A woman who took to Twitter to explain the term 'mansplaining' with a clever flow chart has ended up being accused of sexism herself.

Kim Goodwin, an author from California, posted the graphic on Twitter to help men figure out if they're guilty of giving women unwarranted explanations in a patronizing manner.

She wrote: 'I have had more than one male colleague sincerely ask whether a certain behavior is mansplaining. Since apparently this is hard to figure out, I made one of them a chart.'

Kim Goodwin, an author from California, shared a flow chart to help men identify if they're guilty of 'mansplaining'- a term referring to dumbing down unnecessary explanations

Taking to the social media site to address the term, she explained that she had created a chart for a male colleague to help him identify mansplaining behavior

The tweet quickly garnered praise from followers, racking up 3,300 replies, 122,000 likes and 51,000 retweets, but it certainly ruffled a few feather among her male followers, who questioned whether she herself was being 'gender biased'.

Her chart entitled 'Am I mansplaining?' started with the question: 'Did she ask you to explain it?' with arrows leading to the options 'yes' and 'no'.

Those that answered 'yes' were told they were 'not mansplaining', but for those that answered 'no', the next question read, 'Do you have more relevant experience?'

Arrows then pointed to four further options, with three highlighting varying degrees of mansplaining behavior, the last of which asked the reader to identify whether the person they were speaking to possessed 'more relevant experience' and was a 'well known expert' in the matter.

If answered in the affirmative, the conclusion was very clear and simple: 'Just stop talking now.'

But while the chart has been widely praised online, not everyone was impressed, with a number of male followers outraged that a term complaining of sexism was targeting a gender-specific group.

The tweet quickly garnered praise from followers, racking up 3,300 replies, 122,000 likes and 51,000 retweets, however some men were angry that she had made it a 'gendered issue'

One male Twitter user suggested that the chart itself was evidence that ladies should be accused of 'womansplaining' things to men

'Why make this a gendered issue?' one man questioned.

'What you are basically defining here is condescending behaviour that can happen in any human interaction, regardless of gender. I take offence at the sexist implication that this is a male oriented behavior.'

Another claimed: 'To say that the behavior is "predominantly gendered" is a bold and unfounded statement!

'This thread alone is rife with people being condescending towards one another. To base your assertion factually, you would need to accumulate data to support your claim.'

Citing an example of 'reverse' mansplaining, one follower tweeted: 'I think this happens in both genders. I've had women explain parenting things to me assuming because as I male, I didn't know. Things such as discipline and nutrition.'

A man called Chris confessed that his wife had made him realize he was a 'mansplainer', adding that he had taken 'years' before he became aware of his bad habit

And many supported the lively thread, with some women sharing an example of a mansplaining incident she experienced

Agreeing, one wrote: 'Based on this chart girls explain things to me without me asking... So maybe we should start accusing women of #womansplaining.'

But one man confessed that his wife had made him realize he was a 'mansplainer', adding that he had taken 'years' to become aware of the fact that he had been explaining things she already knew.

Many other Twitter users also supported the lively thread, with one woman sharing an example of an incident she experienced when a close friend began mansplaining something to her - revealing the rather blunt way that she dealt with it.

'After a full on ten pin bowling match once my very good male friend was telling me how to hold and throw the ball. I said, "You do know I beat you?" [Then I] turned around and walked off.'

Referring to the viral nature of the thread, another added: 'It amazes me how Twitter can be both stuffed to the brim with this evidence and also stuffed to the gills with people who just d/won't see it.

'Opposable thumbs were really not designed for their agnotological tweets.'