Are men mistreating women when they mansplain, or is it just the way they talk?
Actor and comedian David Mitchell, known for his role on Peep Show and Would I Lie to You has said that he feels the term is leveraged against men unfairly.
Comedian Katherine Lynch said she doesn’t think mansplaining exists to the same extent that it once did.
“You know, when women were supposed to be at home as such, men came home with the knowledge of the world,” she told The Hard Shoulder.
“But now we’re all out with the same knowledge as them.
“All you have to do is go to a GAA game and the girlfriend and the boyfriend know just the same amount about what’s going on at the pitch.”
Arguing couple. Image: Rightdisc. 12 January 2020However, Ms Lynch said the issue does still seem to exist in politics.
“I don’t think women have as bad a manner as in politics and in situations like that where they will correct somebody 51 times,” she said.
“It’s aggression which, in a way, women don't have.”
'Talking down element'
Comedian Jim Elliot said it is the way that information is communicated that can turn a simple explanation into mansplaining.
“It’s the talking down element and I think where that comes from is any sort of political or business life,” he said.
“There’s not a woman listening to this programme who has not been in a meeting, you know, there’s six people there, ‘We got to get the product launch for Thursday’.
“She has an idea, everybody just keeps talking, and then maybe five minutes later, another guy pipes up with the exact same idea and they’re like, ‘Good work Johnson’.”
Mr Elliot said he is “always suspicious of any guy that complains too much about mansplaining, because it smells to me like the same complaints during the height of the MeToo movement.”
Main image: Angry man touching head with finger looking at woman. Image: Sergiy Zinkevych. 4 October 2021
