OVER THE PAST decade or so the term “mansplaining” has entered our everyday vernacular.
I don’t think it is conducive to constructive social and political discourse to coin a term using either gender as a negative prefix. However, as a free speech advocate I believe that people should be able to use whatever words they want to describe social phenomena as they see it and I can use whatever language I like to counter arguments with which I disagree.
I do have some sympathy for its origins
Although I don’t like the term “mansplaining”, I do have some sympathy for its origins. Now, while I don’t agree with feminists that western civilisation remains a patriarchy, this doesn’t negate the fact that some men are chauvinists and view women as inferior.
The term “mansplaining” was originally coined to describe when a sexist male speaks to a woman in a condescending and patronising tone on the assumption that she probably doesn’t understand what the man is saying to her. This is just bad manners and should be called out for what it is.
Unfortunately, the term “mansplaining” is no longer used solely for the kind of scenario, but is now deployed by many feminists when a man disagrees with their opinions. Allow me to illustrate this point by talking about conversations, both in person and on social media, that I have had with many feminists.
Straight, white males are an inferior type
Instead of dealing with an opposing argument by putting forth a rebuttal, many on the postmodernist left and social justice spectrum will first and foremost attack you and try and dismiss your right to even have an opinion because of your skin colour, gender and sexual orientation. But only if you are a straight, white male.
In the worldview of these people straight, white males are an inferior type of human who should keep their mouths shut and know their place. How is this any different to the bigoted mindset of white supremacists?
I recently heard a stand up comedian use the phrase “straight, white male” as a pejorative. He and many like him feel completely free to express their sneering contempt for one group of people based on their skin colour, gender and sexual orientation.
Most baffling of all he is a white male himself. Do those social justice warriors and feminists not see the irony in claiming to oppose racism and sexism, while harbouring contempt for one group of people based on their gender, sexuality and skin complexion? Personally, I despise racism or sexism of any kind and I will always challenge and resist.
Internalised hypocrisy within feminism
However, it is not just straight, white males who are viewed with suspicion and even contempt by many feminists and social justice warriors. There are many women too, including some self-identified feminists such as Christina Hoff Sommers and Camille Paglia who are viewed with derision by many of the feminist sisterhood because they don’t subscribe to the current iteration of feminism.
There are also plenty of young women such as the popular Youtuber ShoeonHead who do not identify as feminists, and are highly critical of the claims current radical feminism makes.
These young non-feminist women, as well as feminist dissenters like Christina Hoff Sommers and Camille Paglia, are all dismissed as having “internalised misogyny”. Meanwhile, Sharia law supporter Linda Sarsour who is at the forefront of the feminist movement in the USA, is never accused of having “internalised misogyny”, despite supporting a brutal religious legal system that treats women as second class citizens.
This alliance between some feminists and Islamist defenders like Linda Sarsour exemplifies the internalised hypocrisy within feminism and the wider social justice movement.
Perhaps one day the current radical feminists and social justice warriors might become capable of grasping the fact that many of their opponents or even internal dissenters, whatever their gender, skin colour and sexual orientation are also able to have strongly held opinions that are not motivated by sexism, racism, homophobia or “internalised misogyny.”
AR Devine is a writer and published author. He won theOrwell Prize in 2010 for his blog, “Working with the Underclass,” written under the nom de plume of Winston Smith.
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