Comment on MSc Mansplaining

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flora_explora@beehaw.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

I’ll bite. The joke is funny because it is this kind of joke that comes from a place of desperation about our current world and how unfair it is and twists it sarcastically.

There are power imbalances and sexist tropes pervading all of our interactions, men mansplaining stuff are everywhere. Men get believed more often and and people associate more authority with them. Also, men see other men as subjects that they can compete or bond with, but see women largely as objects that they want to possess and control. This is the patriarchy and the setting for our little joke here.

And in the light of all this sexism, it seems so frustrating to see an university running ads with obviously sexist tropes of one guy explaining stuff to all women around him. It doesn’t matter how anyone of these people identifies for our joke, because the message stays the same.

Saying “oh look you can do a master’s in mansplaining now” is funny because it desperately goes for any other explanation that the real reason for this ad is, namely sexism. “This must be a course on mansplaining, why would they show this otherwise?” It is a way to deal with how fucked up this world is by sarcastically twisting it so that it gives a seemingly delusional alternative answer.

I guess people who don’t experience a certain discrimination or who are not open to reflect upon it, won’t find this joke funny. Because without the pain and the comedic relief, this wouldn’t be funny. For a deeper explanation of this, see this fabulous video by contrapoints on exactly this topic:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtj7LDYaufM

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