5th Wave Feminism, pt. 2 ~ Heteroskepticism

Heteroskepticism ~ noun. ~ when a woman is correct but a man does not believe her unless another man confirms she is correct; a substrata of mansplaining. Ex; “His heteroskepticism prevented him from accepting a basic truth if it were spoken by a more feminine person.”

A woman once told me she was on an airplane with her family. Her father asked aloud why the direct flight to their destination was an hour longer than the return flight. She, knowing the answer, said very simply: “It’s because of the wind currents, the rotation of the Earth from west to east. On the way there we are going against the gravitational pull, against the wind. So it takes longer.” Her father scoffed, “No, that can’t be right.” Her brother, overhearing, looked it up, then chimed in, “No, dad, that’s right. It’s because of the east to west thing.” “Hunh,” her Dad intoned, finally accepting this basic fact. Not because his daughter was right, but because another man confirmed the information.

Heteroskepticism is in this way an inversion or substrata of the phenomenon of *manplaining*, which, at the risk of doing so, here is an example:

Mansplaining ~ noun. ~ an explanation of information already known by the listener, typically by a man to a woman, perceived as being condescending or patronizing.

Ex; “so, basically… mansplaining means trying to teach someone something but in a condescending ‘know-it-all’ way & sometimes with an ulterior motive designed to flirt/negg’ or feign superiority when really it just makes you look like a douche.” pause “oh, also… so, a ‘douche’ is a feminine product btw, but its also slang for someone who makes you roll your eyes… also isn’t our society so misogynistic that we use feminine products as insults?” ~ techbro overheard at an artgallery

Be aware of heteroskepticism in yourself & others & as gracefully as possible, point it out when you encounter it.

Thank you for reading.