From Donald Trump to Kanye West: Rise of 'manterrupters' sees men talking over women in the workplace... so just how do you stop it?

  • Manterrupting is the term for when men interrupt women, often at work
  • Studies have shown that men frequently interrupt whereas women do not
  • Shivani Gopal says she has been a subject of manterrupting many times
  • She has given her tips for how to stop the problem in workplaces 

By Lauren Ingram For Daily Mail

Published: 20:32 EST, 13 November 2016 | Updated: 20:32 EST, 13 November 2016

Many women in the workplace will have experienced it; the moment you're talking in a meeting, pitching an idea or solution, and then get talked over by a man.

To add insult to injury, sometimes the culprit will later pitch the same idea you did, and be the one to get credit for it.

It's a common phenomenon, one that has been dubbed 'manterrupting'.  

Not impressed: Women are fighting against 'manterrupting', when men interrupt them frequently

'Imma let you finish': Kayne West very famously manterrupted Taylor Swift at the VMAs (above)

And it's not just everyday office workers who experience this either, with powerful women all over the world fighting against it. 

Who could forget that moment at the VMAs when Kayne West jumped on stage to interrupt Taylor Swift?

Or the 55 times Donald Trump interrupted Hillary Clinton in the first US Presidential Debate?

It's not new either. In a study by the University of California in 1975, researchers recorded everyday conversations men and women had in public places like cafes and supermarkets. 

They found in conversations between men and women, 47 out of the 48 interruptions were made by men.

Frequent: In the first US presidential election (above) Donald Trump interrupted Hillary Clinton 55 times

HOW DO YOU FIGHT MANTERRUPTERS?

Follow the advice of White House staffers and support other women by amplifying their ideas

Introduce a no-interruptions rule at staff meetings

Continue speaking even when interrupted until the person gets the message 

One woman, however, is trying to fight manterruptions one at a time. 

Shivani Gopal, who had a long career in the financial-services industry and is now the founder of website The Remarkable Woman, says that manterruptions are more harmful than they first appear. 

'In a nutshell, manterruption is the unnecessary interruption of a woman speaking by a man. We speak up, only to be shot down by a louder, more forceful male colleague,' she told News Local. 

'Interruptions are in ­essence a verbal ­assertion of power enabling the interrupter to take the floor of the conversation'

'Interruptions are in ­essence a verbal ­assertion of power': Some women are now employing tactics to try and stop manterrupting

The remarkable woman: Shivani Gopal (above) says she has experienced manterrupting frequently

To try and combat this, female staffers in The White House came up with a clever way to stop manterrupting and ensure their voices weren't overlooked. 

Whenever one woman made a good point, another would amplify it by repeating it and crediting it back to the woman who said it, according to The Washington Post. 

This helped to prevent interruptions and colleagues getting undue credit for another's ideas.

It's a tip that Ms Gopal says she believes works, along with a couple of others to stop manterruptions. 

The entrepreneur says that another tactic is to just keep talking and not let the interrupter speak, or talk to your boss about continual offenders. 

Amplification: Female White House staffers came up with a tactic where they reinforced other women's points to prevent manterrupting

Alternatively if you are the boss, implementing rules to prevent interruptions in meetings can go a long way to helping. 

This is particularly important in industries that are male dominated, and could help to retain good female talent. 

While the culture won't change overnight, making small steps can help in the day-to-day lives of women.  

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