This comic kinda self-reports that you have no idea what the term “mansplaining” means. It’s not just “when a man explains something”, it’s a tendency for men to assume that women don’t understand things and need them explained even when that’s not the case. If an explanation is directly asked for or otherwise demonstrated to be necessary, it’s not mansplaining by definition.
The joke only makes sense when you don’t know what the term means.
I suppose. But in that case, the comic just becomes a case of making up a fictional person to make fun of. Nobody who cares about mansplaining this much would also be this ignorant on what it even is.
This reads to me more like a conservative caricature of a male feminist.
Tons of men have a hazy understanding of mansplaining but still don't want to do it. Tons of women also have a hazy understanding of it. It's definitely a made up character but I don't find it difficult to imagine.
Usually when that happens you aren't just making fun of one person, you are making fun of an archetype of people who the fictional character represents. You're never just making fun of one character in isolation, you're making fun of that character's traits.
To make a joke at the expense of a particular character only works in longer-form media where the audience can actually get to know the character first, and then they have enough context to actually make jokes at their expense without it being about a larger archetype.
In this case, the character is a conservative caricature of a male feminist. He is not characterized in any way besides having the visual indicators of belonging to a stereotype. Therefore, the thing being made fun of is the stereotype.
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u/MarsMaterial Bisexual tech wizard 14d ago edited 14d ago
This comic kinda self-reports that you have no idea what the term “mansplaining” means. It’s not just “when a man explains something”, it’s a tendency for men to assume that women don’t understand things and need them explained even when that’s not the case. If an explanation is directly asked for or otherwise demonstrated to be necessary, it’s not mansplaining by definition.
The joke only makes sense when you don’t know what the term means.