Men Explain Things To Me

Mr. Very Important I is the host of a party Solnit attends with her friend. An “imposing man who’d made a lot of money” (1), he insists that she stay and talk to him, patronizingly asking her about her writing. When she begins to talk about her new book about Eadweard Muybridge, he talks over her to asks if she has “heard about the very important Muybridge book that came out this year” and is soon “telling [her] about the very important book—with that smug look [Solnit] know[s] so well in a man holding forth, eyes fixed on the fuzzy far horizon of his own authority” (2). It is some time before Solnit’s friend is able to get him to realize that he is actually talking about Solnit’s own book. Several years later, “Mr. Very Important II sneer[s] at [Solnit]” (9) while attempting to correct her on a subject that she has, in fact, thoroughly researched for another of her books. She does not argue with his arrogant assumption of his own accuracy although later confirms that she is correct.  

In both cases, the individual men represent men’s assumption that, by virtue of their gender, they are better qualified to talk about a topic than women, despite any evidence to the contrary.