25 Times Men Made Fools Of Themselves Mansplaining Something Women Already Knew

Women have been experiencing the mansplaining problem for quite enough time now that surely it shouldnt be a prevailing issue. However, accordding to many women’s experiences they are still periodically subjugated to rampant mansplaining incidents in their daily lives. So much so that we’ve got a collection of stories to share of moments when men felt the inexplicable compulsion to reiterate in their own words what a woman has already said or simply to explain simple things to women, even when its basically obvious. If you’re prepared to live through these women’s experiences vicariously, buckle down because we are in for an infuriating ride with the anecdotes shared in the gallery below.

#1

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Boyfriend mansplained that on a heavy day when I was changing a tampon every hour this was too often and I could wear them for up to 8 hours (he was annoyed when we were out that I had to keep looking for a toilet). He was all like just put one in and forget about it till we get back home tonight.

*because thats what it says on the box*.

#2

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A guy tried to explain how wreaths worked to me, pointing out the hook on the back was for ease of hanging.

#3

Image source: anon, Getty Images/unsplash

My period.

I was in bed with flu and a kidney infection, and then I got my period. Due to me being floored in bed, I hadn’t had chance to do my usual shopping and only had one tampon left. My ex called on his way home from work and asked if I needed anything picking up. I said yes, tampons please. He huffed and puffed, and said it was gross and suggested other options (he could pick me up and drive me to the supermarket so I could buy them myself. He gave up when I explained blood and gravity).

He called me from the tampon aisle and whispered, “I’m here. Which ones do you need?”. I explained and he was about to put them in the basket. He was like, “hmm there’s orange ones here” so I asked what orange ones are. He said, “super plus plus”. I said, “nope too much. Just regular and super please”. Then he said, “babe I dunno if you know but there is a *lot* of blood”. I know my flow ffs! I had to stay calm and polite though because he’d just leave without buying any if I kicked off. I said no thanks, just the ones I asked for.

He came home with the orange ones. “Trust me, these will be better for you”. I had no other choice but to use them. When I tell you it was like pulling a London bus from my v****a every time I changed one, I’m not exaggerating. And he wonders why he’s my ex.

#4

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Where my house is.

Background info: Where we used to live there was a train station, on one side of the station was a row of small shops- bakery, butcher, florist- just one of those little strips, on the other side an Irish pub, a burger place and an Indian restaurant. We lived behind the shops, then a little further down from us was a school.

When my daughter was at daycare she made friends with this little boy, his mum invited us over for a playdate, we went, had a lovely afternoon. Then her husband came home from work, we were chatting and he asks where abouts we live. I go “just behind the shops near (train station)” he gives me this look then says “OH YOU MEAN THE RESTAURANTS ON (road the restaurants connect to)” I say no, the other side, behind the shops. He says no, I can’t live there, there’s a school there. I say yes there is a school there, but there are a couple of streets in between the shops and the school and we are in between there. He says no, I must be confusing the shops and the restaurants, what I must mean is either the restaurants, OR the next train station along on the line where there is a large supermarket- because there are houses behind there.

We just kept going back and forth until I went home, to my house, which apparently wasn’t located where I thought it was, despite me going to and from it every day for 4 years.

#5

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Not a specific example,, just my life in general. I am an economist, I have a bachelors and masters in economics and have been an economic researcher and consultant for a few years now.

Anytime I tell a guy that is my job, he will explain economics to me. They often try to explain the current economic state through the stock markets (not accurate, only 1 variable of a million variable equation), they usually tell me that things such as buying power, household expenditure data, and under/over employment trends don’t speak to the big picture and don’t really matter in economic health.

I’ve stopped telling people I’m an economist and instead say that I’m a linguist (my side passion), because no one knows anything about the subject and therefore can’t “teach me” based off Wikipedia and Joe Rogan podcasts.

#6

Image source: midnightcat

My own job. I am an attending physician in the ER of a busy academic trauma center. I am board-certified in emergency medicine and emergency medical services. I was a paramedic before I went to medical school, and have kept that certification current (for twenty years). I am an operational medical director, meaning that I actually go on calls with the EMS agencies I oversee. So I know a little bit about EMS. I had a medical student who was also an EMT try to mansplain EMS medical direction to me on his first shift in the ER.

I didn’t even have time to start dismantling him before the nearby female paramedic who overheard the whole thing ate him alive. Rumour has it he’s on his third or fourth trip around the world frantically backpedaling.

#7

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How to drive a manual

As he sat passenger in my manual truck

Which I had driven my manual car down to pick up

He needed a ride due to having neither a vehicle nor a license

I have driven stick my whole life. I also happen to be a heavy equipment operator. I happen to know a thing or two about driving ***my own d**n vehicle***

… I offered to let him walk home.

#8

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Had a man mansplain to me what it’s like to live in Asia.

He is white and has not stayed in an Asian country for more than 2 weeks.

I grew up in a small island in South East Asia for most of my life. My ethnicity is Chinese and I grew up around the chinese culture along with the nuances of the culture in different locations. My family was low income.

His experience was that of a tourist. And he learned mandarin for 6 months. I speak mandarin and the 3 different dialects of it (my first language is still English though).

He was the general manager of my workplace. I totally snapped at him and said “Are you seriously mansplaining the Asian/Chinese culture to an American Chinese who grew up in Asia?!?”

He was at least embarrassed.

#9

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An ex tried to tell me that I should just squeeze my period out all at once so I could be done with it and we could have s*x.

Dude, if I could, *I WOULD*. I don’t bleed for a week straight because I *like* it.

#10

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I have a a3 TDI and nearly every time I go to get diesel I get a guy telling me I’m putting the wrong fuel in. So I just go into detail about what TDI means and they always get offended like if you knew what it was why did you run up to me in a huff to “save me from ruining my car”. I have started to go “oh no!! S**t!! I’m putting diesel into a diesel car!!!”.

#11

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A guy from my physics class shared his solution to a problem in our semesters whatsapp group. I told him he’d made an error (he had) forgetting the lower bound of the integration. He proceded to mansplain how integration works to me until he realized that I was actually correct.

#12

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Urgh, this one is the worst. My husband tried to tell me that PMS wasn’t an actual thing. It was just made up by the patriarchy to oppress women and used for comedy effect in misogynistic movies and TV shows. I think he thought he was being super supportive to the cause.

I was like, wtf are you talking about?? Haven’t you noticed that I have an explosive mood swings the same three days out of every month. He tried to tell me that was just me and that’s my personality. He’s lucky it wasn’t the wrong time of the month.

#13

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I dunno if it counts, but my father once tried to explain to me, how I should apply my lipstick. I was 21 then. I just asked him, if he ever used lipstick himself. He said “no, but I know better”.

#14

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Most recently I had a guy try to explain to me that postpartum depression was caused by the mother’s natural instinct to know the baby has issues. Like in nature where animals will neglect a sickly offspring. I don’t think he actually knew what postpartum was.

#15

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Clothing manufacturing, after I had explained why bras are so expensive (he’d asked this question about a FOURTEEN DOLLAR bra his girlfriend got), and mentioned that I sew. He kept ranting on about “so little cloth shouldn’t be that much” and how the quality of a $3 pair of briefs is good enough for him, so bras should cost that much, too. OK, buddy, you go price all the materials, spend the time doing trial and error to design a bra that is comfortable and doesn’t result in weird pointy or even square b***s, then assemble it, and then come back and tell me how much that whole process should cost.

#16

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My own body’s fat distribution. I posted in the plastic surgery sub about my chin lipo and Kybella experience and some dude (without a medical degree I might add) commented that lipo/Kybella was not the right move and I should have just lost weight. He then went on to say in the comments I’m clearly “considerably overweight” and even threw out “obesity”. I was a few pounds overweight at the time of the surgery, but definitely not considerably overweight. I wasn’t then nor have I ever been obese. Plus size, yes, but not obese. I also had had the double chin since I was a 5’7”, 115 pound, anorexic 14 year old. It knew from experience that even when I’m underweight, I have it. It’s just where I store any fat I have. But CLEARLY random dude on Reddit with no medical degree who doesn’t know me knows more about my body than both I and a certified medical doctor do. Give me a break 🙄

#17

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Recently my roommate locked her keys in her car, while getting gas. I drive over and she is at the 1st pump, a guy is parked behind her at another pump and I park behind him. I get out with her keys. She has keyless entry and shouldn’t be able to lock her keys inside the car.

So I ask, “How did you even do that?” The guy behind her immediately replies, “just push the one that has the unlock button on it.”

I looked at him and said, “Yeah, I know. I’m asking her how she locked her keys in the car. Not how to use the clicker.” Seriously, did he just try to mansplain to me how to unlock a door?

#18

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I’m an attorney. My father was talking about a lease, and for some reason decided I needed leases and how they worked in that state (where I’m licensed) explained to me. I just stared in shock for a minute and asked him, “You know I’m licensed attorney, right? Why in the world are you trying to explain leases to me?” No answer, but he hasn’t tried to explain legal things to me again. Wasn’t even trying to match his rudeness, just so shocked it slipped out.

#19

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Coworker randomly tried to mansplain the average temperature for San Diego, which is my hometown and he’s never been there….

#20

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What yoga is. I’ve been teaching yoga for 18 years, training teachers for 12. He went to a class once.

#21

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My boyfriend showed me a video of a girl jumping on a trampoline and she peed her pants. I commented how she must have really had to go and then he went into a long thing of “oh you don’t know? Women accidentally pee all the time” I said “yeah maybe after they have a kid but most women don’t just pee their pants all the time” and he told me I was wrong.

#22

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I am an artist and had a male customer explain a spine to me while working on his commission. Mind you I have 15 years of experience. He also explained to me in excruciating length how my time is my most precious resource and how he wanted to manage his replies to maximum efficiency further wasting my time.

I had someone explain to me that I must be wrong on my pricing because my currency (€) didn’t match and I quote ” dollars of the united states of America money” I told him after he asked what 10€ would be in freedom money that it’s 12$ (can’t even Google huh?) and he proceeded to tell me that 1€ must be 2$ because 12 and 10 have 2 as common divisor. And I told him decimal numbers exist, he got really pissy and canceled his order but not without making me lose more braincells on the way.

Had a dude explain to me how well my deck is built and what to pay attention to and how lucky I am to have such a skilled dad. I waited till he was done to tell him I built it.

#23

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I had a man explain to me that I’ve never been to India. I’ve spent 6 months of my life in India.

I met this guy in a bar and we found a mutual love of travel, so I mentioned I loved my time in India and he told me NO woman could possibly enjoy traveling there, therefore I’ve never been. And any attempt to convince him (relaying my past itineraries for example) was just me “trying to impress him”. His friends apologized to me later.

#24

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Pregnancy. I have had SO MANY MEN tell me what to expect, how it’s only going to get worse, etc etc. just based off knowing pregnant women (not even being with/living with a pregnant woman). It makes me ragey.

#25

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The worst that I’ve had mansplained to me is reading. Apparently I read so fast that I don’t really read properly and therefore I can’t absorb the material. I sat and read the first Harry Potter in around an hour in front of him. Then he questioned me on the plot, when I could tell him all about it he accused me of having already read it. Now I’m older I’d just tell him to sod off!