013 “Manterrupting” and Other Male-Female Communication Quirks
“You have to be able to identify these behaviors in a way that people will remember…[The new terminology] has prompted this huge cultural conversation that we were not having before at all.”
Episode Summary:
In this episode, Gloria welcomes to the show journalist and author, Jessica Bennett. Jessica is the gender editor of The New York Times, working to expand global coverage of women, gender and society across platforms. Her book, Feminist Fight Club: A Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace, chronicles how to navigate subtle sexism at work and provides real-life career advice for a new generation of professional women. Jessica shares some of her own experiences with workplace sexism and provides tips and strategies to combat ‘manterrupting,’ ‘mansplaining,’ ‘bropropriating,’ and many other issues women are subjected to on a daily basis.
The included interview first aired live on YouTube during Take The Lead’s Virtual Happy Hour. Watch the video here.
This podcast is brought to you by Gender Bilingual Communication – a unique workshop that can help everyone communicate more effectively across gender and culture. Inquire about bringing a Gender Bilingual Communication workshop to your company by emailing takethelead@taketheleadwomen.com or via the contact form on our website.
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Resources
Free Download: The Power of Language and the Language of Power
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Books Mentioned
[Take The Lead participates in the Amazon Associates program and may receive compensation for qualifying purchases made through the following link.]
Feminist Fight Club: A Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace, by Jessica Bennett
Social Links
Gloria Feldt’s Website & Social Media
Take The Lead’s Website and Social Media
Jessica Bennett’s Social Media
Quotes/Tweetables
“But I think it’s important and you mentioned the pop culture vocabulary. I think that what these words do is create a catchy way of talking about what’s happening.”
“Clearly, it’s about power. Clearly, it’s about asserting power and how power is asserted or not. And men, again, have traditionally been socialized to use power, the power of language and the language of power, as key ways of controlling other people.”
“You have to be able to identify these behaviors in a way that people will remember. And the fact that there are words like ‘manspreading’ or ‘manterrupting,’ even if they’re putting the fault on men in the terminology itself, have prompted this huge cultural conversation that we were not having before at all.”
“I think in the case of a man or a woman if they’re using a gendered term like that, the question is ‘Would you ever call a man shrill?’ or ‘What’s the male equivalent of being shrill?”
“There’s also research to show that actually giving credit to other people makes you look better in a workplace scenario. And so it benefits you and it benefits the person.”
“I think speaking with authority is really important and probably changes the way people listen and whether or not they do interrupt. Because you kinda first have to own it yourself before you’re gonna convince other people.”
“Politics will never change if we don’t go into it.”