A woman who took to Twitter to explain the term ‘mansplaining’ with a clever flow chart has ended up being accused of sexism herself.
Kim Goodwin, an author from California, posted the graphic on Twitter to help men figure out if they’re guilty of giving women unwarranted explanations in a patronising manner.
She wrote: ‘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.’
The tweet quickly garnered praise from followers, racking up 3,300 replies, 122,000 likes and 51,000 retweets, but it certainly ruffled a few feather among her male followers, who questioned whether she herself was being ‘gender biased’.
Kim Goodwin, an author from California, shared a flow chart to help men identify if they’re guilty of ‘mansplaining’- a term referring to dumbing down unnecessary explanations
Her chart entitled ‘Am I mansplaining?’ started with the question: ‘Did she ask you to explain it?’ with an arrow leading to the options ‘yes’ and ‘no’.
Those that answered ‘yes’ were told they were not ‘not mansplaining’, but for those that answered ‘no’, the next question read ‘Do you have more relevant experience?’.
An arrow pointed to four further options, with one reading ‘She has more and is a well known expert’, leading to the conclusion of ‘Just stop talking now’.
But not everyone was impressed, with a number of male followers outraged that a term complaining of sexism was targeting a gender-specific group.

Taking to the social media site to address the term mansplaining, she wrote: ‘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.’


The tweet quickly garnered praise from followers, racking up 3,300 replies, 122,000 likes and 51,000 retweets, with another of men accusing her of making it a ‘gendered issue’
‘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,’ one man wrote.
Another claimed: ‘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.’

One man wrote: ‘Based on this chart girls explain things to me without me asking… So maybe we should start accusing women of #womansplaining’.

But one man confessed that his wife had made him realise he was a ‘mansplainer’, adding that he had taken ‘years’ to realise he explained things she already knew.
Citing an example of ‘reverse’ mansplaining, one follower tweeted: ‘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.’
Agreeing, one wrote: ‘Based on this chart girls explain things to me without me asking… So maybe we should start accusing women of #womansplaining’.
But one man confessed that his wife had made him realise he was a ‘mansplainer’, adding that he had taken ‘years’ to realise he explained things she already knew.
And many supported the lively thread, with one woman sharing an example of an incident she experienced.
‘After a full on ten pin bowling match once my very good male friend was telling me how to hold and throw the ball. I said “You do know I beat you?” Turned around and walked off.’
Referring to the viral nature of the thread, another added: ‘It amazes me how Twitter can be both stuffed to the brim with this evidence and also stuffed to the gills with people who just d/won’t see it. Opposable thumbs were really not designed for their agnotological tweets.’


And many supported the lively thread, with some women sharing an example of an incident she experienced