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About

Manterrupting is an Internet slang term used to describe an unwarranted interruption of a woman by a male colleague in workplace environment. The neologism rose to online prominence after it became widely embraced by feminist bloggers and critics of Donald Trump during the 2016 United States Presidential Election debates in September 2016.

Origin

The term "manterrupting" was coined by writer Jessica Bennett in a TIME magazine article titled "How Not to Be ‘Manterrupted’ in Meetings"^[1] published on January 14th, 2015. In the article, Bennett coined the terms "manterrupting," a portmanteau of man and interrupting, and "bropropriating, a portmanteau of bro and appropriating, which are respectively defined as “unnecessary interruption of a woman by a man” and “taking a woman’s idea and taking credit for it" in workplace settings, to explain such behavioral patterns as surveyed by Adam Grant, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and published by the New York Times^[2] on January 12th, 2015.

Spread

Throughout January 2015, the phenomenon of "manterrupting" was reported on by a number of other news outlets, with many articles offering additional advices on how to deal with such behaviors, including Behance^[3] and Women You Should Know^[4]. On January 16th, 2016, the first Urban Dictionary entry^[7] for the term was submitted by user FeministMiss, defined as the following:

Manterrupting: a sexist display of male "dominance". A trait that has not yet been lost despite decades of evolution. When men interrupt women because they "believe" that what they have to say is somehow more important.

Boy: why aren't you joining in on the conversation any more? Talk wth us!

Girl: I would love to, but anytime I try to say to chime in, but your buddies keep manterrupting me.

On March 8th, 2016, Fortune^[5] ran an interview article with Glen Mazzara, a former producer of The Shield and The Walking Dead, which highlighted his efforts to expand the gender and ethnic diversity of the writing staff while working on the shows, an example that was cited in Adam Grant's study (shown below).

On September 22nd, Glamour Magazine^[6] ran an article titled "Yup, Science Confirms 'Man-terrupting' Is Real"^[6], which further delves into the history and depth of the phenomenon as an everyday example of workplace sexism in modern societies, citing various gender studies published between 1975 and 2014.

Criticisms

As previously seen with "mansplaining," the sexist undertone of "manterruption" has been disputed by critics of social justice activism, anti-feminists and men's rights activists, particularly on Urban Dictionary,^[8] where there are several entries that offer alternative definitions for the term as a bigoted word favored by militant feminists, as well as several communities affiliated with Men's Rights Activism on Reddit.^[9]^[10]

2016 United States Elections Debates

In late September 2016, during the first round of the United States presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, several news outlets and commentators criticized the Republican presidential candidate's repeated interruption of Clinton's responses as a textbook example of "manterruption" in action, including The New York Times,^[11] Huffington Post,^[12] The Telegraph^[13] and Bustle,^[14] among others.

Search Interest

External References

^[1] Time Magazine – How Not to Be ‘Manterrupted’ in Meetings

^[2] New York Times – Speaking While Female

^[3] Behance – 7 ways to combat Manterrupting

^[4] Woman You Should Know – 7 Ways To Combat Manterrupting

^[5] Fortune Magazine – Why This Former 'The Walking Dead' Producer Banned 'Manterrupting'

^[6] Glamour Magazine – Yup, Science Confirms "Man-terrupting" Is Real

^[7] Urban Dictionary – Manterrupting

^[8] Urban Dictionary – Search Results for 'manterrupting'

^[9] Reddit – 'Mansplaining', 'Manterrupting' and 'Manspreading' are baseless gender-slurs and are just as repugnant as any other slur.

^[10] Reddit – 'Manterrupting?' Never speak when a woman is speaking because she is a woman? There are people that actually believe this shit.

^[11] New York Times – Hillary Clinton Will Not Be Manterrupted

^[12] The Huffington Post – Donald Trump Couldn’t Stop Interrupting Hillary Clinton On Debate Night

^[13] The Telegraph – The debate proves Donald Trump could be a world leader – in manterrupting

^[14] Bustle – Trump's Interruptions Of Clinton At The Debate, Put In Upsettingly-Scientific Context

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7 WAYS TO COMBAT MANTERRUPTING An illustrated guide for men, women and bosses, inspired by Jessica Bennett's column "How Not to Be Manterrupted in Meetings" published on Time.com man-terrupt / 'mantarapt / V. An unnecessary interruption of a woman, usually by a man. MANTERRUPT BROPROPRIEro pro priate / bro pröpre ãt/v. The act of taking credit for a woman's idea Studies show when women speak up at work, they are more likely to be interrupted and less likely to be credited for their contributions. As a result, women speak up less than their male counterparts. However manterrupting and "bropropriating don't just harm women. This pattern stifles teamwork and holds back innovation HERE'S HOW WE CAN STOP IT: FIRST, ACKNOWLEDGE WE ALL EXHIBIT UNCONSCIOUS GENDER BIAS O"Boss" "Bossy" Persuasive ESTABLISH A NO-INTERRUPTION RULE FOR EVERYONE AT THE TABLE. 오"Pushy" "When a woman speaks in a professional setting, she walks a tightrope. Either shes barely heard or she's judged as too aggressive. When a man says virtually the same thing, heads nod in appreciation for his fine idea." Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant in The New York Times PRACTICE BYSTANDER INTERVENTION: Stop an interrupter in his (or her) tracks...don't stay silent. Ahem Hold on Wait, letI want to hear her finish what Jess is saying CREATE A BUDDY SYSTEM: Pair up with a colleague and agree 4to actively listen and show interest when one of you speaks up in a meeting. (Sadly, this is especially effective if your partner is a guy.) SUPPORT YOUR FEMALE COLLEAGUES Ask any woman in the working world Give credit where it's due. and e all recognize the phenomenon. We speak up in a meeting, only to hear a man's voice chime in louder. We pitch an idea, perhaps too uncertainly-only to have a dude repeat it with authority We may possess the skill, but he has the right vocal cords-which means we shut up, losing our confidence (or worse, Good point! Thanks the credit for the work). Jessica Bennett from Time.com WOMEN: PRACTICE ASSERTIVE BODY LANGUAGE & SPEAK AUTHORITATIVELY SUPPORT COMPANIES WITH WOMEN IN POWER X "Sorry-' XUptalk Lean in (literally) Power poses © 2015 KATHLEEN EDISON Read "How Not to Be Manterrupted in Meetings" by Jessica Bennett here: time.com/3666135/sheryl-sandberg-talking-while-female-manterruptions

That's an excellent suggestion, Miss Triggs. Perhaps one of the men here would like to make it. lent suggestion, Miss Triggs

16 manterrupting-) Manterrupting: a sexist display of male "dominance". A trait that has not yet been lost despite decades of evolution. When men interrupt women because they "believe" that what they have to say is somehow more important. Boy: why aren't you joining in on the conversation any more? Talk wth us! Girl: I would love to, but anytime I try to say to chime in, but your buddies keep manterrupting me. by FeministMiss January 16, 2016

7 WAYS TO COMBAT BANETERRUPTING An illustrated quide for men, women and Big Guys, inspired by Abige Guie's column "How Not to Be BANEterrupted' in Meetings" published on CIA.gov BANE ter-rupt/BANEta rapt/v. An extremely painful interruption of a woman, usually by a big guy BANETERRUPT CIAPROPRIATE for your master plan CIA pro-pri-ate / CIA prõpre āt/ v. The act of taking credit Studies show when women speak up at work, they are more likely to be interrupted and less likely to be credited for their contributions. As a result, women speak up less than their masked counterparts. However BANEterrupting and "CIApropriating don't just harm women. This pattern stifles teamwork and holds back innovation HERE'S HOW WE CAN STOP IT: FIRST, ACKNOWLEDGE WE ALL EXHIBITBoss UNCONSCIOUS BIG GUY BIAS "Bossy Persuasive Pushy" ESTABLISH A NO-INTERRUPTION RULE FOR YOU 우 "When a woman speaks in a professional setting, she walks a tightrope Either she's barely heard or she's judged as too aggressive. When BANE says virtually the same thing, heads tremble in fear of reckoning Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant in The Big Guy Times PRACTICE BYSTANDER INTERVENTION: Stop an interrupter in his (or her) tracks..with no survivors Amen eThe fire Have we started the fire? rises DON'T CREATE A BUDDY SYSTEM: Because you don't 4 ) get to bring friends SUPPORT YOUR )FEMALE COLLEAGUES It doesn't matter who they are, what matters is our plan Ask any woman in the working world and we all recognize the phenomenon We speak up in City Hall, only to hear BANE's voice chime in louder. We pitch an idea, perhaps too uncertainly-only to have BANE repeat it with authority We may possess the skill but he has the right vocal cords-which means we shut up, losing our confidence (or worse our lives ) C0 Abige Guie from CIA@aol.gov You're a big guy For you PRACTICE PUTTING 6 ) ON THE MASK: Nobody SUPPORT COMPANIES WITH BANE IN POWER cares who you are until you put on the mask No Mask Mask Still no mask-V Power poses © BANE: The Necessary Evil

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About

Origin

Spread

Manterrupting: a sexist display of male "dominance". A trait that has not yet been lost despite decades of evolution. When men interrupt women because they "believe" that what they have to say is somehow more important.

Boy: why aren't you joining in on the conversation any more? Talk wth us!

Girl: I would love to, but anytime I try to say to chime in, but your buddies keep manterrupting me.