Splainers Gonna Splain
"Mansplaining" has been a well used term in social media circles for years, now. If you Google "mansplain" then the definition you get is as follows:
(of a man) explain (something) to someone, typically a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing.That seems accurate. You don't need to search too hard to find incidents of mansplaining on social media and in everyday life. I don't know why men do it, I don't know why I've done it! I'm certainly guilty of being that person, previously. I think the majority of splaining comes from a good place, a helpful place. However, it is condescending or patronising in many cases and since becoming more aware of that I have tried to refrain from doing it entirely.
Strangely, everybody can be the victim of a splainer - including me. In fact, I've become the target of splainers more often in recent times. That might be because of lockdown and individuals spending more time online rather than interacting face to face. That splaining itch just has to be scratched!
I've begun to pay more attention to who is splaining, especially on Twitter, and if it's just me that is the target of such knowledge sharing. Men are largely the guilty party but there are women who are also keen to offer unsolicited advice. It is generally the "qualified" who are at the front of the advice giving queue. I've used inverted commas around qualified because just how qualified these individuals are is certainly debatable. Some are HCPs and, worrying, offer detailed medical advice based upon a tweet by another. That's pretty dangerous stuff and the primary reason for writing this blog.
Some of the unsolicited advice that's come my way has involved suggestions to change my basal insulin, to change the dose of my basal insulin, to take a trial of a patch pump, to go on a DAFNE course, to visit XY & Z's website to learn how to exercise with T1D, to "Read a blog that I wrote" about whatever I happened to be tweeting about, to consider protein amounts in food... I think some of you may even remember my "destructive" cheesy chips thread? and on, and on, and on it goes.
It is infuriating.
I understand that the majority of unsolicited advice comes from the heart and is intended in the best possible way. However, I am a 44 year old man. I've had T1D for 36 years. I have a very good A1c and a very good time in range. If I need or want to learn more about any given subject, diabetes or otherwise, I have this new-fangled tool called The Internet, which is bursting with free advice from recognised authoritative sources. If I cannot find the information that I need then I will ask for help, sometimes that'll be via social media. THEN, splainers is your time to shine and not before. By all means ask if I need any help or advice and offer yourself - that is absolutely wonderful and kind and the right thing to do.
I know this is another ranty blog and I'm a little bit sorry about this one, as opposed to the last one, because I know splaining isn't a malicious act. Please, splainers try to think about your replies to the social media posts of others. Please give help and advice when it's asked for and not otherwise.
Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!
