mansplain

Emily (Australia)

|

Listening to a post-grad Migration Law lecture. Male student asks our female lecturer a question about a legal definition. She answers with a detailed explanation and provides examples. Male student says that’s not how HE interprets the definition provided by the legislation so HE THINKS THE BEST THING TO DO IS…. and proceeds to MANSPLAIN his interpretation and what HE would do, as an unqualified, inexperienced student completing the introductory unit. Our lecturer is a qualified solicitor, runs her own Migration firm, is highly experienced, is the unit coordinator and the course coordinator. I wanted to reach through the laptop and punch his arm

Emma

|

Landlord came by this afternoon to fix a problem with our plumbing – the pump isn’t working, so there’s no hot water. The landlord then marches me in to the kitchen and demands I explain exactly what the problem is, all the while interrupting me and shaking his finger at me, saying ‘no, you’re dead wrong, you’re dead wrong, that’s not happening, I’m getting mixed messages from you, you’re not explaining this, I’m going to tell you right now how this works’. After calmly explaining the problem to him again and again over the span of forty-five minutes (!), he shakes his head at me and starts saying ‘now now, I can see you’re getting very upset, very emotional, you need to calm down’ – even though I’m literally just standing there, calmly answering his rude questioning. Finally, he tries to turn on the tap himself and says ‘oh, it’s the pump, then…’ – which is what I said to him from the start. This happens every single time with him. Always so nice and helpful when he’s talking to my boyfriend, though. I get this a lot from older men – talking to me as if I were a toddler just about to throw a tantrum. I’m 32 years old and hold a doctorate.