Malaika
Never assume you’re smarter than the other person.
From what I’ve learned, you should always assume that the other person has something to teach you before you really get to know them. This not only helps you be more polite and courteous but also opens up new horizons for you. After all, we as humans should be always willing to learn. And gender never comes into play when it comes to knowledge.
Now, this may sound great but the sad fact is, many people do bring gender into education. Many people love to think they know better than other people. Especially if that other person is a woman. I have no idea why mansplaining even started but it is quite apparent in many professional settings. I am sure most women have experienced this and as have I many times over.
So when one person asked Twitter users to share their own experiences with mansplaining, people had a lot to say.
#1 Maybe he needed reassurance that HE was doing it right?
A completely random man once approached me to explain how the cafeteria worked. Grill here, salad bar over there, then you take it up to the cash to pay. To this day, I do not understand what made him think I needed that explanation.
— Snaxolotl (@melderry) August 1, 2020
#2 Has he had an IUD?
I was talking about how IUD strings hang down and you can feel them and confirm it’s still in place. He said I was talking about a tampon and then explained what an IUD is.
— Nicky (@NickyPaint) August 1, 2020
#3 I really hope he doesn’t have a hot pocket in his life.
https://twitter.com/Wallflower_Blu/status/1289913317260066816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289913317260066816%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fruinmyweek.com%2Ftweets%2Fdumbest-thing-mansplained%2F
#4 I sometimes really wish guys could give birth.
A man tried to tell me that childbirth wasn’t that difficult, because women “used to go right back to work in the homes and fields immediately after giving birth”. This was after me stating that I was exhausted and extremely weak for days after going through 20 hours of labor.
— Rhonda (@rhonnybaby) August 1, 2020
#5 If he had eaten, he would have vomited.
My husband told me I had an easy birth. Wasn’t in the room when the nurse broke my waters because the site of the epidural needle in my back made him feel faint. His excuse was he hadn’t eaten all morning. 😒
— Ann Marie Meyer MPH (@AnnmarieGB2US) August 2, 2020
#6 Windows are so hard to use for women.
When I first moved into my current apt the landlord had someone come replace a big kitchen window with 2 small ones on each side and the guy installing it finished up by explaining to me how to open said windows (and lock them) like Id never seen crank handles before.
— 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥 𝕃𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝔸𝕝𝕖𝕩𝕄𝕒𝕔𝕜 (@angstyalexandra) August 2, 2020
#7 I must be a guy then.
Seeing his fort he made for his son,he told me forts were ‘a guy thing’. So I silently built one that embarrassed his into silence💃🏽
— HymenCahoots (@stitchmarks) August 1, 2020
#8 If only this is how it worked.
Just this morning my husband told me it was foolish to have different-sized pads, they all do the same thing just streamline for efficiency 😂
— Amanda Reckonwith (@click4amanda) August 1, 2020
#9 He probably has some memory issues.
One of my dear male friends will mansplain something to me that I taught him! LOL
— Joycie Cougar (@JoycieCougar) August 1, 2020
#10 He has to be joking, right?
I was buying a gift for my dad at a sporting goods store, and randomly grabbed a can coozie at the checkout. The man at the register started in on "Oh, those are great. See, you put a beer can inside this, and it keeps your hand from getting cold. Get it?" 🤦🏻♀️
— Kami 🌧 (@elderly_goose) August 1, 2020
#11 Who was the one who thought this was a great idea?
https://twitter.com/precioxpreciosa/status/1289620833757995008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289620833757995008%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fruinmyweek.com%2Ftweets%2Fdumbest-thing-mansplained%2F2%2F
#12 He definitely pushed all her buttons.
Guess he likes pushing buttons
— Priscilla (@itsPKav) August 1, 2020
#13 I’ve never heard an automatic gun before but even I know this.
*semi-auto* someone can shoot as fast as they can pull the trigger and that's what I was hearing.
Yeah uhm, you can't pull a trigger that fast asshole.
— dizzy (@dizzygirl812) August 2, 2020
#14 Some people just love arguing.
A man argued with me how to properly wrap a cable.
— Jacquellen (@Jacqweewee) August 1, 2020
#15 Maybe he was just uncomfortable?
https://twitter.com/ksmarty1/status/1289757139355856897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289757139355856897%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fruinmyweek.com%2Ftweets%2Fdumbest-thing-mansplained%2F2%2F
#16 I never would have thought people in the Navy would be so dumb.
A superior I had in the Navy tried to explain why using tampons or pad were for fun and not necessity.
I also had another tell me that when a women really doesn’t want sex then their vagina doesn’t allow the penis to enter.
🙃🙃🙃🙃
— Jessi (@JessiRae2015) August 2, 2020
#17 How can a woman know how a pump works.
I told a gas station attendant the pump was broken and he said you just have to really get the nozzle in there. Then he came outside with me to demonstrate. Turns out the pump was broken.
— Alison (@alison_shrake) August 2, 2020
#18 I sure hope he is your EX-boyfriend now.
My boyfriend tried to explain me the difference between lab glassware and regular glassware. (Lab glassware is made from borosilicate glass and more resistant to sudden temperature changes blabla..)
My job involves lab work. He works in IT
— @[email protected] (@EosinY) August 2, 2020
#19 I really want to groan with frustration right about now.
I mean, this one was quite annoying, not sure if it is the worst I've ever had, but it made me roll my eyes quite badly. pic.twitter.com/eQsM423VfU
— Julia Gala de Pablo, PhD 🔬👩🔬 (She/Her) (@JGaladePablo) August 2, 2020
#20 They must be really experienced with bras then
Fiancé and his brother tried to mansplain bra sizing to me. No, just no. 🙄
— Tiffany J Sinclair, MD (@thefancysurgeon) August 2, 2020
#21 Don’t you just love when people call you attention seeking?
a guy tried explaining my own eating disorder to me then told me since i didn’t have a common symptom he had heard of and didn’t even try to research it that i was an attention seeking wannabe white girl—
— princess yue🤍 (@Uh_nadira) August 2, 2020
#22 If you can’t do it yourself, step aside.
I had a minor hockey dad try to explain my own hockey drill to me and how it could be better. He even pulled up a video on YouTube on his phone to ‘teach me.’ I said ‘Jay, why don’t you put on the skates and come out and show us?’ Him: ‘I can’t skate.’ Ya. Take 17 seats Jay.
— 🇨🇦🏒Canadian Beaver 🏒🇨🇦 (@CanadianBeave13) August 1, 2020
#23 People really can’t be this dumb right?
I was helping a freind with her rummage sale, and there was a table full of tools. One guy came up to me and patiently explained to me what a tool was, what it was for, and how it works.
I didnt have the heart to tell him my grandfather designed it.— Auntie Social (parody) (@TraciGrrl) August 1, 2020
#24 I mean it is very self-explanatory.
Had a random man explain to me how the airplane tray (the one on the seat in front of you) worked. I had been on well over 100 airplanes by that point.
— real live mom, PhD (she/her) (@reallivemom) August 1, 2020
#25 He should go back to school.
https://twitter.com/krystiwrites/status/1289600239427399680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289600239427399680%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fruinmyweek.com%2Ftweets%2Fdumbest-thing-mansplained%2F3%2F
#26 I’ve experienced this so many times.
I love that despite having a degree in nutrition, my husband will ignore a piece of advice regarding food and then come home and share his amazing new info he found out “did you know…” pic.twitter.com/oRV82lsZw4
— Sarah Cooke (@SAHoganCooke) August 1, 2020
#27 Don’t you just love it when people think they know your name better than you?
A teacher at my upper school did this with me… whenever I corrected his pronunciation, he would smile sweetly and go 'oh I forgot you pronounce it like… that' 🙄
— Frey (@bulbafrey) August 2, 2020
#28 Of course women don’t know how to turn on the lights.
. . . . he went straight to the switch and turned it on, and it worked. I laughed and told him it wasn't me that tested the light by only pulling the cord and not turning the switch on, it was the landlord. He didn't believe me and proceeded to mainsplain how light switches work
— KT (@igoteggs4xmas) August 2, 2020
#29 That was two years too long.
When I pointed out to my then husband that the tower he was constructing for the play set for our daughter was upside down he said “you go in the house and do what you know how to do”. Three hrs later he was taking it apart. Two years later we were divorced.
— Sandi J Campbell (@SandiJCampbell) August 1, 2020
#30 And this how you win the Nobel prize of being dumb.
My husband said to me, the woman who worked as a short order cook for 3 years, “Hey do you know the water is boiling on the stove?”, as if I’d not put it there on purpose, or that he thought I couldn’t identify the mystery of this bubbling liquid. I told him to leave the kitchen.
— Felicity Ward (@felicityward) August 3, 2020
#31 This is just sad.
National Science Foundation tried to mansplain to me why I was not really earning 3/4 of my males coworker’s salary for the exact same job, even though I was earning 3/4 of my males coworker’s salary for the exact same job.
I could reply to this tweet with EVERY job I’ve had.
— 🤓 (@SativaSue4U) August 1, 2020
#32 If only he knew what catcalling felt like.
catcalling. a male friend mansplained how not everything is malicious catcalling so it shouldnt make me uncomfortable when grown men call me pretty if it wasn't meant in a bad way.
— 𝔧𝔞𝔶𝔶 𝔩𝔢𝔢 🐉 (@blonded_jayyy) August 2, 2020
#33 I don’t think he understood anything.
I had a male peer try to explain my senior thesis to me in the middle of me presenting my senior thesis. I just, i was so appalled it took a second to even respond and I'm still angry that all I could think of was, "Well, yes. I'm glad you understand the premise."
— Mattie (CR1Ep33P2T1:28) (@galaxy_bard) August 2, 2020
#34 This is just taking it to a whole new level.
one time a man mansplained mainsplaining to me pic.twitter.com/pCAJQaZOwL
— Bela (@ibharmon) August 1, 2020
#35 She didn’t ask for your help though?
The man in the local supermarket car park who was "guiding " me into a parking space. I thanked him and said I had 30 + years driving experience & reverse parking sensors on my car.
(My reverse parking skillz are thing of beauty 😉).He called me a stuck up b*tch.
— Little Brown Bird (@_the_lbb) August 2, 2020
#36 Thank the heavens, we have a man who can explain OUR bodies to us.
It wasn’t mansplained to me personally but I think about this interaction I sceenshotted last year at least four times a day. pic.twitter.com/uws1RdtDvG
— Sarah McGonagall (@gothspiderbitch) August 2, 2020
#37 No sh*t sherlock.
Talking about getting plants for his apartment, "they use carbon dioxide to create oxygen" so they are good to have inside.
— rb (@rachelaureen) August 2, 2020
#38 You really should keep your mouth shut if you don’t know any better.
And my dad tried to give my sister-in-law (via my brother) advice on breastfeading. And my mom was like “both your kids were bottle fed, what the fuck do you know”? She’s my hero, if I haven’t made that clear.
— Emily G (@em_was_here_) August 2, 2020
#39 I really want to know what she had to say.
Not a personal experience but I don't think anyone will ever top the time a guy here on Twitter explained the meaning of The Handmaid's Tale.
To Margaret Atwood.
— Lazy Cuttlefish (@lazycuttlefish) August 2, 2020
#40 It’s not it is in the name.
https://twitter.com/jmarieray/status/1289934540354404354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289934540354404354%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fruinmyweek.com%2Ftweets%2Fdumbest-thing-mansplained%2F5%2F
#41 Ah yes, the ‘correct’ way.
https://twitter.com/JulieStuart19/status/1289945112915505152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289945112915505152%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fruinmyweek.com%2Ftweets%2Fdumbest-thing-mansplained%2F5%2F
#42 Did he think she didn’t know how to swipe a card?
not words but actions. at my job (supermarket) some older man REACHED around AND behind the plastic barrier OVER the register, less that two inches from me, all to swipe his store card himself over the scale. during a pandemic. i almost lost it.
— fuck! (@gavinxstone) August 2, 2020
#43 That’s what the traffic lights are there for.
https://twitter.com/avahodson/status/1289867913722126336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289867913722126336%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fruinmyweek.com%2Ftweets%2Fdumbest-thing-mansplained%2F5%2F
#44 Help first, mansplain later maybe?
https://twitter.com/ChelseaCristene/status/1289769884084314112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289769884084314112%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fruinmyweek.com%2Ftweets%2Fdumbest-thing-mansplained%2F5%2F
#45 He was clearly not paying attention to anything you said.
My ex-boss, I’d explain in full detail how I planned to execute the project I’m working on and the moment I was done speaking he’d regurgitate it back to me in his own words explaining to me how he thinks I should execute it…which was the exact same way I first explained it
— Aly Collins (@lalalaly) August 2, 2020
#46 He deserved it though.
I had a cis man explain queer relationships to me, as I, a raging queer, sat in front of him. He was trying to tell me that queer people are too emotional to maintain relationships and I promptly threw my drink at him, so maybe I was a little ✨emotional✨.
— G Spot (@callmegplease) August 2, 2020
#47 Well it is a sort of a compliment?
https://twitter.com/itsmolly/status/1289948850195587080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289948850195587080%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fruinmyweek.com%2Ftweets%2Fdumbest-thing-mansplained%2F5%2F
#48 Her body, her choice. End of discussion.
A male coworker told me to give birth naturally 'cause it's what my body was made to do & explained how the female body works. Thanks bro, but my vagina & I've been together 35yrs, we got it😂
— Liz (@lizleal85) August 2, 2020
#49 And yet he thinks he knows better.
https://twitter.com/Gigi22097718/status/1291127142512594944
#50 He might have himself forgot how they work.
I had a middle aged man explain to me what a plate was…. pic.twitter.com/qgCH1VafYz
— murther (@Apple_heart7) August 2, 2020
Have you ever experienced mansplaining? If so why not share your story in the comments below?