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Rebecca Solnit

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Men Explain Things to Me Kindle Edition

by Rebecca Solnit (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 4,985 ratings

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

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The National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author delivers a collection of essays that serve as the perfect “antidote to mansplaining” (The Stranger).

In her comic, scathing essay “Men Explain Things to Me,” Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don’t, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters.

She ends on a serious note— because the ultimate problem is the silencing of women who have something to say, including those saying things like, “He’s trying to kill me!”

This book features that now-classic essay with six perfect complements, including an examination of the great feminist writer Virginia Woolf’s embrace of mystery, of not knowing, of doubt and ambiguity, a highly original inquiry into marriage equality, and a terrifying survey of the scope of contemporary violence against women.

“In this series of personal but unsentimental essays, Solnit gives succinct shorthand to a familiar female experience that before had gone unarticulated, perhaps even unrecognized.” —The New York Times

“Essential feminist reading.” —The New Republic

“This slim book hums with power and wit.” —Boston Globe

“Solnit tackles big themes of gender and power in these accessible essays. Honest and full of wit, this is an integral read that furthers the conversation on feminism and contemporary society.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Essential.” —Marketplace

“Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions.” —Salon

Print length

118 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Haymarket Books
Publication date

April 14, 2014
File size

1408 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This slim book seven essays, punctuated by enigmatic, haunting paintings by Ana Teresa Fernandez hums with power and wit."
Boston Globe

"[Solnit's] ability to make a landscape into a text is present in every piece of writing she’s ever done, and especially here. Solnit understands that our minds are also landscapes, that they are uncharted territory and we must constantly have something left to discover within ourselves. When men explain things to me, personally, it’s like feeling someone else draw up the borders of my brain. When men explaining things” becomes a concept, we react so strongly because it’s a map that we can use to bring us back to ourselves. The terrain has always felt familiar, but Men Explain Things To Me is a tool that we all need in order to find something that was almost lost."
National Post

"Where opponents would argue that feminism is humorless and superfluous, Men Explain Things to Me is a compelling argument for the movement's necessary presence in contemporary society. It approaches the subject with candor and openness, furthering the conversation and opening a new Pandora's box that's apt to change the way we talk about women's rights."
Shelf Awareness

"It is feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions."
Salon

"A necessary read in these fraught times. Starting with the title essay, which went viral and inspired the ever-useful term mansplaining,” Solnit writes powerfully about the ways in which power is wielded in today’s society, and brings awareness to the staggering inequalities that we wrestle with on a daily basis."
FlavorWire

"Sharp-witted and bold... quintessential Solnit."
Publishers Weekly, "Things We Like This Week" Blog

"Sharp narratives that illuminate and challenge the status quo of women's roles in the world. Slim in scope, but yet another good book by Solnit."
Kirkus Reviews

"I can’t place this book as anything less than a brilliant, varied, and thoroughly enjoyable readand definitely an addition to my list of feminist faves. With that, I urge you to get to your favorite bookshop or library and snag a copy of Men Explain Things to Me. Pull up a chair, brew something tasty, and venture into the wilderness of what a changed world might look like." Lip

About the Author

Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of eighteen or so books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and disaster, including the books Men Explain Things to Me and Hope in the Dark, both also with Haymarket; a trilogy of atlases of American cities; The Faraway Nearby; A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster; A Field Guide to Getting Lost; Wanderlust: A History of Walking; and River of Shadows, Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award). A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a columnist at Harper's and a regular contributor to the Guardian.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00IWGQ8PU
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Haymarket Books (April 14, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 14, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1408 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 118 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #84,259 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #8 in Canadian Politics
- #17 in Feminist Theory (Kindle Store)
- #44 in Essays (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 4,985 ratings

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Rebecca Solnit

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Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of seventeen books about environment, landscape, community, art, politics, hope, and memory, including the updated and reissued Hope in the Dark, three atlases, of San Francisco in 2010, New Orleans in 2013, and New York forthcoming in October; 2014's Men Explain Things to Me; 2013's The Faraway Nearby; A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster; A Field Guide to Getting Lost; Wanderlust: A History of Walking; and River of Shadows, Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award). A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a columnist at Harper's and frequent contributor to the Guardian newspaper.

She encourages you to shop at Indiebound, your local independent bookstore, Powells.com, Barnes & Noble online and kind of has some large problems with how Amazon operates these days. Though she's grateful if you're buying her books here or anywhere....

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gbleuc

Please read this book!!

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2023

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This is easily one of the best, most concise books on the experiences of women that I have ever read. It is not an easy read in that the subject matter is heavy, but it’s absolutely necessary for each of us to read, understand, and confront these truths if we are to better our society. It is 100% true and 100% real. Solnit does us all a public service with her writing, research, and compassion.

I recall reading one review left by a woman who took issue with the reality of mansplaining existing on a continuum of violence against women. But, denial is a river in Egypt. I understand that it may be uncomfortable for some people to hear these things, both men and women, but IMO it’s better to live in reality than to find comfortable ways of denying or minimizing it (which keeps us all in the same sad place)- And which, as many women know, is a game you’ll never win.

Solnit walks us through the landscape of where we are today with gender inequality with great attention, detail, care, and deeply powerful, expertly crafted prose.

A great big, thank you to her, and to the women and men here who recognize the tremendous value of this book and the urgent need for change that is the call of modern feminism.

14 people found this helpful

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Ian

Some Thoughts On/For Conservative Readers

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2015

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I bought this book for my brother-in-law shortly after my sister gave birth to a daughter. I thought it would be a fun “Hey, you have a daughter, this might be a good thing to start thinking about”-type gift. And so he didn’t feel totally alone while reading it, I bought myself a copy as well.

Solnit is clearly a powerful mind and talented writer. Her prose is strong and forceful, and she writes with stirring— at times contagious—- conviction. The book’s most powerful essays (“Men Explain Things To Me” and “#YesAllWomen”) are intelligent, clear-sighted looks at a massive, difficult, dangerous topic. It’s saddens me to applaud Solnit for her courage in writing this, if only because that acknowledges the typical backlash against women who speak out against misogyny, but she IS courageous and that alone warrants commendation.

The book starts out with a funny, almost playful anecdote about being mansplained to by a pompous idiot at a party in Aspen, but then quickly moves into darker waters. Solnit goes on to use politics, art, history and new media as springboards for discussing the interconnectedness of cultural misogyny and how mansplaining and rape can be viewed as existing on a continuum. Towards the end of the book she summarizes this nicely: “It’s a slippery slope. That’s why we need to address the slope, rather than compartmentalizing the varieties of misogyny and dealing with them separately.” (p. 134) It’s a new way of looking at an ancient problem, articulated in a way that I don’t think I’ve heard before, and Solnit rounds out her case by anticipating counter arguments (i.e. men being falsely imprisoned for rape) and responding to them to the degree that they deserve.

So here’s the part where I complain: While her arguments are culturally important and her writing is strong, Solnit’s rhetoric seems, at times, deliberately hyperbolic and meant to divide readers. On pg. 57 she describes the case of Ariel Castro, a man accused of imprisoning, torturing and sexually abusing three women as being “a vicious version of the traditional [marriage] arrangement.” Later on in the book (p. 153) she takes a similar swipe at capitalism: “There’s more that we need to be liberated from… a system that serves environmental destruction and limitless consumption…” And beyond that there’s a general celebration of revolution, (non-violent) anarchy, as well as Solnit’s insistence that this is, indeed, “a war.” In other words, if you’re traditional / conservative / old-fashioned, then chances are you’re probably going to feel pretty alienated while reading this, if not all out attacked. I don’t consider myself conservative, but there were still times when I felt myself getting defensive. With that said, I was less annoyed with this on ideological terms than I was by what felt like a tactical mis-step. Simply put: This is a wise book. This is an important book. A lot of people should be reading it and absorbing it's message. And I could suddenly feel thousands of readers— good people who’s minds are ready to be expanded— fleeing from it’s very positive message, because they were being lumped in with rapists and murderers. I was frustrated because I felt like the book was preaching to the choir and, in-so-doing, entrenching conservatives deeper into their current belief systems.

One could argue that this book isn't intended to convert and so it's unfair to judge it by those standards; that it’s a celebration and reminder of what’s already been accomplished in the fight for gender equality, and that now it’s up to someone else to write the gentler, more palatable book that eases The Other Side into progressive thinking. And you know what— that may very well be the case. In the meantime, I encourage conservative thinkers who are interested in reading this to do so with an open mind instead of just looking for things to disagree with. Because the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of what’s discussed in this book really has nothing to do with superficial left / right politics and everything to do with how we want our nieces/daughters to be treated as they grow up in the world. And that feels like something we can all agree on.

1,006 people found this helpful

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Frankie L. Winchester

21st Century Feminism

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2023

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Having read the feminist works of the 1960s and 1970s plus a few new articles each year, I didn't think there was much that was unique being written. However I seem to have missed quite a bit.

Rebecca Solnit is the author of several books of essays, all of which sound very interesting. Men Explain Things to Me, the title essay, is fun to read. It will resonate with almost every woman who has been out in the world in the last 50 years. The essays that follow in this short volume are remarkable for their clarity and insight. I am glad I read this.

6 people found this helpful

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ItsARaptor

Good prose, but title is devastatingly misleading: 3.5 stars

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2022

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Pros: Excellent writing. Dark humor.

Cons: Title and description are very misleading. Violent assault is frequently and graphically brought up. Can be jarring for survivors.
——

I want to start by saying the author’s grip of prose, presenting facts, and painting the “bigger picture” are truly fantastic. I could read a lot more of her writing. By weaving in personal anecdotes with statistics and real global events she is able to tie together one woman’s experience with the collective female experience. However, neither the title, the inner sleeve, or the back cover truly convey what the book is about. This book is about physical violence against women. This book often and repeatedly brings up horrific incidents in a way that doesn't offer anything new and without any deeper analysis.

The book starts by making the argument that mansplaining is a milder, socially acceptable point within a continuum of violence against women, with r*pe and murder being at the other end. We then quickly jump into a lot of talk about sexual assault (SA). Being a survivor, it is challenging to navigate some sections.

I thought it would be a series of essays or stories about women being condescended to by men who know much less, or even about how women’s voices are ignored in professional spaces. It is not. I suppose that’s my own fault for not doing some homework beforehand. I bought it without having read her other essays, but rather based on recommendations from other feminist literature I read. I really would have liked any indication that this book is mostly about societal norms that allow (or even drive) men to ignore, assault, or kill women.

I understand the argument the author is making. All socially sanctioned transgressions against women are an expression of misogyny, with some more violent than others. To an extent, I do agree that mansplaining is just another form of denying women’s knowledge by denying their experiences. The same mentality is used to ignore women when men are stalking them, when men are violent, and when men have show a repeated disregard for collective female voices.

However, the slippery slope argument with constant tying-in to SA just feels “wrong” in a way I can’t put my finger on. To compare male condescension to SA as points within a continuum almost feels hyperbolic. Yes, the root cause is the same: seeing women not as people but as possessions or opportunities. I think that’s where the similarities end. Furthermore, it is very jarring to read graphic descriptions of assault in between descriptions of unequal gender norms.

The topic of SA is ever more important as we watch women’s rights erode in the US. It is one that *must* be talked about. If that is what you want to read about, this may be the book for you. If not, you may want to pass.

--TLDR: The writing is good, but the title is deceptively mild. You will not be reading about men explaining things to women. You will be reading about physical and sexual violence against women. As such, this may or may not be the book for you.

50 people found this helpful

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