Manspreading

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Examples of manspreading on the Stockholm Metro - subject and photographer

Manspreading, or man-sitting, is the practice of sitting in public transport with legs wide apart, thereby covering more than one seat.[1][2] Both this posture and usage of the term "manspreading" have caused some internet criticism, and debates in the USA, UK, Turkey, and Canada.[3][4] The term first appeared in public debate when an anti-manspreading campaign was started on the social media website Tumblr in 2013.[citation needed] The Oxford English Dictionary added it as a word in August 2015.[5][6]The term has been criticized as a caricature of feminism with petty grievances and spawned counter examples of women behaving selfishly on public transportation.[2][7]

Transit authority responses

File:Mta etiquette space.jpg
MTA poster

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in the New York metropolitan area and Sound Transit of Seattle instituted poster campaigns encouraging respectful posture when other passengers have to stand due to crowding on buses and trains. Transport officials in Philadelphia, Chicago and Washington D.C. have not noted complaints against manspreading in particular.[1] A representative of the Toronto Transit Commission stated they were unaware of complaints against manspreading, but did cite complaints against other etiquette problems, including taking up extra seats with bags.[8] The MTA campaign which critiqued many behaviors like leaning on poles and applying make-up had one slogan "Dude, stop the spread please!"[9] In some cases, people who find manspreading offensive have taken to photographing manspreading, and posting those images on the Internet.[1]

Criticism

Woman on London Underground taking up the adjacent seat

The criticism and campaigns against manspreading have been counter-criticized for not addressing similar behavior by women, such as taking up adjacent seats with bags, or "she-bagging". The controversy surrounding manspreading has been described by equity feminist Cathy Young as "pseudo feminism—preoccupied with male misbehavior, no matter how trivial".[2] Twitter-campaigns with the hashtag #manspreading have also been accompanied by hashtags like #shebagging.[7] The practice of posting pictures of manspreading taken on subways, buses, and other modes of transportation online has been described as a form of public shaming.[10]

The Canadian Association for Equality (CAFE), a Canadian men's rights group, has been critical of campaigns against manspreading by transit authorities. The CAFE has argued that it is "physically painful for men to close their legs" and that campaigns against manspreading is comparable to "[forcing] women to stop breast feeding on busses (sic) or trains".[11] Arguments for manspreading have included needing space for the testicles[12] especially when the scrotal sack is halfway retracted,[13] and needing them to be cool.[14]

Social signalling

Sitting more expansively may signal dominance and sexual attractiveness for males. Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk, a UC Berkeley post-doctorate researcher recently published studies that found spreading out legs and arms is more sexually attractive when males do it. Using photographs, she found that images of men spreading out got 87% of interest among female viewers. Expansive poses were not as effective for women, who appeared "vulnerable" according to other researchers.[15]

Historical perspective

Although the term is a 21st century neologism, the concern about seating posture impeding space availability for others is hardly new.

The earliest recorded instance of public commentary on this appears to arise from the "Omnibus Laws" of 19th Century London[16]—in respect of early horse-drawn buses, and intended to make travel more enjoyable—which included:

  • "Law 5 – Sit with your limbs straight, and do not with your legs describe an angle of 45, thereby occupying the room of two persons"

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cathy Young, "'Manspreading'? But women hog subway space, too", Newsday, 5 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Radhika Sanghani, "'Ban manspreading': Londoners want men to sit with their legs together on the Tube", The Telegraph, 23 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11374213/Is-the-manspreading-campaign-just-prejudice-against-big-guys.html
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ http://www.therooster.com/blog/new-york-passes-new-rule-mens-balls-can-only-take-one-subway-seat
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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