Mansplaining — you've probably heard the word, if not witnessed it before.
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Mansplaining is, at its core, a very specific thing — it's what occurs when a man talks condescendingly to someone (especially a woman) about something he has incomplete knowledge of, with the mistaken assumption that he knows more about it than the person he's talking to does," according to the Merriam Webster dictionary.
In Rebecca Solnit's 2008 essay "Men Explain Things to Me," now also the title of her 2014 collection of essays, she shares personal, succinct stories all too familiar for females. Since her collection was published, memes have flooded the internet with depictions of mansplaining — mansplaining meme after mansplaining meme cropped up, explaining, well, mansplaining.
If you have a male friend who needs some help understanding (a little role reversal), here are 27 mansplaining memes to share with them — and, of course, with your feminist friends, too.
1. No One Likes a Mansplainer
2. They're Condescending
3. Mansplainers Will Try to Mansplain Privilege
4. They May Even Mansplain Catcalling
5. A Mansplainer Is Hyper-Confident
6. Mansplaining Is Often Sarcastic
7. They'll Make it About Them
8. They'll Explain Your Own Area of Expertise
9. Mansplainers Think They're Always Right
10. They'll Try to Tell You What You're Thinking
11. No One Asks for Their Explanation
12. They Think They're Better Than You
13. They'll Interrupt You
14. They'll Even Mansplain Mansplaining
15. Mansplainers Don't Care About Your Level of Education
16. Mansplainers Need to Be Cut Off
17. Mansplainers Can Be Overwhelming
18. Mansplainers Belittle You
19. Mansplainers Feel Important
20. They'll Feel Entitled
21. They'll Repeat You
22. Sometimes They'll Repeat You in Other Words
23. Mansplainers Can Be Defensive
24. There's Even a Chart to Explain Mansplaining
25. Mansplainers Will Sometimes Use Petnames
26. They're Always Degrading, Despite How Much You Know
27. OK, That's Enough
Looking for More Memes to Send Your Feminist Pals?
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AnnaMarie Houlis is a feminist, a freelance journalist and an adventure aficionado with an affinity for impulsive solo travel. She spends her days writing about women’s empowerment from around the world. You can follow her work on her blog, HerReport.org, and follow her journeys on Instagram @her_report, Twitter @herreport and Facebook.