Mansplaining describes the act of a man who explains to a woman something he thinks he knows more about than she does, regardless of whether he knows anything or not. Kate Manne, an associate professor of philosophy at Cornell University, said that mansplaining is most likely a phenomenon as old as time. When it comes to knowledge, men are told to have the authority and prestige over women.
Mansplaining is also the presumption that a woman is less knowledgeable, less competent and needs a man to explain things to her. To avoid becoming a mansplainer, a man can ask himself “Is she interested?” “Do I know this?” “Is she more informed than I am?” In other words, know your audience.
友善讓你懂 │ 解說
所謂的mansplaining,就是「男性說教」,意思就是男性在未經邀請或歡迎的情況下,對人說教或講解一件事情,而這個對象通常是女性。有趣的是,這位說教的男士可能不是該領域的專家,甚至不知道對話的女性是否比他更懂這個議題,但只是一味的滔滔不絕。
美國康乃爾大學教授Kate Manne就指出,「男性說教」雖然是一個新創詞,但這個現象卻歷史悠久。自古以來,男性就被認為比女人擁有更多知識,並享有知識的權威與特權。因此,流傳至今,男性會認為自己在知識上高人一等,並預設女性比較沒有能力、無法處理複雜概念,需要由男性解說。男士們若要避免不小心變成「說教者」,可以對人說話前先問自己:她有興趣聽嗎?我真的這麼懂嗎?她會不會比我更懂?簡言之,要懂得察言觀色、見好就收。
輕鬆帶著走 │學習
Mansplain這個字由兩個字組合而成:man(男性)與explain(解釋),特別造出來指稱男性說教的行為。這樣的字詞稱為portmanteau混成詞,就是把兩個字組合在一起,成為一個字。
這樣的字詞還不少見,例如大家常吃的brunch早午餐,就由breakfast跟lunch組成;motel汽車旅館,就是由motor與hotel組成。幾年前好萊塢影星布萊德.彼特與安潔莉娜‧裘莉在一起時,媒體也創造了brangelina這個詞,就是中文說的「布裘」,也是portmanteau的一個很好的例子。
本篇其他相關單字,介紹如下:
姓名
國碼
手機