AI: Mansplaining
By A while ago, when my sister was visiting, somehow the subject of how women are treated differently from men in basically any job they end up in arised, and she came up with an example back where she lives, of a company that will not hire women because they may someday have to take maternity leaves, which would be a financial setback [for the company].
A guy on the table (someone I had never seen before, actually) proceeded to say that was so not discrimination! It’s unfortunate for any women who for some reason want to work at that company, but you can’t say they’re discriminating against anyone. It’s just their business strategy, perhaps unfair, but he wouldn’t go that far as to call it sexist. Urgh, you girls don’t understand anything about the job market.
Neither of us even knew how to answer that, so struck we were by such logic. Luckily it’s not someone we’ll be seeing again anytime soon. But that makes me want to ask you:
What’s the worst case of mansplaining you’ve ever heard?
The Afternoon Inqueery (or AI) is a question posed to you, the Queereka community. Look for it every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 3pm ET.
(paraphrased) “Lack of female representation in media isn’t sexism; it’s just that people write what they know, and tell the stories they want to tell. You shouldn’t get mad about that – if you want female-centric media, make it yourself!” — my father, and my ex
I don’t know if those instances were actually the worst – in fact they probably weren’t – but they’re the ones that still make my blood boil when I think about them.