{"id":2781,"date":"2022-02-15T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relationshipsrelearned.com\/staging\/9213\/1\/?p=2781"},"modified":"2023-11-07T10:45:51","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T16:45:51","slug":"the-best-ways-to-recognize-mansplaining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relationshipsrelearned.com\/staging\/9213\/the-best-ways-to-recognize-mansplaining\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Ways to Recognize Mansplaining"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Mansplaining
Mansplaining is telling a women that the desert is dry. Photo by: David Harrington<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This Happened to Me<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A recent social media post intrigued me. A woman put a situation out into the social media abyss. She had never been camping before, but was thinking of buying a recreational vehicle (RV) and traveling solo. She had some doubts about her ability to handle all of the things she would encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I should have known better than to get involved with anything on social media. But the topic was something I had a little knowledge about (see my website www.RVingNomads.com<\/a>), so I responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to some reassurance that yes, a solo woman is very capable of doing everything necessary to have a wonderful time camping, I suggested since she had never been camping before perhaps she could rent an RV for a week. This way, before spending thousands of dollars to buy an RV, she could find out if she didn\u2019t like camping or that camping was more effort than reward for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many others responded, giving her encouragement and support. That should have been the end to it. But of course, on social media \u201cit\u201d is never over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A man I will call \u201cMark\u201d also responded. Interestingly, he did not respond to the woman asking the question. He responded to MY response with HIS interpretation of what the woman was really<\/span> asking and what problems she, as a woman, might encounter as a newbie to camping. He then went on to chastise me on how financially out of touch I must be to suggest she spend money on renting when that money would be better put toward actually buying an RV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My response to Mark? \u201cAs a new person to this page I was hoping to meet positive, excited, upbeat people sharing their camping experiences. I do not appreciate having someone mansplaining to me about the concerns a woman might have RVing as a newbie nor how long it takes for someone to save $1,000.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was I being \u201ctoo sensitive\u201d or \u201ctoo harsh\u201d in my response to \u201cMark\u201d? Perhaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or perhaps it was rude and inappropriate of \u201cMark\u201d to mansplain to a woman what a woman might experience camping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Definition of Mansplaining<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Oxford English Dictionary<\/a> added \u201cmansplain\u201d as a new word in January 2018. Mansplaining is defined this way: (of a man) to explain something to a woman in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner, typically to a woman already knowledgeable about the topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obvious and Overt Examples of Mansplaining<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mansplaining can be both subtle and covert making it sometimes difficult to identify or it can be so obvious and overt it can be to the point of being humorous or absurd! The following examples might be in the latter category of absurdity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n