Comments on: What Is ‘splainin’? And Why Should I Care?

By: lauredhel

lauredhel — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 01:42:47 +0000

Robyn/Michelle: I think that’s a bit of a folk etymology. The word itself in this context is a backformation from “mansplain”, “whitesplain”, and “ablesplain”, with “mansplain” being the original. The “ex” is removed in “mansplain” for metre, not in faux-imitation of a Latin@ accent. “Manexplain” doesn’t exactly work, humour-wise; there needs to be a syllabic substitution, not addition.

The semantics of the ‘explaining’ is also quite different from the Lucy case (from the reading I’ve done – that particular quote is not one I’m familiar with, and I don’t know how familiar any non-USAns will be with it), making that derivation even more questionable.

Lastly, there’s geography. I poked back through my records: I first read about “mansplaining” in the blog of a New Zealander, then in several Australian blogs, before it hit the USAn big Feminist blogs.

Maybe some people are linking the two now, but I don’t believe that the Lucy quote is the genuine etymology of this particular word family.

[/linguistsplain]

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:23:12 +0000

The word itself, though, does seem to have some anti-latino sentiment to it. There’s the Ricky Ricardo reference, which itself is a jokey reference to overcorrecting a Spanish accent. Because the Spanish word will generally start with an “e” when the English equivalent has an “s” and a consonant, Spanish speakers trying to lose their accent will over-apply that rule, removing even a necessary “e”. The humor of that bit rested in mocking his accent, and his attempt to assimilate by trying to correct it wrongly–look how silly he sounds as he tries to assert authority here. Which is just what we’re trying to do to the condescending explainers–but why do it using a joke that started with mocking someone’s speech?

By: Robyn

Robyn — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:20:06 +0000

And to think that it all started with Ricky Ricardo and Lucille Ball: “Hey, Lucy! Joo got some ‘splainin to do!”

By: Ellie di

Ellie di — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:32:31 +0000

I LOVE THIS. I found it through the comments policy on your other site and was like “yesyesyes”!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:38:22 +0000

I’m afraid I am guilty of this in some instances. I have also been on the receiving end of ‘splainin’ and understand how infuriating it can be. Reading this has inspired me to pay attention to times when I may be ‘splainin’ to try and curb the rude behavior.

By: Kowalski

Kowalski — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:27:54 +0000

@Anna,
I think a lot of that may be down to how autistics communicate, when we don’t communicate in expected ways people get irritated, and feel attacked by the bluntness which is often mistaken for rudeness.
Some of it may be down to the US centrism Chally wrote about, and by extension the English speaking world centrism, people on the internet forget that not all of us speak English as a first language.
Combine the two and you get a case of having your competence underestimated on a regular basis.
.-= Kowalski´s last blog ..In which I introduce a new word and defend Kevin Rudd, the man who eated his earwax =-.

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:20:50 +0000

*nodnod* at Kowalski. I find we’re all still bumping against each other here and still trying to find a way to talk about problems and different things without falling into the ‘splaining thing. It makes me sad and frustrated that, even with the best of intentions, we’re still *hurting* each other.

I’m sorry it’s happening. I’m not sure, yet, how to make it stop.

By: Rosemary

Rosemary — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:34:06 +0000

icybear: you said “So if one person’s philosophies, formed out of their lived experiences as a person in a marginalised group, clash directly with another person’s philosophies formed out of their different experiences as a person in a marginalised group, what is one to do (without devolving into some hierarchy of oppression)?”

I think this might (??) be confusing ‘splaining, at least how I see it. I mean, people with different life experiences can share their experiences with one another and discuss how they are different and the reasons why they might be different and have a really good equal discussion about it – whether one or both of them are in a marginalized group or not.

The splaining, as I understand it, comes in when person A starts to assume that their life experience is the Only Right One and tries to convince/explain to person B that Their experiences cannot possibly be accurate because they don’t align with person A’s. And in that case, if person A and person B are from different marginalized groups, then I would be tempted to call “‘splaining” on person A for devaluing person B’s experiences.

I think. Anyone wanna help me with this one?

Kowalski: I think, sadly, that most of us are probably guilty of ‘splaining some of the time. I’m sure I’ve done it. I like this and other similar spaces where it’s okay to call one another on things and where most of us are trying to learn to be better about it all. But yea, it still happens.

By: Kowalski

Kowalski — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:11:11 +0000

It’s not only blog commenters who do that, social justice bloggers do that themselves when they’re confronted with criticism, and that’s despite that they know what ‘splaining is.
Apparently it is so that neurotypical people decide what should offend me as an autistic person, and every time -no matter where- I leave a critical comment I get treated with condescension, yes even on this blog. (Although here it’s not as bad as elsewhere)
.-= Kowalski´s last blog ..Disability & Sex Blog Carnival: You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory =-.

By: Sara

Sara — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:39:01 +0000

icybear: I would argue that it is possible – and necessary – to separate the philosophy from the experience. Sure, we all settle on philosophies at least in part because of our lived experiences, but when the philosophies become overgeneralized and start to erase others’ experiences, it is time to change the philosophies.

A historical illustration – not because these issues don’t exist today, but because sometimes it’s productive to think about a more distant example:
Leading Western feminist discourses in the late 19th and early 20th century tended to be very blatantly racist. They also emerged from a set of experiences of oppression and marginalization. Those experiences that the white feminist leaders had were legitimate – and even some of the philosophies which emerged from them were legitimate – but the racist philosophies can (and could) be separated and rejected without silencing the experiences themselves.