Readers React: Is it ‘lady lecturing’ or ‘femsplaining’?

To the editor: Meghan Daum’s column has one saving grace: While discussing “mansplaining” and totally missing the point of it, she requests better terms than her own “lady lecture” for women. (“Mansplaining? Windbags come in both genders,” Op-Ed, Jan. 7)

First of all, we as women eschew the term “ladies” these days. “Act like a lady” is the opposite of “boys will be boys.” The term “lady” comes loaded with attendant baggage. A lady does this. A lady does that. A lady is not found in the top of a fig tree. Ladies don’t play in mud.

Next, “lady lecture” sounds like something with tea and little watercress sandwiches that stain your lady gloves. And possibly Chardonnay.

Finally, if Daum wants the pairing for mansplain, it’s “femsplain.” Don’t try to reinvent what the Internet has already done.

Did I femsplain it sufficiently?

Barbara Graham, San Diego

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To the editor: Talking too much and too authoritatively is not based on gender but is a symptom of a personality that needs a lot of attention. A person who takes it upon herself or himself to lecture a random bystander is clearly on a quest for an audience, regardless of the value of the “message.”

We, the recipient of this, can choose to cooperate or politely decline.

Mona Gerecht, Los Angeles

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