# content
I suspect quite a few men see examples of #mansplaining and assume "I would never do that, I'm not an arse", but this afternoon I nearly explained user agent strings to [checks notes] a widely respected expert on distributed system design before I checked who I was about to reply to. I had assumed a completely wrong context.

Some recent comments from @b0rk@mastodon.social about the XY problem reminded me that mansplaining is what happens when you don't check what the context is before you speak. You may not mansplain because you're an arse, but you'll do it anyway if you believe you never would and so fail to build in the helpful habitual self doubt that makes you pause and say "what do I actually know about this person again?". Especially because if you're a man reading my timeline you likely belong to a society where there's a wealth of research suggesting you (and I) have been socialised to assume less competence in women.

# source.content
I suspect quite a few men see examples of #mansplaining and assume "I would never do that, I'm not an arse", but this afternoon I nearly explained user agent strings to \[checks notes] a widely respected expert on distributed system design before I checked who I was about to reply to. I had assumed a completely wrong context.

Some recent comments from [@b0rk@mastodon.social](https://mastodon.social/users/b0rk) about the XY problem reminded me that mansplaining is what happens when you don't check what the context is before you speak. You may not mansplain because you're an arse, but you'll do it anyway if you believe you never would and so fail to build in the helpful habitual self doubt that makes you pause and say "what do I actually know about this person again?". Especially because if you're a man reading my timeline you likely belong to a society where there's a wealth of research suggesting you (and I) have been socialised to assume less competence in women.