Mansplaining’ has become such a big problem in Sweden a telephone hotline has been set up to report instances of this terrible, terrible issue. What is ‘mansplaining’?

‘Mansplaining’ is when a man explains something to a woman without being asked, particularly something she may already know.

The hotline, which is temporary and open to men and women, was set up by Unionen, a trade union that represents about 600,000 private-sector employees in Sweden and describes itself as the largest white-collar union in the world.

Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. every day this week, members are being encouraged to phone the hotline to talk about mansplaining in their working lives. The calls will be answered by 20 men and women, who are gender experts, authors, academics and others.

The hope is the hotline raises awareness of gender discrimination in the workplace and, in doing so, perhaps helps to alleviate it.

 

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