Justin Trudeau interrupted a woman to mansplain, and people aren’t happy
Since his election in 2016, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been revered by many as a champion of diversity and equality. But on February 1st, Trudeau interrupted a woman during a public event to rephrase her words, causing some to accuse him of mansplaining.
At a town-hall event in Alberta, one woman addressed Trudeau to talk about gender equality, complimenting him for recognizing female strength.
"Maternal love is the love that's going to change the future of mankind," she said.
But Trudeau interrupted the woman to correct her, saying she should use the gender-neutral term “peoplekind” instead of “mankind.”
Several people in the audience cheered Trudeau. But after the video of Trudeau’s comments began to circulate, backlash was swift, with critics saying that Trudeau had behaved in a condescending and even sexist manner. One conservative paper, the Toronto Sun, even accused the prime minister of mansplaining.
Today, February 7th, Trudeau apologized for his remark.
"I made a dumb joke a few days ago that seems to have gone a little viral," he told reporters. "It played well in the room and in context. Out of context, it doesn't play so well. It's a little reminder to me that I shouldn't be making jokes even when I think they're funny."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z10goVbpLw0?start=1&feature=oembed
But Trudeau’s apology didn’t stop Twitter users from labeling his comments as sexist. false
With bad “jokes” and mansplaining over a woman talking about the importance of maternal influences.
— Crusty Curmudgeon (@ccmudgeon) February 7, 2018
Woman: *says something*
Justin Trudeau: *mansplains*
Woman: "Stop mansplaining."
Justin Trudeau: "It is peoplesplaining."
— haroun (@DorkyMcDarkFace) February 6, 2018
false
Some even pointed out the irony that Trudeau appeared to mansplain issues relating to gender equality.
"Mansplaining feminism admittedly easier than paying attention to First Nation issues", admits Justin Trudeau
— Milkshake Crimes (@FelishaTabby) February 6, 2018
Nothing screams “I’m a feminist!” louder than @JustinTrudeau mansplaining to a lady she’s using the politically incorrect noun with his dismissive jazz hands #cdnpolihttps://t.co/6kfou4ngip
— Mr. Glen A. (@Glen_Allan_) February 5, 2018
false false false
Others defended Trudeau, saying that his quip was clearly meant to be a joke.
But one correspondent for the Toronto Star pointed out in a tweet that the woman didn’t seem offended by Trudeau’s interruption, saying to him, “There you go, exactly. Yes.”
The US-right-wing pile-on re Trudeau's "peoplekind" is pretty misleading.
He was lightly ribbing a woman who was rambling about the power of women, "God the Mother," and how the world needs womanly love. Fox excluded her response to him: "There you go, exactly. Yes. Thank you." pic.twitter.com/Wl4QIumWrA
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 6, 2018
It seemed pretty obvious "peoplekind" was a joke, but we did have some fun with it. https://t.co/9WyRYGfpfM
— Ali A. Rizvi (@aliamjadrizvi) February 7, 2018
As prime minister, Trudeau has often embraced socially progressive values. In November, he made what he called a “long overdue apology” for the past treatment of LGBTQ Canadians, and he has also issued similar apologies to indigenous communities. Trudeau’s “peoplekind” comment was no doubt intended to be a progressive joke, but he still should have let the woman finish her thought. Men interrupting and mansplaining is an all-too-common experience for women and, as a feminist, Trudeau needs to listen when women are talking. We hope that Trudeau will learn from this experience and do better in the future.
