I was born with white skin and two balls. Does that impact on my world view? You're damn right it does!
Like everyone who has ever lived, I'm biased. My preference is to piss standing up, and I don't like to remain under the sun all day. My pale skin burns.
Every individual has preferences and opinions based on their physical characteristics and cultural upbringing.
Our bodies change over time, as does the culture around us.
If I end up living in China, confined to a wheelchair, no doubt my world view will shift considerably.
However, I can't undo my biological and cultural inheritance anymore than a rabbit can, so I'm stuck with many innate biases.
But does that mean the validity of all objective facts I may recognise or state depend on me being white and having two balls?
Do, for instance, the laws of Nature depend on my inherited circumstances? It would be the height of ego to think so.
Is everything a black woman thinks, feels, understands and states a direct result of her being black and having a vagina?
Would thinking so be an overly simplistic and narrow view of her?
Can we hold opinions and make factual statements based on objective information that is independent of our gender and skin colour? Of course, we can!
The Urban Dictionary tells us whitesplaining is, "When a white person tells a person of colour how to respond to or view a topic, usually when discussing race relations or inequality."
It's a good word. I like it. It has merit. However, all words are susceptible to misuse.
Let me explain further, at the risk of being accused of whitesplaining!
Sometimes I'm right. Occasionally, that annoys folk.
That's when the hostilities begin.
"You're a prick!"
"You're too obstinate!"
"Fuck you asshole!"
Such are the common retorts from many-a-folk with an emotional attachment to a shakey premiss which they cannot uphold with logic.
Such attacks on one's character on social media are boring in their predictability.
But now other means of endeavouring to dismiss solid arguments are becoming increasingly popular, aside from petty name-calling and rage.
Behold the lame cries of, "whitesplaining!" and "mansplaining!"
I admit there are appropriate times to use these terms, but they are often tossed around as intellectually lazy, dishonest catch-phrases.
Accusing people of whitesplaining and mansplaining is fast becoming a universal means of dismissing others, even when skin colour and gender have little to nothing to do with the argument or topic at hand.
When a man offers you advice or information, do you believe he is doing so merely because he is a man, or are you assuming he is mansplaining because you're a woman?
The manner and tone in which information and opinions are presented impacts the recipients' openness to that information.
Nobody likes condescending, patronising, and arrogant dialogue, but at the same time, being resistant to information, or dismissing appropriate and legitimate information purely on account of gender or skin colour, that is folly.
Is it blacksplaining when a person of colour says white folk are whitesplaining?
Is it womansplaining for a female to dismiss a male as mansplaining?
#nonsplaining The act of attempting to explain away objective facts stated by an individual, based not on the validity of those facts themselves, but on the identity, cultural background, or biological inheritance of the person stating the facts: The inappropriate use of the terms 'whitesplaining' and 'mansplaining' to dismiss others.
#womansplaining When a woman dismisses legitimate information on account of the information being offered by a man.
#blacksplaining
When a person of colour suggests you're wrong because you're white. And even if you're right and they're wrong, you shouldn't be pointing out they're wrong because you're white.
