How to NOT mansplain

We can all learn from the SCOTUS confirmation hearings

On Tuesday, Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson graciously answered some ignorant and long-winded questions (looking at you, Sen. Graham; you are useless as a tit on a boar hog, and you, Sen. Mike Lee, and this is not the first time you’ve been accused of mansplaining).

What drives me up a wall is the long, long, looooong lead-ins to questions that so often come from the male members (see what I did there?) of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who, among other duties, are charged with vetting candidates for the highest court in the land.

It’s well-dressed mansplaining, the verbal form of man-spreading, and just as ugly. In both situations, a man believes he can take up more space than God intended — either with his words or with his posture.

Long lead-ins to questions is a rookie mistake that some journalists make, as well. Good journalists keep the lead-up to the actual question brief, because no one is paying to hear the journalists talk, just as no one is paying to hear these various senators speak, either. For today’s hearings, sit and time how long a senator speaks, versus how long the senator listens to the judge speak. Wouldn’t you rather hear from the judge?

This isn’t just me talking:

We went from Cruz’s whatever-that-was, to Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri’s Lanky Fascist, and his cringe-worthy deep dive into child pornography that even the National Review finds distasteful.

So. Let’s learn from this. If you find yourself in a situation where you think you’re mansplaining, here’s how you can tell that it’s time to shut your pie hole.

• The person to whom you are speaking has a glazed look on his/her/their face.

• You’ve spent more time talking about the question (giving context/history/whateverthehell) than actually asking the question.

• You are speaking about, say, the law, with a Court of Appeals judge who knows more than you ever will. I don’t suggest you compare degrees, but come the hell on.

• You have decided that, because the person to whom you are speaking, is shorter than you, then they are also stupid and need your explanations.

• You just read a book on a topic and have anointed yourself an expert on that topic. You are not an expert. You are a squirt. Sit down.