Microblog Memes

being sexist condescending assholes seems to be more of a thing men do

Right, like being a relf-righteous martyr seems to be more of a thing women do, which is experienced by a large number of men. But that doesn't make it right to characterize all women as doing it, or suggest that it's unique to women, which the term "womencomplaining" implicitly does.

Women "mansplain", men "womancomplain". Only an obnoxious minority of men "mansplain", only an obnoxious minority of women "womancomplain". Those people are obnoxious. Focusing on their gender gets dangerous close to "13%" territory.

condes-plaining

I like that way more, actually. That might be a legitimate replacement which highlights the problem without being sexist.

I know this is anecdotal, but I haven't seen or experienced the term being used inaccurately all that often.

Anecdotally, I have.

"You know, that's terrible form, here's how you do it the right way" versus "Hey, excuse me, I noticed your form isn't safe and could lead to injury. Would you like some help?" I think both ways get the point across, one of them is a lot nicer than the other.

Agreed. But even the second is considered condescending by some.

I think you're doing the same thing subconsciously

Uh, that is actually kinda condescending. I was fully conscious when I decided on my tone.

Now if someone finds what you're saying offensive when you're not trying to be offensive, then you can either rephrase yourself or accept that you won't be able to effectively communicate with that person one-on-one.

And that's the issue. Once person X has decided person Y is offensive, all appeals and rephrasings will be discarded as additional offenses. Sure, that's no big loss in any individual case, but the more popular that trend becomes, the more people cut off from effective communication.