When consultant and author Kim Goodwin was asked by her male colleagues whether certain behaviour was mansplaining, she thought the best way to depict this was with a flowchart.
But never in a million years would she think it would go viral once she posted the image to Twitter. It now has over 51 000 retweets.
"Both are experts who are often asked to explain concepts to colleagues outside their field. Both were concerned about those explanations being taken the wrong way," Goodwin told the BBC.
I have had more than one male colleague sincerely ask whether a certain behavior is mansplaining. Since apparently this is hard to figure out, I made one of them a chart. pic.twitter.com/7DZ1RTrB3R
— Kim Goodwin (@kimgoodwin) July 19, 2018
The post has received mixed reactions. But it also seems to have ruffled a few feathers, mostly from men.
Why make this a gendered issue? What you are basically defining here is condescending behaviour that can happen in any human interaction, regardless of gender. I take offence at the sexist implication that this is a male oriented behaviour. #shesexist #notallmen #genderequity
— Derek Nankivell (@Derek_Nankivell) July 20, 2018
To say that the behaviour is "predominantly gendered" is a bold and unfounded statement! This thread alone is rife with people being condescending towards one another. To base your assertion factually, you would need to accumulate data to support your claim.
— MARSH MALLOW (@QueenCaoCao) July 21, 2018
"The label describes the behavior, not the group."
The label literally begins with the word "man"! Are you actually being serious??? ?!?!?!
— Rory Cornelius (@RoryCorn) July 23, 2018
I think this happens in both genders. I've had women explain parenting things to me assuming because as I male, I didn't know. Things such as discipline and nutrition.
— Patrick (@patrick_fore) July 19, 2018
And then there were those who took it with a pinch of gendered salt.
— KatherineSandersIcons (@sjksanders) July 20, 2018