ADULTSPLAINING – AN OLD WAVE!

“You have to listen to me, I have seen more life than you” how often have you seen yourself being privy to this statement? I'm sure few of the younger lot have already been subjected to it.

Most of us have heard something called as “Mansplaining”, some of us must have even had the displeasure of experiencing it. But there’s a not so new wave in town called “Adultsplaining”. When adults speak very belittlingly to the young ones, who actually happen to know more about the subject in question, is when this great phenomenon occurs! In simple words, when an adult says “I am an adult, elder to you and my word will always stand correct”.

This phenomenon happens everyday in every situation of every person. With social media as a new game, this has become even more rampant.  So how does one identify this spaliner, well, that’s very easy  -

•  It could be someone who feels – “Having more kids is ideal. It’s not stressful at all. Didn’t we do it? So, can you, why is family planning such a big deal”
  (And I’m wondering, whose gonna pay for those ever-increasing school fees, the eco-friendly diapers and the nanny? Well, how are we going to pay for that money honey, isn't that stressful??!!

•  An adult who will say, that Sliced onions will be better than chopped onions, cause that’s how I have been doing for years.
  (The Sanjeev Kapoor in my head is thinking, have I been doing it wrong this entire time? Is the taste of the onion going to change by the way I cut it?) 

•  It can be someone who says – You better start FASTING if you want to have a baby or keep Fasts on Mondays to get an ideal husband.
  (Yes! FASTING!! That’s exactly what is needed to have a baby and not sex ed! Also, IDEAL HUSBAND! – does such thing even exist??!!)

• This could also be an adult who explains to a Gay Teenager that this is just a phase and they’ll move past it eventually.

• It can also be someone who doesn’t believe in mental illness counselling and who may shun it by saying “Its all in your head, you need a job”

You could list down numerous such situations – funny ones, serious ones, social ones etc. The point is adultsplaining has very little to do with discipline. It is not a motivation to improve the other person, its more about the adult's insecurity. At times its not even intentional. Some psychologists believe, there are two prominent sides of an adultsplainer – ‘Air of Superiority’ and/or ‘Tendency to disagree regardless of accuracy’.

It’s a circle of life and the young ones who have now become adults gradually become carriers of this adultism. Changing times and evolving with it are the key to make this a more fruitful phenomenon for the coming generation rather than an over-bearing one. 

Having said that, the responsibility also lies with the youth of today and tomorrow. The goal  for both, adults and youngsters should be growth and cooperation , not bitterness.

It does become difficult for some adults especially in a world where memes are becoming a new language. The onus is on the younger lot to explain tactfully that you are feeling condescended to, and if the adults' wanted to help , they rather hear you out completely before pushing down their opinions on you.

This is a conflict that has been around for generations. Its time, all generations show the white flag to each other and start LISTENING to make ADULTSPLAINING a more productive experience for everyone’s future.