"Mansplaining" at work: When men lecture women without being asked

Rebecca Solnit calls the man who explained the contents of her own book to her at a party Mister Important.

It was a summer evening in 2003, and the American journalist had just published a biographical portrait of the photographer and inventor Eadweard Muybridge.

Mister Important engaged Solnit and her party companion in a conversation about literature and asked them what their books were about.

When the writer discussed her most recent publication, the book on Muybridge, the man said: "Are you aware that a very important book on Muybridge came out this year?"

And Solnit, the author of the "extremely important" book?

She was so absorbed in the role of the naïve that Mister Important had given her that she considered that another book on the same subject might have been published at the same time as her book, which she had "completely missed" - according to Solnit in 2008 in an essay that later became part of her bestseller When Men Explain the World to Me.

"He was about to tell me about this important book - with that smug expression I know so well on ranting men, his gaze fixed on the distant, blurred horizon of his own authority." Her party companion had to say four times that it is about Solnit's book, until the man interrupted his monologue - and was speechless for a moment.

It turned out: Mr. Important had not even read the award-winning book himself, he only knew of a review from the New York Times.

Women can also mansplain - but mostly men do it

Solnit first called such behavior “mansplaining”, a neologism of “man” and “explaining”.

She refers to men lecturing women that "the thoroughly provocative confidence of the totally ignorant" is gender specific.

The dictionary formulates the whole thing a little more gently: Mansplaining is an “explanation, interpretation, way of speaking or similar from a perspective perceived as typically male (and aimed at a female audience), in which the speaking person assumes that they are more familiar than the audience" - according to Duden, there should also be women who practice mansplaining.

However, social science studies indicate that it is often men who spread like peacocks most often in conversations and discussions.

A study by Allyson Mary Julé, professor of education at Trinity Western University in Canada, shows that boys are encouraged to take more speaking time at school.

Adult males talk more in groups than females, which makes them seem influential.

Other studies show that women are more likely than men to be interrupted when speaking - by both women and men, although women rarely interrupt men.

One possible reason: women in management positions can train themselves to interrupt their conversation partner, but are then often perceived as rude and less intelligent, even aggressive.

At work, these mechanisms can be disadvantageous for women, says Kinga Bartczak.

She is a "Female Empowerment and Business Coach", so she advises women on their way to professional and entrepreneurial success.

She says, "Mansplaining is a display of toxic power structures, and it's done in a very condescending way." It's not a face-to-face discourse, an open exchange.

Instead, it's about showing others that they're wrong and completely clueless anyway.

"It's an instrument to demonstrate hierarchies and degrade people," says Bartczak.

unmask half-knowledge

But how should women deal with it, if the colleague does not let them have their say, if they are constantly interrupted or their opinions are not taken seriously in the meeting?

"Open debate is the way to go," advises Bartczak.

Under no circumstances should women smile shyly or say thank you for the mansplaining.

"They should reclaim the stage, address the topic openly and expose the half-knowledge that is often expressed, after all they are the experts," says Bartczak.

Questions such as "Where do you get your knowledge from?" or "Does this topic belong to your professional area?" offer a good introduction to then clarify your own expertise.

According to Bartczak, women can go offensive against know-it-alls by pointing out a lack of evidence.

For example like this:

"I am a little bit confused.

How do you come to this statement?

The research situation is completely different." Or: "I've been doing this for 15 years, I don't think anyone needs to explain my job to me."

Women who feel degraded because of their gender can also describe the behavior of male colleagues or bosses as "mansplaining" and explain their perspective - according to Bartczak, this can lead to communication becoming more respectful and constructive.

The career consultant is observing a growing consensus when it comes to everyday sexism.

Many men would join the striving for equal rights, "because patriarchal power structures are toxic for them too and prevent them from their self-realization - keyword: breadwinner of the family," says Bartczak.

So before men start explaining something to a woman, they should ask themselves: who am I talking to here, is the woman an expert?

Do I want to improve them or invite them to a discourse?

If Mister Important, who was explaining her own book to Rebecca Solnit, had asked himself these questions – the conversation would probably have gone differently.