Manspreading

Example of manspreading on the Stockholm Metro

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 a feminist anti-manspreading campaign was started on the social media website Tumblr in 2013. The Oxford English Dictionary added it as a word in August 2015.[5][6]

Transit authority responses

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.[7] The MTA campaign which critiqued many behaviors like leaning on poles and applying make-up had one slogan "Dude, stop the spread please!"[8] 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 libertarian 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.[9] 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]

The Atlantic suggests that people find expansive, space-consuming postures more romantically attractive, with a nearly double chance of getting a "yes" response to a second date.[12]

Historical Perspective

Although the term is 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[13]—in respect of early horse-drawn buses, and intended to make travel more enjoyable—which included:

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (20 December 2014). "A Scourge Is Spreading. M.T.A.’s Cure? Dude, Close Your Legs.". The New York Times.
  2. 1 2 Cathy Young, "'Manspreading'? But women hog subway space, too", Newsday, January 5, 2015.
  3. ↑ Radhika Sanghani, "'Ban manspreading': Londoners want men to sit with their legs together on the Tube", The Telegraph, 23 Dec 2014.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Eric M. (16 January 2015). "One body, one seat: Seattle's campaign against the 'manspreading' scourge". Reuters.
  5. ↑ "Manspreading, hangry, Grexit join Oxford online dictionary". Reuters. 27 Aug 2015.
  6. ↑ "New words in oxforddictionaries". Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  7. ↑ Yuen, Jenny (5 December 2015). "Anti-'manspreading' campaign called sexist". The Toronto Sun. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  8. ↑ Tahseen, Ismat (23 December 2014). "Mumbai’s got its own 'man-spreaders'". The Times of India.
  9. ↑ Crane, Emily (3 June 2015). "Are you a man-spreader or a she-bagger? As the U.S. makes selfish behaviour on public transport a criminal offence - Australian commuters think it might be time to follow suit". Daily Mail - Australia. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  10. ↑ Devon, Natasha (16 January 2015). "The rise of stranger shaming: How humiliating others became acceptable". The Independent.
  11. ↑ Otis, Daniel (28 December 2014). "Man-spreading, a transit controversy with legs". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  12. ↑ The Atlantic Does Manspreading Work? Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "Omnibus Laws". The Times (London). 30 January 1830. Retrieved 22 March 2016.

External links

Look up manspreading in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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