Finally, the Perfect Service for People Who Need a Crash Course in Feminism

Impact

Men, meet the Womansplainer: She'll answer all of your questions about feminism for the very low starting rate of $20.

Elizabeth Simins/The Womansplainer

The genius website is the brainchild of Elizabeth Simins, an artist who bills herself as a "misandrist and noted Illuminati ringleader." Simins writes that she created the Womansplainer as a resource for "men who have better things to do than educate themselves about feminism." The tongue-in-cheek site also makes a delicious mockery of womansplaining's more infamous sibling, mansplaining — that curious male habit of patronizingly delivering information while assuming complete ignorance on the part of the female listener. 

Simins' site offers three basic "services:" Googling ($20), talking on Twitter ($50) and talking on Twitter but for longer ($100). Interested customers choose their price tier and then pick their question. Examples range from the absurd ("Are all feminists lesbians?") to the slightly more nuanced ("Why is it 'feminism' and not 'humanism'/'equalism'"?). 

"It's like Zoltan the Fortune Teller except better because it will save you from sounding like an ignorant misogynist," the New York Magazine's Allison P. Davis wrote.

While humorous, the site does serve a purpose: Much like the "bell hooks hotline," which responded to texts and calls from unwanted men with bell hooks quotes, the Womansplainer provides a bitingly funny solution to a problem women face all the time — mansplaining. Think of it as a clever antidote to the sometimes crushing nature of sexism. 

"The point of the joke ... is to highlight that it's not OK for men on the internet to demand that women use their time to explain things to men for free," On the Media pointed out.

As to whether she's serious or not, it seems like Simins is fully prepared to engage with willing customers. Given the public nature of the discussion — and Simins' affinity for calling out her haters — we can't wait to find out.