We live in a world with cultures that acknowledge "waves" of feminism and a long history of female subjugation and misogyny.  One of my favorite teachers often refers to author and historian Riane Eisler.  I especially appreciate her considerable work regarding Partnerships and Domination models and systems.  I once thought I was a feminist and familiar with a woman's struggles.  That was before transition.  I consider transgender people may have unique perspectives about feminism.

Now an out transgender woman I realize much more about how personal these struggles for equity and equality can be.  I also realize how much more I do not yet understand.  As we get ready for the multiple Women's Marches January 21st I wonder how other people here feel about our current wave of feminism.  Do you feel part of the movement?  Does misogyny or feminism impact your life?  Are MtF transitioners more likely to feel discrimination as "less than men?"  Do FtM transitioners still feel part of feminism?

Very good thread! I have noticed kinda some misogyny . Or perhaps in the spectrum of it i would fall to the trans-misogyny area. I have been told because i dont act traditionally feminine (even though i am more feminie then masculine, but i am not to extreme in any way) that is why i am not trans apprently .... and have been can ned for being out from jobs.. I think feminism is something that has served the great good for not just women, but everyone through the gender spectrum! It is important though to know a real feminist from a fake. A real feminist is someone who beleives women are equal to men, that they can do what men can and deserve equal treatment. That means equal pay for equal work.That among other things. A fake feminist.. Cathy Brennan

Good call, I could have asked about trans-misogyny too.  Yes, it's a real thing and I too have been called out for not being feminine enough for some tastes.  At times like that i wonder if those who call us out have ever met a cisgender butch or masculine woman?

Well it's no secret there are many feminists out there who reject the idea of that trans women fit into their "category". The millenials have a name for them, they call them TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists). For instance, the Women's Liberation Front who recently joined forces with the alt-right Family Policy Alliance to fight against gender equality in a Colorado school bathroom case.  The quote from them was terrible "Gender identity ideology presents a threat to women as a legal category worthy of civil rights protections."

The fact of the matter is Trans issues are feminist issues and vice versa. I think for the most part, feminists see that and are supportive.  However, there are the groups like this that are so hyper focused on their own cause that they forget the goal should be equality.  They've essentially decided that only discrimination against them matters and no one else.

Huff post had a great article on the topic a while back: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brynn-tannehill/feminist-issues-are-transgender-issues_b_5958012.html

I'm FTM and I strongly identify as a feminist. From what I've seen and been through, I believe sexism effects all of us, cis or trans, man or woman or  neither or both. Some people just have hateful  ideas when it comes to gender (TERFS, MRAS, all that).

It's a bit frustrating being an FTM feminist because I always get a lot of "Let go of feminism if you transition because it's not what men talk about and you'll get clocked" from people...  which is bull because it's perfectly acceptable for cis men to be feminists but I won't let that get to me; I grew up with very positive female influences in my life and I'll always be grateful for what they taught me. I appreciate the experiences living as a woman gave me even if I'm not one anymore. I was a little girl and boy at the same time at  one point of my life and I wish it was something I could just add to my resume lol

I've never actually heard of a FTM who didn't strongly identify as feminist.

The thing about TERFS or Gender Critical Feminists as they like to be called, is that they say men should be femme and wear they want without ridicule and in their own words call the mockery and shame around it part of the patriarchy.

Yet if you go on one of their boards they crucify the appearance of trans women. Some of the things they say are vile. Especially about non passing.

So the reality is when they see men dressed feminine they're cruelly and coldly laughing at them behind their pretenses of support.

I'm an intersectional feminist, have been for a looong time.  TERF arguments just don't make any sense to me.  They all break down into circular reasoning, or false zero-sum games that are easily disproven.  The ideology is just a wrapper to hide old fashioned prejudices behind.  I've seen it before, all the way back to various cloaks for racism back in the mid-20th.

The transgender population has much in common with the women's movement.  Both are a bit marginalized and degraded, by a patriarchy and kyriarchy intent on domination, repression, and submission. Ain't no reason to argue between the groups!


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Personally I am disillusioned with some aspects of "third wave" feminism and identity politics as they stand today. I don't call myself a feminist, no. Not until the movement understands that it could better apply itself to the places that better require its attention and quit railing against people who quite frankly are not against them. Identity politics has become divisive, not constructive.

Let's just say you do not live in a society that "subjugates women" if you have women running for president, or women running the country like in mine; you do not live in a society that hates women when women are the comparatively protected class, the class that the charities and shelters and affirmative action programs and government welfare cares about the most; you do not live in a society that hates women when you have technically more rights and legal consideration in a courtroom than men. Half of this is delusion and grasping - we have run out of things to complain women don't have so we clutch at straws like "mansplaining" and "manspreading", and try to maintain the fiction women are truly despised in the first world. I will believe women are paid less in every dollar than a man when I see men out of work and women in their place because they're cheaper to employ... which would happen if that were the case. The truth of that is women don't earn less on the whole for the same work, they work in different patterns and in different amounts; that story is a twisting of the facts to suit a narrative nobody cares to look into properly to see just where that figure came from.

Until that changes and I see some common sense, I'm not going to call myself a feminist as the term is used today.

Have I seen/experienced misogyny? As in hatred of women? Not personally. Have I ever come up against someone telling me I couldn't do something I wanted to do just 'because woman'? No. Have I seen/experienced hatred of men? Yes. Do I think women have problems too? Absolutely. But they're no more important than the problems faced by men as well. I might have had creeps trying to back me up against walls, but I've had male friends almost killed by people. And one that was killed. By a woman, incidentally. Men are more at risk of physical or deadly violence on the whole. Women more at risk of sexual attack. It sucks for BOTH, but I'd still argue it's better to be sexually harassed or assaulted (and I have been) than murdered.

I'm under no delusions, I can see both sides. Feminism should apply itself in the world where it's truly needed, where women are forced to marry, not permitted to have a career or a vote, or sold like cattle. Where there actually IS something resembling a "Patriarchy" at work. If it continues to attack an agreeable society or to attack men in general for existing, it will succeed only in driving a bigger wedge than there already is between the sexes. And it's already big.

If we live in a woman-hating, woman-oppressing Patriarchy in the West, it's the most impotent, pathetic and benevolent Patriarchy in history.

Those women fighting in places like Africa or the Middle East etc. and putting themselves on the line for their freedoms in places truly hostile to them? That girl who survived being shot in the head for trying to go to school? They have my respect and admiration. That is where feminism is needed now. Not here with someone whining that a guy dared to explain something to them they already happened to know that he probably didn't know they knew and calling a 'report hotline' for it.

Feminism is strongly associated with the political left. The two are synonymous.

Whereas Gender Dysphoria is a psychological/medical condition that's politically indiscriminate.

Feminism politicizes this condition. To many it makes transitioning come across as a political act. Therefore trans people are seen as the result of the actions of the left,  the feminization of men and masculinization of women in the name of feminism. Therefore trans is treated with suspicion. That with feminism has come a ton of "transtrenders" using the trans identity to gain a bigger voice within identity politics.

That way I like Caitlyn Jenner. Trans people should not be assumed to be on the left because of a medical condition. It can affect anyone.

I'd like to point out that a lot of the flaws in third wave feminism are coming from inside- such as classism and racism and ableism. These are also the reasons I believe we still need feminism AND need to improve it.

A wealthy white cis woman is not exactly as "oppressed" as she thinks she is. She can wear all the "THIS IS WHAT A FEMINIST LOOKS LIKE" shirts (made in Bangladesh) she wants and like her friends' #GirlPower Facebook posts as she pleases but she still has her prejudices. She'll still clutch her purse when she sees a black man, she'll still hold her child's hand tighter as they pass by a person with autism who is talking too loud, she'll still feel uncomfortable when she speaks to her coworker who is a trans woman. She'll still get annoyed when hearing her nail technician speak Vietnamese as she gets her nails done. She'll still comment "Why not ALL women?" when she sees a post that says "Black Girls Rock!"

And this wealthy white cis woman is the "face" of feminism. It's a reason why people don't take feminism seriously- they see someone who doesn't seem to have a lot of problems in life as the "face" and assume that  that's all there is to it therefore feminism is meaningless. However, they won't get to hear the message of black feminists, trans feminists, or feminists with disabilities because their voices are blocked out by a prejudiced society who doesn't listen to them in the first place, feminist or not.

For example, I absolutely despise Lena Dunham because she's a racist and she also confessed to sexually abusing her sister. But for some reason, so many feminists adore her. I just can't see why. I really don't think she deserves to be a feminist icon.

Maybe society doesn't exactly straight up hate women, they definitely hate certain kinds of women. I live in an impoverished part of America and people aren't allowed to get abortions here. They have to travel for hours to a big city. Health care is terrible here. I definitely get the feeling Texan politicians "hate" the working class women of color who live here. LGBT rights and resources here are a joke.  It may not be happening to you or the women and people around you, but it's definitely happening to citizens  in this country.

Sorry for typos, I'm on mobile

Quote from: eggbun on January 17, 2017, 09:36:53 PM
It's a bit frustrating being an FTM feminist because I always get a lot of "Let go of feminism if you transition because it's not what men talk about and you'll get clocked" from people...  which is bull because it's perfectly acceptable for cis men to be feminists but I won't let that get to me; I grew up with very positive female influences in my life and I'll always be grateful for what they taught me. I appreciate the experiences living as a woman gave me even if I'm not one anymore. I was a little girl and boy at the same time at  one point of my life and I wish it was something I could just add to my resume lol

Wow, I've never heard that. That's crap. Plenty of men are feminists including my dad. If anything, men listen to men more on the subject of feminism than they listen to women so you have an opportunity to influence people. Hell, if you're around men who are saying men aren't feminists, then you have the wrong friends IMO.

If 2nd wave feminism was about the radical notion that women are people then 3rd wave was about the notion that we're all people and should be treated humanely--men, women, children, non binary people, intersex people, gay, straight, bi, other.

TERFs are feminists in name only. All they care about is hate.

Quote from: eggbun on January 17, 2017, 11:48:52 PM
And this wealthy white cis woman is the "face" of feminism. It's a reason why people don't take feminism seriously- they see someone who doesn't seem to have a lot of problems in life as the "face" and assume that  that's all there is to it therefore feminism is meaningless. However, they won't get to hear the message of black feminists, trans feminists, or feminists with disabilities because their voices are blocked out by a prejudiced society who doesn't listen to them in the first place, feminist or not.

For example, I absolutely despise Lena Dunham because she's a racist and she also confessed to sexually abusing her sister. But for some reason, so many feminists adore her. I just can't see why. I really don't think she deserves to be a feminist icon.

Maybe society doesn't exactly straight up hate women, they definitely hate certain kinds of women. I live in an impoverished part of America and people aren't allowed to get abortions here. They have to travel for hours to a big city. Health care is terrible here. I definitely get the feeling Texan politicians "hate" the working class women of color who live here. LGBT rights and resources here are a joke.  It may not be happening to you or the women and people around you, but it's definitely happening to citizens  in this country.

Sorry for typos, I'm on mobile

In media, the owners literally pass over talented women of color to elevate young white women. It happened at Jezebel, the "feminist" blog. Lena Dunham, who got a leg up by being very, very privileged, literally white washed her world in Girls, making a world that actually had people of color in it all white in fiction.

I like to bring up Amanda Marcotte, a well known feminist blogger who has had a lot of issues blogging on black white race relations. Although she's gotten better she's kind of the archetypical clueless white woman on race. And she considers herself a liberal.

The last few years starting with the death of Trayvon Martin have been a bit of a wake up call in how white Americans perceive Black Americans, including people who consider themselves liberal Democrats. Despite movements like Black Lives Matter the media has still not cleaned up its act (never mind the police) in how it depicts African Americans and other ethnic groups who aren't considered white. This is what #oscarssowhite was about.

2nd wave and 3rd wave included feminists of color but that doesn't mean white 2nd and 3rd wavers were always listening. I know in the 80s it was common to list all your axes of privilege but that was about as deep as the introspection went. A lot of 2nd wave work was ethnocentric, homophobic and transphobic.

Quote from: Kylo on January 17, 2017, 11:08:34 PM
Let's just say you do not live in a society that "subjugates women" if you have women running for president, or women running the country like in mine; you do not live in a society that hates women when women are the comparatively protected class, the class that the charities and shelters and affirmative action programs and government welfare cares about the most; you do not live in a society that hates women when you have technically more rights and legal consideration in a courtroom than men. Half of this is delusion and grasping - we have run out of things to complain women don't have so we clutch at straws like "mansplaining" and "manspreading", and try to maintain the fiction women are truly despised in the first world. I will believe women are paid less in every dollar than a man when I see men out of work and women in their place because they're cheaper to employ... which would happen if that were the case. The truth of that is women don't earn less on the whole for the same work, they work in different patterns and in different amounts; that story is a twisting of the facts to suit a narrative nobody cares to look into properly to see just where that figure came from.

You know, I think you're swimming in misogyny and just can't see it. Hilary Clinton was utterly demonized and despised, for the crime of ... nothing. She did nothing. Except be female. That's misogyny that's as plain as the nose on your face. (I'm not saying it's the only reason she lost, I'm saying it was out and proud during the whole campaign, though.)

Mansplaining is not grasping at straws, it's an accurate description of what happens to qualified, accomplished women who happen to be feminine too. Any old guy suddenly thinks he can explain stuff to her--sometimes even her own work!

Julia Serrano came up with a word to describe society's phobia of effeminate men, effemmimania. I'd say it stems from society's disdain and even loathing for feminine women. Women are in a double bind, contempt if you're feminine, contempt if you're masculine (although career wise being masculine was a smooth move for me).

Having gone from female to male, even total strangers take me more seriously. I think it's the deeper voice. I'm also free of the constant casual disrespect that women get in public. I know misogyny is real, I've experienced it. But it's not just a hatred of women, it's a  hatred of femininity. Even 2nd wave feminism couldn't get past that and hated on femininity as well. They treated anyone who was feminine as if they were brainwashed and working for the enemy instead of contending that there might be something worthy and valuable about a trait so many are just born with. This is why 2nd wave was set up to hate MTFs, why they challenge these notions that masculine is just "normal" and feminine is "slave mentality". I think once you understand there are two axes, male and female, masculine and feminine, the way in which misogyny colonizes our own minds and plays out in front of us comes into focus.

Quote from: eggbun on January 17, 2017, 09:36:53 PMit's perfectly acceptable for cis men to be feminists

It should be, but in my experience, it isn't. 

A man who admits to feminist thinking is assumed by other men to be gay.  They use homophobia to enforce fem-phobia.  Militant feminist women will not accept feminist men as allies.  I remember, after the Montreal Massacre in 1989, when I expressed my shock and horror that 14 women were murdered for being female, I was told that, as a man, I could feel nothing.  No wonder men don't express feelings when that is the response they get.

Maybe my experience is not relevant, since, as it turns out, I was not a cis man.  But they didn't know that.  The assumed I was a cis man, and that is how feminist cis men are treated.

I certainly can't improve on what axietydisorder has said above.

Wealthy white women do not have a monopoly on stupidity, the reality that women have it worse in some parts of Africa or the middle East in no way invalidates the need to eliminate misogyny wherever one lives.

Feminist thinking runs on average to the left, sure. This hasn't kept mainstream feminism from undertaking some alliances with the right when it suited their mutual agendas.

I've seen mtf trans people try to enter the feminist arena, mansplaining their way and wondering why that didn't work. I've been that girl myself and if I'm accepted as feminine by my peers (both male and female) today, that's certainly in part from a long time spent letting go of the ways I used to wield privilege. I gained acceptance long ago by reaching out and listening more than I talked and I can point to some things that changed locally in part due to those efforts.

Change comes slowly and sometimes the groundswell of change isn't perceptible.

Quote from: AnxietyDisord3r on January 18, 2017, 06:53:34 AM
You know, I think you're swimming in misogyny and just can't see it.

No. I am not. It certainly is telling how some people see an opinion that doesn't immediately gel with their own and label it misogynist. Did you read the last paragraph of my post? How do you arrive at the opinion I am swimming in hatred of women?

QuoteHilary Clinton was utterly demonized and despised, for the crime of ... nothing. She did nothing. Except be female. That's misogyny that's as plain as the nose on your face. (I'm not saying it's the only reason she lost, I'm saying it was out and proud during the whole campaign, though.)

And you could say Donald Trump is despised a whole lot more than she is. She's a presidential candidate. They both came in for enormous amounts of hate, adoration, criticism. Neither of them are innocent either. The vast majority of the dislike for Clinton I saw came not from the fact she was female, but because of the rumors of the DNC fixing her place as candidate. Or from her hawkish stance on Syria. Or her insistence on seeking further conflict with Russia rather than pursuing a diplomatic approach. Or her screw-up with the email server. Or the handling of the Libyan embassy and the "removal" of Gaddafi. In fact have yet to see someone rail on Clinton "because she is a woman". 

And Trump? He had plenty of disgust, hate, laughter thrown his way too. And he complained about it. Which is ludicrous because what did he expect.

QuoteMansplaining is not grasping at straws, it's an accurate description of what happens to qualified, accomplished women who happen to be feminine too. Any old guy suddenly thinks he can explain stuff to her--sometimes even her own work!

This is the definition of a first-world problem. Someone explained something to me I already knew. Stop the press.

Not only is it ridiculous - I've had people explain things to me as both female and male that I already knew and I didn't pop a blood vessel from indignation, in fact I said "yeah I know," and furthered the conversation with my knowledge - but people honestly think this is some sort of problem? People actually believe conversations now need to policed or that conversations of this type equal some sort of hatred and need to be punished? Do you see how if you begin doing this men will not even want to speak to women, if they run the risk of a misogyny label if it "comes out the wrong way"? How is this going to realistically improve gender relations? How about you accept that you can't control what every single person says and they aren't going to say things you like all of the time? It beats the 1984-esque nightmare some people out there seem to be trying to craft.

QuoteJulia Serrano came up with a word to describe society's phobia of effeminate men, effemmimania. I'd say it stems from society's disdain and even loathing for feminine women. Women are in a double bind, contempt if you're feminine, contempt if you're masculine (although career wise being masculine was a smooth move for me).

Or how about its contempt for men's freedom? If society truly had a phobia of women and femininity, women wouldn't have the freedom to express it that they do - they would be forced to act like men and the femininity would be beaten out of them as it tends to be out of men. It's not that society hates the feminine, it's that it does not tolerate men's freedom to express. It is men whom society wants to beat and purge things out of. Not women. 

QuoteHaving gone from female to male, even total strangers take me more seriously. I think it's the deeper voice. I'm also free of the constant casual disrespect that women get in public. I know misogyny is real, I've experienced it. But it's not just a hatred of women, it's a  hatred of femininity. Even 2nd wave feminism couldn't get past that and hated on femininity as well. They treated anyone who was feminine as if they were brainwashed and working for the enemy instead of contending that there might be something worthy and valuable about a trait so many are just born with. This is why 2nd wave was set up to hate MTFs, why they challenge these notions that masculine is just "normal" and feminine is "slave mentality". I think once you understand there are two axes, male and female, masculine and feminine, the way in which misogyny colonizes our own minds and plays out in front of us comes into focus.

I know how it works, but you seem to be only convinced of one side of the story. People take you more seriously now, great. You don't get harassed in the street, great. But are you permitted to wear a dress without funny looks or harassment? Are you allowed to express your emotions as much without people getting uncomfortable? Are you allowed to screw up as often? Do you think thugs would go as easy on you if they decided to pick on you? Do people accept your depression and sadness and comfort you as easily as they might if you looked female? If you committed a crime would they give you more or less time in the slammer than a woman? If a woman falsely accused you of raping her, whose side do you think they would take first? If she falsely accused you of beating her, do you think they would automatically take your side? If you had children and were divorced do you think the children would more likely go to you or the mother? Do you think you have any rights when it comes to someone's pregnancy and the fate of your unborn child? Because as a man, you don't. Do you think people would look more favorably on you now than a woman if they saw you sitting on the street homeless? Do you think people would more likely come to your aid if they saw you in trouble, or injured, or would they be more likely to go help a woman? Are you going to be seen as more or less disposable in people's eyes now? Yes. You know the answers.

A lot of feminists are absolutely convinced the only answer to all of these things is that our society hates women. It's a lot more complex than that. I can show you societies that actually treat women no better than dirt. This isn't one of them.

Yah. As a male I was considered a technical leader in my field.  I'm MtF, now full time female and starting to do lectures and presentations again

Now I get handwaved off.  I've had matters I am an expert on mansplained to me. My opinion on technical issues has been ignored in conversation.

The only change is my presentation as female. I didn't suddenly turn stupid.

Don't even try to tell me that we have gender equality.



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I've always been a feminist, ever since I started running into gender policing as a small child.  It was a while before I knew the word, but I already bristled when people insisted that boys and men didn't cook or do laundry or change diapers.  (Maybe because I saw my Dad doing that stuff, too.  Well, I didn't see the diaper changing until my baby sister was born.)

In fact, I would say that "feminist" (and "techie") are my fundamental identities; for me, "man" or "woman" are simply descriptions of rather superficial and changeable aspects of me.  And up until 3 years ago, it never occurred to me that I might be transgender, and it still isn't my identity, it's just my life.

This doesn't mean I haven't had a lot to learn, particularly regarding systemic racism, sexism, etc.  And I'm still learning.  E.g., at one time, I thought it might be reasonable for the Michigan Women's Music Festival to exclude trans women.  (What changed my mind: (a) getting to know real trans women and (b) finding out what actually goes on there from a friend who went.)

I don't know if I can honestly say whether it's "okay" for men to be feminists.  I certainly was one, back when I was a man, but I didn't care whether people thought it was okay: most people, including most male people, thought I was not okay from the get-go, so spouting feminist views couldn't really make me any less okay.

I have noticed the phenomenon of the "male feminist" who seems to be feminist mainly to get women to fawn on  him (and let him into their knickers -- though he's not above a little rape, too.)  I can think of the names of a few prominent ones.  I've been trying to listen more and mouth off less, if only so I won't be seen as one of them.  (It doesn't come easy, believe me!)

Quote from: Michelle_P on January 18, 2017, 08:34:32 AM
Yah. As a male I was considered a technical leader in my field.  I'm MtF, now full time female and starting to do lectures and presentations again

Now I get handwaved off.  I've had matters I am an expert on mansplained to me. My opinion on technical issues has been ignored in conversation.

The only change is my presentation as female. I didn't suddenly turn stupid.

Don't even try to tell me that we have gender equality.



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Yeah, that's horrible. That's something separate from the idea of "mansplaining" I see around.

When a feminist explains "mansplaining" to me it's usually that a man explaining something to a woman she may already know is him "assuming" her inferiority on a topic. When it could actually be perfectly innocent. The assumption there on the feminist part is his insidious intentions. In fact I've have countless conversations in which someone assumed I didn't know something about a topic and said "hey did you know......." either because they thought they were the only one who knew or because they were a huge nerd on the topic and couldn't help reeling off the info. As a man or a woman, it has happened to me and I don't find it the worst problem facing humanity but a conversational hazard. As it's being thrown around at the moment the term is being used not just in work situations but *every conceivable situation*, even down to a man just making basic conversation with somebody while waiting for a train. At that point I find it ridiculous, as it's becoming something of a joke. Oh he mansplained something to me earlier... in other words, he opened his mouth. Seems to be entering popular culture now as a word for a man just talking.

Not valuing a woman's contribution in her workplace is a different matter and one I would take seriously. A man effectively saying "I will not listen to you" on a professional subject because his coworker is female is bullheaded sexism and something I would take seriously. A man explaining something someone doesn't want to hear can be ignored and is not automatically some aggressive, woman-hating act. We all hear rubbish from people's mouths and keyboards we don't particularly want to know every day. It's a fact of life. 

If we're going to enter an era in which I have to stop before talking to a woman and agonize over whether or not she might already know what I'm about to say, and whether she is going to report me for misogyny for it, then they can keep it. Because that sounds just like a reversal of the era in which women were "seen and not heard". And that's not a solution.

Rather than try and fail to police conversations, perhaps a social push for male and female workers to exchange ideas in their workplace in a neutral official setting would be of greater benefit. In my experience men can come to respect women as much as men if they have the opportunity to see her shine. The problem is that opportunity if not made to happen usually doesn't. But nobody - either male or female - typically respects someone if they're just ordered to respect them. That's why this man-shaming and attacking of men isn't going to make them respect women, it's going to make them fear and despise them. You can't force respect. But you can force situations in which respect can be forged.

Quote from: Kylo on January 18, 2017, 09:03:58 AM
Yeah, that's horrible. That's something separate from the idea of "mansplaining" I see around.

When a feminist explains "mansplaining" to me it's usually that a man explaining something to a woman she may already know is him "assuming" her inferiority on a topic. When it could actually be perfectly innocent.

Innocent?  He's explaining a topic TO ME, one that I was brought in as a lecturer on, in the course of my giving a presentation on the subject.

I've got 19 patents and published papers, which is why I'm there at that lectern.  Now, someone who made the effort to enroll in that session and attend has decided to explain how my own inventions work, to ME, the inventor.

That's mansplaining at it's finest.  Situationally it is obviously wrong.  Yet the assumption of inferiority runs so deep that it completely overrides what should be obvious to anyone with a hint of self-awareness.

Quote
The assumption there on the feminist part is his insidious intentions. In fact I've have countless conversations in which someone assumed I didn't know something about a topic and said "hey did you know......." either because they thought they were the only one who knew or because they were a huge nerd on the topic and couldn't help reeling off the info.

It's not really anything to do with conscious intentions.  It is just a low level cultural assumption, so ingrained in the male consciousness that female persons are assumed to be relatively unskilled in the 'manly' arts of technology and need things explained to them.  He didn't intend to try and make me feel inferior.  He simply did it because it is how women are to be treated, a cultural behavior actualized at a preconscious level.

It actually takes an effort to override these low level learned behaviors and treat a female person as an equal.  That's just sad, and something that needs to be addressed at a cultural level.

In a situation where that conscious effort can't be readily made, as in an emergency, the assumption that a female person is relatively unskilled can be dangerous, leading to vital information being ignored. 

Consider a nuclear power plant.  There is a steam leak and a radiation alarm.  A female engineer points out that a certain coolant relief valve is prone to failing open, and can be readily isolated.  She is ignored by the male engineers.   Welcome to Three Mile Island.



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