I’m using this author’s term, Dr. Solenzol, and I respect your question. But in all fairness to both of us, this is the term the man used with me, so I am simply lifting it from his own words. It is considered perjorative, as I am well aware, but again, he used the term to describe his comments to me. Of course it’s considered condescending. I’ve written about it before. If the gentleman in question considers what he wrote to me mansplaining, he has made that choice to use that term. That in turn gives me the right to use his choice of words in my article. I don’t know that he understands the perjorative nature of the term, Dr. Solenzol, which is perhaps the larger question. For if he’d looked it up, I wonder if he might have chosen to describe his comments to me that way. All he had to do was look up the term in Wikipedia. Just as all he had to do was look up Pink Tax. Again: research. I’ve looked up both, understand both, just as I believe I understand your question. With respect, I am not a scholar, nor does one have to be one to do minimal research (which is what my article points out) to at least know what a term like Pink Tax means. Nor do I have to read tons of books on a topic to know what it means to be condescended to.

It’s possible that the term may have fallen into very common use, and as a result, the original meaning ( to comment on or explain something to a woman in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner.) might have gotten watered down through overuse. But as the recipient of more than my fair share, especially when it comes to being told that my sexual assaults, repeated rapes in the military are all made up and in my head, and that I most certainly don’t know what I’m talking about, kindly and with the utmost respect, I know precisely what mansplaining is, and what it feels like first hand. I cannot speak for this man, I only have what he chose to write to me. His words landed in precisely that manner, the very definition of the term.

And no, since I’m not a professional researcher, I’ve not read all the above books and articles. I am aware that the term can be felt as sexist. This was not an article about mansplaining. I would argue that the man’s comments to me were also sexist. I’ve read other materials that I don’t choose to look up here and post as a way of proving I’m right or trying to make a point. And with all respect, just because I’ve not read all the scholarly articles, the books you’ve recommended, does not mean that I neither know the word’s use, understand its implications nor do I fail to know the feeling when subjected to that behavior. You are not a woman, Dr. Solenzol, and without that lifelong direct experience on the receiving end, no amount of study or scholarly research will ever quite convey what it’s like for those of us rather outspoken and outre women to be told we are clueless by men who are, forgive me,

mansplaining.

I appreciate your challenge, I value what I believe to be the spirit in which it was intended. As for the statistical evidence, Doctor I am not a statistician, nor did I believe that this article required statistics to make my point. That wasn’t the intention of the piece. Again for the sake of absolute clarity, this was not an article about mansplaining. It had far more to do with being mindful that if you’re going make an argument about the Pink Tax, the commenter might want to look it up before you comment. Again I understand your point but I would prefer not ro be dragged into a lengthy discussion about a term that the commenter chose to use, that I used because he chose to use it, and that his comments precisely aligned with the above definition.

Please be well, stay safe, and again I appreciate your comment. You and I may choose to agree to disagree, which is perfectly fine.