Mansplaining: Another Underground Form Of Cultural Machismo?
Although it is very likely that it is not basically due to biological differences, it is clear that, today, the behavior of men and women is different in many aspects. Some of these differences also allow one of the two sexes to dominate the other and have an easier time imposing their points of view and purposes.
Mansplaining, as a psychological phenomenon of domination is an example of how men, statistically, tend to try to take control of dialogues with women, regardless of the topic being discussed.
Let’s see what it consists of and What relationship does it have with sexism and cultural machismo?
The term “mansplaining” is a neologism from English that in its native language is composed of the words “man” and “explain.” It is normally used to refer to the statistical tendency (and the action through which that tendency is expressed) of men to explaining things to women in a paternalistic and condescending way as if their interlocutors were people who were especially bad at understanding, even if what they were talking about was a topic about which the woman knew more than the man.
For example, a man without a university education who explains to a biologist what hybridization between dog breeds consists of without even letting her speak is a relatively clear case of mansplaining.
What would characterize mansplaining is not that a man talks about certain topics related to femininity or feminism (after all, a specific man can know more than a specific woman about any topic, and vice versa), but that, systematically, it is assumed that a woman’s role is to remain silent and learn
The concept of mansplaining has begun to be used relatively recently, and it is believed that not even a decade has passed since it appeared, although its origin is little known.
It has been enthusiastically welcomed by associations and organizations linked to feminism and gender studies for obvious reasons: it can be interpreted as micro-machismo, a subtle form of expression of patriarchy and cultural machismo which from this perspective would reproduce a system of domination of men over women.
Ultimately, in practice, mansplaining has a clear effect when it comes to power relations: it makes women’s points of view remain invisible and nullified and this is assumed as something normal. In other words, “mansplaining” is a word that many women have been needing to refer to a problem that until recently no one knew what to call it, despite the fact that numerous scientific investigations have noted its existence in recent years.
Mansplaining towards other men
The above is the interpretation of mansplaining based on the idea that this is one of the consequences of a system of sexist domination. However, there is also another possible interpretation of this phenomenon. An interpretation based on a fact that may surprise considering what we have seen before: men They also engage in mansplaining when interacting with other men
This is the conclusion reached by an investigation conducted by Elizabeth Aries. After analyzing more than 40 hours of conversations, Aries found that men and women adopted very different styles when interacting with other people.
Men tended to compete more to dominate conversations regardless of who was in front of them, while women demonstrated a greater willingness to connect with others through symmetrical relationships and did not try to control the direction of the conversation.
For them, conversations about the most banal topics were also a scenario in which they could gain power and influence, and they tried to climb little by little through their interventions, fighting to gain the attention of others.
In this way, in the groups composed only of men there were also a number of individuals who, after a while, were made invisible to a minority that ended up capitalizing on the conversations something that happened much less in women’s groups.
A much more aggressive interaction style
These conclusions fit very well with the findings found through other research in psychology and that do not focus primarily on dialogue: men tend to be more competitive in many more types of interactions, even if there apparently is no concrete or recognizable reward at the time. that can be accessed by doing this.
Thus, mansplaining would not so much be a way in which men try to nullify women, but rather a reflection of his style when interacting with everyone
Of course, these results always focus on statistical trends. A man does not have to constantly fall into mansplaining, and a woman does not have to always appear submissive or avoid fighting to extend her power in conversations. Simply put, mansplaining is much more widespread in one of the two sexes and stands out more and more frequently when the people talking to each other are of opposite sexes.
