Not exactly mansplaining, I don't think, but annoying as hell: at my old apartment in DC, you could watch the July 4th fireworks on the Mall from the roof. Usually, there were a few people in the building who had parties in their apartments, and then everyone from the party went up to the roof when it was time for the fireworks. One year, there was a guy clearly trying to hit on a girl. And his means of doing this was to try to impress her with his "knowledge" of fireworks. Each time a firework went off, he'd start saying, "Oh, that's a flash-spin type firework, usually green but this is one of the rare red ones, they use argon and potassium to create the color..." and so on, and it was glaringly obvious to everybody there that he was making all of this up as he went along, but he just kept right on going as if he were the world's expert in pyrotechnics.

I also remember once, I met a guy at some Jewish social thing, and he asked me what I did, and I told him that I was a grad student in math. He worked for some lobbying firm. (I don't remember what exactly he didn't, but it was nothing even vaguely science-related.) So, he told me about an article he'd seen in the NY Times recently about a new math discovery. I responded with something like, "Yeah, I read that article. It's actually a pretty interesting discovery, but the article summarized it really badly and had a bunch of errors. The actual cool thing about the discovery was ...." and then he kept interrupting me, to "correct" my information on mathematics, based on this one article that I'd already told him was wrong. Like, he just couldn't accept that I might know more about it than he did, even though this was my field and he probably hadn't taken any math courses past calculus.

(There are two NY Times reporters who I trust with math: Natalie Angier, and Gina Kolata. Articles about math stuff by just about any other reporter there tend to totally miss the point.)

just order more computer stuff from amazon for my office. $3.50 to the board! whoot!

Yeah, it's funny how me being bitchy or grumpy about institutional sexism is considered by some to be part of the problem. There are plenty of straight, white males who are plenty bitchy and/or grumpy, but I don't see them having their reproductive options legislatively curtailed or their income for doing the same work as women reduced (relative to women's) because of it.

If having a bad attitude led to oppression, there's plenty of online commenters who would be naked and starving in a sewer. Yet they never seem to lose internet access.

Like, he just couldn't accept that I might know more about it than he did

Ding ding ding ding!!

I wish I could even figure out how to read the comments on Jezebel now

Don't. You're not supposed to. Don't fight it. Your time and neurons are more worthwhile than that. There's a fix you can install, but why the fuck should you?

I can probably swing getting mansplained to once a week, if I don't not avoid the scenarios. If I do try and avoid it, we're down to once a month--that's in person or online.

Oh, hey, I have time to finish that muffin now. I wonder if I can make it to the restaurant in time for stinky fries...

But even in the media, it only takes one willfully clueless person to ruin my day.

OMG. So much WORD to this.

so much.

so so much.

I often ask men who our countering me on things...

based on what?

I do it to my dad often and he hates it. but really, he has no business talking to me about my work issues, or being a woman, or really even what to do with mac. His base of knowledge is far weaker in all those areas.

I am trying super hard to pull myself out of a mood and I am just failing.

Is it weird to tweet at a restaurant on my block to see if they have running water? I can't find any info other than that streets are still closed, which doesn't bode well, but I am curious!

Is it weird to tweet at a restaurant on my block to see if they have running water?

I'd probably do it, especially if I were a regular customer.

I've been there once! I do realize it doesn't really matter either way and I'll just see what I see when I get home. (If there's still no water, I might spend the night at my folks', but would need to go home first anyway...)