You might think that when he interrupts your story mid-sentence to tell you about his day, he is reverting to traditional domestic gender roles in which the man talks and the woman listens. You might wonder if the fact that he argues against your point before you have finished making it means that he is culturally conditioned to believe he is always right. You might realize that, when he dominates an argument about one of your experiences, it’s because he is inclined to believe women are liars. But you’d be wrong. If he’s going to admit to any rudeness, you have to admit to exactly the same amount, because there were a few times when you were the one who talked over him. See, soft sexism doesn’t exist because he has evidence that you’re just as bad.
That time your doctor called while he was telling you about what he’s 70% sure was a Dave Franco sighting.
You hung up on him after a couple of attempts to interrupt his story, and he will never let you forget it. Next time you want to ask him why he won’t take your lived female experience at face value, remember that hey, you’re not so innocent yourself.
When you interrupted his story about his fraternity days at dinner with your parents.
The fact that he was high crucial to the story, which your parents would have really appreciated if you had let him finish. The fact that you put your hand on his knee and said, “Babe, maybe later,” before launching into your own story is proof that human beings are equally rude to one another, regardless of gender. Not everything has to be a big social issue so maybe just relax?! Weed is sort of legal now; why are your parents so uptight about it?
When you corrected him in front of his friends.
They were having a good time discussing politics; why did you have to pipe up to clarify Hillary Clinton’s voting record? Don’t be so selfish; he doesn’t put you down in front of your friends to assert his masculine dominance—he just does it to add context, which you’ve totally done to him! And Hillary seems like a bitch anyway.
When you asked him to clarify his point yesterday.
He was on a roll, and you totally killed the vibe by stopping him to make sure you understood what he was saying. You don’t have to go all SJW on him when he tells you to calm down while talking about something you care about; you’ve totally invalidated his points too. So suck it! Haha, just kidding. But do.
That one time a couple weeks ago.
You don’t quite remember what he’s talking about, especially since he can’t seem to provide any specifics, but that’s just further proof that you don’t care about his feelings. See, he doesn’t shout down your arguments because you’re a woman. That kind of thing might have happened in the ‘50s, but not in 2015. In 2015, ladies shout at dudes too, okay? It’s just how things work. Does he really need to explain this again?
When you stopped his rant to tell him that he keeps interrupting you just now.
The GamerGaters had some valid points, just bad execution, and you asking him why he kept interrupting your points about harassment completely derailed his argument. Just to play devil’s advocate, maybe you were so emotionally invested that you were actually being the dominant one. Just something to think about.
Now that you’ve admitted that you do occasionally interrupt him, the two of you can enjoy the equal playing field available to men and women in 2015, if you would just shut up and let him describe it to you.
