“WOMAN!” I call out to my wife in the other room.
“Stop calling her that.” My woke son responds.
“What’s wrong with calling her a woman?”
“You’re being misogynistic.”
I blink for a moment, a bit stunned. “You don’t object when I call you a man?”
“You don’t call me a man.”
“You’ve never heard me say `Hey man?’ You don’t even notice, do you? I wonder why.”
[He appears to be rethinking his position]. “Oh yeah, I guess you do. Well that’s sexist.”
“Maybe. It’s called `The Universal He.’ See we normalize the masculinization of everything - at least everything positive and that positions us - women - as what’s called ‘The Other’ or something not positive.”
“Yeah but she has a name ya know!”
“I know she has a name. She’s my wife. And I would understand if there was some doubt that I knew her name there might be some reason to construe this as misogynistic or sexist but I have to say, I think your critique is touch misplaced. You’re acting like she’s offended by me. Truthfully, it’s not your place because I know she’s not.”
“Oh I get it, I’m mansplaining.”
“You are.”
“But why is it that every time a man explains something it’s mansplaining.”
“It’s not. It’s just when a man thinks he’s explaining something that a woman already knows, or is better positioned to understand, that’s mansplaining.”
“I can’t win.”
“Sure you can Kody. All you have to do is venture out to the world knowing that you don’t always know everything, and listen. You do that and you’ll be light years ahead of most other white guys I know. It’s the burden of your current social location.”
“Hey mom,” he says with a mischievous grin. “Aren’t you ...womansplaining?”
“I hope so my good man. I hope so.”
