Plain facts on mansplaining
Journalist and
author Bee Rowlatt on calling out the ‘men who explain’
Bee Rowlatt stands by the coffee counter a little
while before she’s expected to head to the stage at The Economic Times Women’s
Forum. What’s her order? A cup of hot water which she’s going to take along
with a paracetamol. She says it’s to deal with a slight cold, but it could also
be a way to deal with the very topic she’s speaking about – mansplaining.
Man, what? The Oxford dictionary defines it as when a
man tries to explain something to someone, typically a woman, in a manner
regarded as condescending or patronising. Rowlatt shared a brief history of the
word (not the problem – that’s been around forever). In 2008, Rebecca Solnit
wrote an article about men who explain things. In Solnit’s case, her own book
was being explained to her, by a man. In 2010, mansplaining became the word of
the year. In 2014, it entered the Oxford dictionary. And it’s been translated
in 34 languages.
Not all fun
Rowlatt (who brought out her male alter ego Ben)
highlighted the issue with humour in the audience, correcting the women in subjects
they were obviously well-versed in. The crowd was in splits. Everyone got it
because everyone has had to deal with it.
But, while mansplaining can be funny at times,
there’s a much larger issue and culture of men who are just not listening to
women who are fully capable of not only understanding, but excelling in what
they do.
Rowlatt said, “Everyone in the room has had to go on
the journey to find their voice and be heard.” When Rowlatt started off as a
journalist in the BBC newsroom, she found it hard to put her voice out there
and was almost apologetic in her suggestions. Her male co-workers had no such
problem, which made the journalist realise that’s what she had to do. With one
small alteration — she still wanted to listen. “I didn’t want to lose out on
listening. And listening is the missing piece when it comes to mansplaining,”
she said.
Call it out
Rowlatt offers a solution to everyone who has to deal
with the mansplainers out there, with a little help from feminist writer Bell
Hooks. “You need to name it when it happens to you. If you have a challenge,
you should give it a name. It’s part of understanding the problem.” And what’s
the ultimate antidote to something that denies women a voice? Well, you (yes,
men too) give them that voice, Rowlatt says. “There is the beautiful sisterly
idea of amplification. It’s what we do when we want to amp up our sister’s
voices. A small nudge. A little sisterly shove. So, go forth and amplify.”.
glynda.alves
ET19MAR18
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