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Image for representational purposes only.
Angry feminists took to Twitter recently after an image of one statue from San Antonio, Texas’ University of the Incarnate World began to circulate online. The sculpture in question shows a woman seated on a bench carrying on a conversation with a standing male. Apparently, in the minds of some Americans, the man’s posture indicates he – and by extension, the artist – is guilty of misogyny.
‘Mansplaining,’ a term repeatedly used by social media critics to describe the scene, is a concept described in The Atlantic as “explaining without regard to the fact that the explainee knows more than the explainer, often done by a man to a woman….”
Paul Tadlock, the sculptor behind this now-controversial statue, said he never envisioned the work would be construed as misogynistic.
“It was two students visiting, talking,” he said, insisting that he was “implying nothing beyond that.”
Acknowledging that “guys, young guys particularly, love to tell everything they know to impress the girls, and the truth is most of the girls know it already,” Tadlock did not intend his statue to represent ‘mansplaining.’
In fact, he wasn’t even familiar with the concept until the recent online debate, noting his primary inspiration was his daughter, whose features can be found in the seated young woman.
The university joined a majority of social media commentators in decrying the notion this statue is in any way biased.
“The statue has long-symbolized [sic] the friendship and camaraderie that develops among students as they attend UIW,” a university source explained. “We are deeply saddened that this image of friendship has been misconstrued as a symbol of sexism on social media. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Are critics of this statue grasping at straws, or do they have a valid point? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Equipping You With The Truth