to think men seem to have taken to MN in their droves recently......and I don't like it

[LadyBlaBlah]

Every thread I go on, there are men putting forward their opinion

I have enough of men in RL. AIBU thinking they should bog off to DN or go play the X Box or something?

Alliteration?

Frumpy funless feminists

Men marvelous misogynists

Sakura - it could be alliteration ... or tautology

yes, cabbage, I spot the misogynist not so much by what they say most of the time, but by the way they talk to posters they presume are female. It's extraordinary, they way they pontificate and mansplain and feel they mustn't be "disrespected"

others have ulterior motives, someone defending the sex industry who might have a stake in it, for example

lol Truckulent

Could do without that horrific neologism "mansplain" though. It's horribly patronising, and one of the best ways of getting male posters' backs up.

it annoys because it hits the nail on the head so well

since that phrase has been introduced to MN a lot of women have breathed a sigh of recognition. There has been a gap in the English language to describe the specifically patronizing way that some men expect women to listen to them, their views, their knowledge, often on a subject the women is more qualified in.
Admittedly this happens in real life more than on MN, but it happens on MN too. Mansplaining is the perfect word for what these people do.

I mean, they expect the woman to listen (at length) nod in awe and agreement, when for all he knows she has more knowledge about the subject herself. If she pipes up, she's often ignored or overruled. It's really infuriating.

I think I might mansplain. I just like the sound of my own voice. Think that's more a personality issue than a gender one, though. Because I'm not a man. Just really irritating.

I dont do x-bash or any of that sort of stuff

Thats possibly an age group thing. I support womens causes where I can.

I think womans Hour (R4) has a rational attitute to their female listeners.

I currently have a heavy cold. (Which is not man flu)

And my wife scores me 8-10 for social conscience. Not so good for DIY, or decorating...(But some skills are inherited.)

The future of planet earth depends on both sexes being around. (But not necessarily on mumsnet)

You could have a Dadsnet It would seem churlish

I think the word mansplain is really useful, because as Sakura says, it describes exactly what it is. An explanation by someone who actually knows far less about the subject matter he is talking about, than the people he is explaining to, combined with a conviction that he has the right to be listened to and have his views taken seriously even when they are completely uninformed.

The only other situation I have ever seen this happen, is in Clare in the Community, when she is explaining about racism to her black clients (and that surely hardly ever happnes in RL anymore, does it? Please? And it is deliberately OTT cartoon humour), or when MP's tell us what it's like to struggle financially... it's the sheer arrogance and privilege of it that the word captures and it is something women have to put up with all the time in RL, so to have it named as a phenomenon is an immense relief. And of course it gets men's backs up, they're not used to being called on their privileged behaviour, because most of the time on t'interweb and in RL, it simply goes unnoticed - we're just so used to it.

chickens - that's what I mean about Clare in the Community - she does the equivalent of mansplaining doesn't she?

Oh and the other thing is, that you can only mansplain or its equivalent, if you have absolutely no respect for the audience you are "putting right".

I think some men mansplain to other men too, about non-gender related topics.

All public debates seem to be competitive.
Question Time...Any Questions/ mumsnet up to a point.

Mancini tells his players to kick bits out of each other on the training.ground. And he seemed like a gentleman....Write and ask the man city manager to post on Mumsnet....and see if he wows the ladies...cheers "Gabby"

UnquietDad - "Could do without that horrific neologism "mansplain" though. It's horribly patronising, and one of the best ways of getting male posters' backs up."

Is the man in "mansplain" more patronising than the man in mankind?

ChickensFlying - I do genuinely quite like it when you chickensplain though.

It's patronising because it is deliberately engineered to be so, which the man in "mankind" never was.

If you are going to put forward that there is a typically "male" way of doing or saying things, you surely have to accept that there is a typically "female" way of doing and saying things. But I don't necessarily believe that and I wouldn't use the word "womansplain".

It's not about being typical UD.

It's about a specific entitlement that some people in privileged groups have, to tell other people in non-privileged groups, how they feel and how things really are.

I mean, i remember a thread where some bloke was actually telling a bunch of mumsnetters who had been in labour, what labour was like.

And he wasn't being ironic!

Does it need such a horrible made-up word? You'd think that if it were such an "obvious" concept there would already be a word for it - something more gender-neutral, preferably.

And also UD, there are plenty of words used about women, to say how they explain things - nag, shrill, etc.

You don't have to invent new words to denigrate how women speak, because our language is already full of them.

Well, it's not about you though UQD, is it. Are you really telling us that the behaviour 'mansplain' was coined to describe doesn't exist when several women have already posted to say that it's a behaviour they recognise? Are you saying that it's all in our silly little heads?

What about the Menz is annoying as well

YABU this is a forum for parents and as much as a lot of people here like to think otherwise, mothers are not the be all and end all in a child's life, because unless you are called Mary and live in the middle east and had your child 2000 + years ago chances are there is a man involved somewhere.

So sick of sanctimonious women thinking that cause they gave birth to a child it is theirs and theirs alone.