : he tried to tell me that I'm totally wrong, only for my boss (15+ yo of experience) to overhear us and say I'm right. No more mansplaning happened after that
I chimed in on an argument about why police had attended with two ambulances to a supermarket in a local online group. I pointed out that if someone is in cardiac arrest in a public area then the ambulance service always informs police to help with crowd control. A guy on the group decided I was wrong because police didn't turn up when he was involved in a trauma incident as a first aider. I asked if it was cardiac arrest. He said no but he knows someone who works for the ambulance service. I pointed out that I work in the 999 control room and once of my roles is to contact police and ask them to attend any public cardiac arrests. He told me I was wrong and they wouldn't send two ambulances for a cardiac arrest too. I told them it's policy to send two ambulances, one crew to swap out whilst doing cpr whilst the other crew gives medication, gets the defib set up etc. He told me again I was wrong as he'd never had that happen to him even though he'd never attended a cardiac arrest
And for the people here who clearly don't know, mansplaining is when a man assumes a woman has no knowledge of what she is talking about and in turn, attempts to explain a topic in a condescending way even though he knows less than she does. An innocent conversation is much more preferred.
I play Sea of thieves a lot and I always run into men who explain every single thing. Do you not see the Clothing Items I have EARNED for everything I've done? I'm not stupid. I know what sword dash is. I know you can sell kegs. If I have a question I'll ask. And then when I prove I know stuff I'm forced to be a crew hand, Parking the ship and always staying behind to repair as they go off fighting skeletons.
Can we get a more specific term than Mansplaining? As a man I find it offensive because it's too general. I've had guys try to explain something to me not knowing that I was an expert in the subject they were talking about. Maybe call it what it is arrogant asshole speak.
I agree. I'm not a man and me too fond this a bit restrictive. I've had women and men trying to explain me things I already new well. How about noneedsplaining?
Load More Replies... My adoptive family are if French descent. I don't pronounce my last name the ultra-French way. I can't. I'm not French so, I use the non-francophone pronounciation. Last year, my company buys another company in Quebec. A Quebecois manager left me a voicemail ... explaining how to pronounce my own name. And to call him back so he can teach me the proper way.
I have an unusual variant of an Irish surname. I have so many people mispronounce it even after many explanations. Also a male doctor said that I (female) couldnt be autistic because "you have friends, don't you?
Load More Replies... This must be the fourth mansplaining-article in the last few weeks. I find them just as entertaining as the next person, but most of them are reposts.
B itch you don't even know what a Mary Sue is
Load More Replies... Guy at rental car counter mansplained the key fob to me, like what each button did and how to use them. I'm pretty sure I know how to unlock the car, bro.
I noticed on almost every post there was someone at the bottom that would say something that didn't have to be said. If you don't like reading things like this then you shouldn't even be here...
I'm genuinely interested in hearing a man explain what he thinks is the reason for mansplaining, and also the best response to shut it down. Thanks
the best i can think of is most likely what you all have figged out already, they're just idiots, just ignore them.
Load More Replies... I play dungeons and dragons with my family and my brother always explains my own spells to me. I’m like “I’m going to cast chromatic orb” and he’ll cut in and go “that’s 3D8 damage”. Dude, I know, it’s my spell. I’ve played it a hundred times.
Thanks for this, it got my blood pressure up to operational level to tackle my day.
I'll never get past a man trying to explain to me that my son wasn't really on the autism spectrum, he was just manipulating the rest of us. Called him a selfish, lazy b-word, yadda, yadda, yadda. This was after meeting him once for about 2 hours in our home (he was a wannabe friend, it was his first and last visit). My son was 33 at the time and didn't do one thing "wrong" while this guy was there. As he left, I was pleased and thought it had been a cool visit. And then the phone rang and he proceeded to rip my son apart. Wild. Pretty sure the dozen or so doctors, teachers, specialists, friends, and loving family that have spent years with him know the fruit of my loins better than you do.
When I was pregnant, I once went to a male GP because I was having some pregnancy symptoms and needed to take a sickie from work. He mansplained that I couldn't possibly be feeling pregnancy symptoms so early on in pregnancy, despite that I have gone to a obgyn and for sure was pregnant.
How can you say somebody has no critical awareness of media when you have almost -4000 points. How does that happen. If BP just posts things for attention and clicks, have you not figured out the system already? Even if what you said is true, BP is a loving community, and people in comments always make sure of that. You must post a lot of crap like that, and people aren't having it. Twitter isn't a great place for fair debates, but this is. This Is a good topic to discuss. That's the whole point.
My husband (scientist) told me (licensed psychologist/PhD) I was using the word 'gaslighting' wrong. He then incorrectly explained it to me. When I objected nicely, he non-ironically told me I was wrong, no one ever used the term that way, I had made it up. I responded "you are literally gaslighting me about gaslighting!" . We laugh about it now!
yeah, I feel bad about being a girl sometimes. But if you try and make a difference and stand up for what is right, it would really help. Trust me.
Load More Replies... For the record, there is also womansplaining. I have experienced it many times over the years. I won't compare it to mansplaining as do believe because of the male ego it is surely worse and more frequent. Men will also mansplain to other men.
I kind of have a mansplaining story. When I was 10, I was reading a book about the bionic ear. It was really interesting, and I had read a bunch of other books about them. So I'm reading my book and some rando who was like 12 starts talking to me about it. I don't remember it all but hey here it is Him: Oh you like Dr Clarke? Me: Yes his research is really interesting Him: Do you know the surgery to get one? Me: Yes I'm reading that bit now actually Him: (insert incredibly wrong explanation) Me: Um no (insert correct explanation as it in the book) We had to go to the principal so he would stop saying I was stupid and dumb. Idiot.
To the !diot that posted "Where do men come from? Oh that's right, women." How did those men get in there to be born the first place? Oh that's right, men. Obviously we're are a team.
Some of these are just a matter of know it all people. Some situations I doubt it's a matter of the person being a man looking at a woman and thinking they need to explain just because it's a woman. Other times it's more, I need to explain because I think I'm smarter. Like the student teacher one. Surely he can't think he's smarter than the professor just coz it's a woman. More like he thinks he's just generally smarter than the average person
That is the point of this particular site. Move on if it bothers you and don't give anyone a reason to put YOU on it.
Load More Replies... Women will never be superior to men. There is just not enough support behind the women's rights movement. And you make a point, we have more rights now, but that part of history will always leave a mark. How can women be superior when there are still parts of the world where we don't have rights?
Load More Replies... I see where you're coming from. It's very difficult to explain to somebody who's never experienced it how frustrating it feels when a woman gets constantly belittled by men, even when she's the one who actually knows better. If it happens one, it's a fluke, but if it happens all the time, to many people, it's a trend, which needs to be highlighted by posts like this.
Load More Replies... Do women assume that you can't possible know how to do something simply because you're a man? No? Then you are not being womansplained.
Load More Replies... 