Femisplaining
Femisplaining/femisplain (fɛmɪ ' spleɪn), sometimes referred to in a more sexist manner as Womansplaining. Femisplaining is a verb and a portmanteau of the noun Feminism (radical) and the verb explaining. The typical definition of the word means "to explain or argue something (by someone that typically claims to be a "feminist", to another man or woman) in a manner which is both patronising and condescending."
Definitions[edit]
Femisplaining, as mentioned previously is, is the act of a self-proclaimed feminist (man or woman) talking down to another individual in both a condescending and patronising manner. The act is claimed to often come accompanied by needless shouting along with spurts of aggression and false accusations against the individual being spoken down to.[1] Sometimes, acts of femisplaining result in violence towards inanimate objects, or in some extreme cases assault to an unsuspecting individual.[2]
Womansplaining, while sharing some characteristics with femisplaining, is typically not accompanied by violence, or acts of aggression. Womansplaining is also not a gender neutral word, while femisplaining is. Femisplaining is also used in reference to radical feminism.
Origins[edit]
Femisplaining[edit]
Femisplaining was recently coined on the 1st April 2017 by the offbeat youtuber Dark Lightning as a direct retaliation to finding out that the word mansplaining had made its way into the online dictionary site, dictionary.com.[3] The controversial move was made by the dictionary site in 2013.[4] However, fimisplaining can be traced back further, while definitions remain subject to change based on the individual using the word.[5]
As explained earlier, the word is controversially with reference to feminists. And while the word is not a reflection of those that embrace feminism through the definition of the word, it would appear that it is a reflection of those that are self-proclaimed feminists which act with aggression with those that claim to not associate themselves with it.[6][7]
Womansplaining[edit]
Womansplaining, however has its origins back in 2010 on the site Men's Resistance on a post titled Feminist Reactions To Men’s Rights Milestones.[8] Since then the word has been numerously referenced by articles and posts in the alt right media.[9]
However, while womansplaining isn't officially a word accepted by the dictionary, news outlets such as the The Tab and The Huffington Post do utilise the word in their articles, with some sources arguing that the word should officially exist.[10][11]
Controversy[edit]
Both femisplaining and womansplaining are slightly controversial terms due to their origins. Both words were created in an effort to show that mansplaining was a sexist term, as the behaviour depicted in the definition of the word mansplaining is not something that is limited to ones gender, but instead is largely dependent on the situation and the behavioural characteristics of the individual carrying out the act of mansplaining.[11][12] News articles have also called out that the word should stop being used due to its association with sexism.[13][14]
However, despite their intentions regarding equality, individuals either insist that womansplaining doesn't exist or that it is simply an attack on gender equality.[15] Although, neither womansplaining or mansplaining have received good press due to backlash from the media.[16] Both words can also be replaced with the less sexist present participle "patronising".
References[edit]
- ↑ BenVapes (2016-09-14), Hugh Mungus (Original Video), retrieved 2017-04-29
- ↑ Hybrid Nerd (2017-01-23), Feminist man hits woman at women's march, retrieved 2017-04-29
- ↑ Dark Lightning (2017-04-01), Blind Privilege | Facebook Saved List, retrieved 2017-04-29
- ↑ "Word Watch 2013: -splain | Dictionary.com Blog". Dictionary Blog. 2013-12-06. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
- ↑ "#femisplaining hashtag on Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
- ↑ "Feminist Student Rep.: White Men Are Creating "Hostile Environment"". Conservative News. 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
- ↑ "feminism - definition of feminism in English | Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
- ↑ "Feminist Reactions To Men's Rights Milestones". Balance of Power. 2010-11-02. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
- ↑ "Womansplaining The Hypocrisy of Mansplaining". Odyssey. 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
- ↑ "Maybe it's time to make 'womansplaining' a thing". The Tab US. 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Turner, Caroline (2016-05-17). "Mansplaining and Womansplaining: When Women Talk Down to Men". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
- ↑ Thomas, Michelle (2016-12-19). "Manthreading, mansplaining, manflu - man I'm sick of this misandrist nonsense". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
- ↑ "Five Reasons To Stop Using The Word "Mansplaining"". Odyssey. 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
- ↑ "Allow me to explain why we don't need words like 'mansplain'". The Guardian. 2015-02-12. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
- ↑ "Can someone explain mansplaining to me?". NeoGAF. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
- ↑ "Mansplaining campaign faces backlash over 'sexism'". 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
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