> On 24 Jul 2018, at 7:09 pm, Nigel Cross <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Several other people who correspond regularly on this list have the same problem. It seems to be a chronic variation of what has been called 'mansplaining' - the way that a man 'explains' something (especially to a woman) in a lengthy, often condescending, overly confident way. The small group of men who dominate this list all seem to have the same problem.
Some may think that I am reading too much into Nigel’s claim and Thea Blackler’s affirmation of it but the use of a—what would be the phrase? genderly-charged?—word that evokes specific claims of sexism troubles me.
Are you claiming that Ken is sexist because he communicated with "a small group of men" in a manner that some women would object to if a man communicated with them in the same fashion? If so, you should either offer more evidence regarding his sexism or apologize to Ken. (If you claim that no apology is required because this was not the sort of insult that someone should take personally, then you are trivializing sexism.)
If I am, in fact, reading too much into the description of Ken and others’ rhetorical styles (mine included, I assume), it is worth pointing out that saying that this is a variation of mansplaining seems to argue against Rebecca Solnit’s claim that engendered the term. Implied by that designation is that mansplaining is a way men have of talking to women and it is an indication of sexism and/or misogyny. If the implication that the clueless dismissiveness described is gender targeted turns out to be false, it would be worth considering just what people mean when they use that description.
Gunnar
Gunnar Swanson
East Carolina University
graphic design program
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/soad/graphic/index.cfm
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Gunnar Swanson Design Office
1901 East 6th Street
Greenville NC 27858
USA
http://www.gunnarswanson.com
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+1 252 258-7006
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