A contemporary, startling
trend in intergender interactions, called “mansplaining”, remains one of the most pervasive and relevant topics of contention on campus and in the modern world. Essentially, male-identifying individuals tend to overly assert themselves in conversation, interrupting marginalized individuals, discrediting their valuable Essentially, male-identifying thoughts and opinions, individuals tend to overly assert and making them feel heard. This comthemselves in conversation, less plaint resounds through interrupting marginalized our community at individuals, discrediting their Swarthmore, particularly in the classroom, valuable thoughts and opinions, where marginalized and making them feel less heard. groups feel disrespected especially by male professors. Regarding this issue, I hope to provide insight into the relevance of this topic on religion and the potential solutions from a Christian perspective. In a religious setting, the broader dia-
2 | A Biblical Criticism of Mansplaining
logue about this phenomenon of gender hierarchy has immense implications from the lack of female leaders in the Catholic church to the rhetoric of evangelists to the doctrine of intergender interactions. Given the emotional and lasting response to the question, it is worth considering how to marry the two in such a way that the Christian faith remains an accepting and truly personal religion. This article will address this dichotomy, starting with one of the most vulnerable practices for mansplaining in Christianity: evangelism. I should first mention that I do, in fact, identify as male, and hope myself to avoid “mansplaining” and other pitfalls in this article. Although I will be speaking about this topic from my own perspective and experience as a male, others may have different but equally valuable thoughts on the matter as well. Masculinity also means and manifests itself in different ways for different people, and it would be far too constricting to call the male identity a monolith. Masculinity has no one definition or manifestation and, in speaking about a topic as
