Poll: Do You Manspread

[Phasmal]

I think public transport has bigger problems than the pathetically pity topic of "Manspreading".

Like those in a rush busy 9-5, 5-6 figure salary city folks who will push and shove you, your kid, the old lady next to you, the bloke in the wheelchair, the mother with a pram and a blind guy out of the way just so they aren't late and don't get shouted out by their overly pissed off boss with a wife that doesn't love him any more and kids who either doesn't give a fuck about life, unemployed or always away from home. That's the kind of asshole you need to watch out for. The Cunts.

Oh and the increased reporting of sexual assaults/harassment. It's on the rise and some people just shouldn't be in public.

NO ONE WANTS TO SEE YOUR DICK DURING RUSH HOUR!!

Well, yeah. There are bigger problems, but we all like to ***** about the small problems every now and then, too.

I mean, there's a dude who gets my bus who creeps on women frequently, to the point where I will literally not get on the bus if I know he's getting on it*.
And I still think people taking up unnecessary space is obnoxious.

*To fend of any well-meaning advice, there's not much I or any other woman can do, as he isn't doing anything illegal and he clearly has mental problems. I just get a different bus.

 

[The Lunatic]

Everyone else paid to be there too, if your being comfortable means making others extremely uncomfortable, you're not exactly in the right. Granted that's an if... Still if the rest of us have to me uncomfortable you're not exempt, it's basic common courtesy, you can't expect others to consider you, when you don't consider them... Well at least not reasonably.

If standing is less uncomfortable than sitting next to somebody, then you may stand.

However, if there's like 10 free seats, I'm not going to make myself uncomfortable when there's other options available.

Though, given this seems to be such an issue for so many people, it's rather odd nobody has thought to make seats sufficiently sized so that a guy spreading his legs an inch or two wider than his shoulders doesn't make people flip their shit.

 

[Dragonbums]

It goes both ways.

I can't stand women who put their fucking bags on the seat next to them when they can clearly see that the seats are filling up or already full and people need somewhere to sit.

I hate it when men 'manspread' like they are doing the fucking crab excercise when there is hardly any room for anyone else or there are only a few seats left and it's obvious by the next few stops they are going to be filled up.

 

[blackrave]

No I don't "manspread"
I simply sit with knees apart at shoulder length, whenever possible.

P.S. I refuse to aknowledge that stupid term.

 

[SweetShark]

No I don't "manspread"
I simply sit with knees apart at shoulder length, whenever possible.

P.S. I refuse to aknowledge that stupid term.

I tried to translate the word Manspread in my language [Greeks] and of course there isn't a word of it....
Also Selfie....f*ck this word hard as well.

Is there a word if girls open their legs as well? I would LOVE to know.

 

[blackrave]

No I don't "manspread"
I simply sit with knees apart at shoulder length, whenever possible.

P.S. I refuse to aknowledge that stupid term.

I tried to translate the word Manspread in my language [Greeks] and of course there isn't a word of it....

Trying to translate a newspeak into non-english is good for a laugh.
At least it's funny until you remember that some people are using these idiotic terms seriously.
Then I become sad and depressed.

Also Selfie....f*ck this word hard as well.

Sounds like a something related to masturbation.

Is there a word if girls open their legs as well? I would LOVE to know.

Sex?

 

[SweetShark]

No I don't "manspread"
I simply sit with knees apart at shoulder length, whenever possible.

P.S. I refuse to aknowledge that stupid term.

I tried to translate the word Manspread in my language [Greeks] and of course there isn't a word of it....

Trying to translate a newspeak into non-english is good for a laugh.
At least it's funny until you remember that some people are using these idiotic terms seriously.
Then I become sad and depressed.

Also Selfie....f*ck this word hard as well.

Sounds like a something related to masturbation.

Is there a word if girls open their legs as well? I would LOVE to know.

Sex?

But seriously, if there is a "term" for a man spreading his legs so his awesome big d*ck is visible, why not for the girls. They are leaving half baked the whole thing.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

First off all, the on who coined the term is a sexist idiot.
Second, until they stop making bus seating for ants, I will spread my legs. It's physically impossible to put my legs in those freaking tiny spaces between the seats in buses. I don't travel by train where there is more space so that means nothing to me.
Third, while it's not impossible to put my legs together, it's uncomfortable, especially if I'm wearing jeans. I'm not going to keep pressing my balls just so that someone doesn't think I'm doing that retardedly named act. Crossing my legs actually helps, but then we're back to point one since that takes even more space than just having my legs slightly open. My shoulder take up more space anyways and I can't just squeeze those together.
Obviously if there is space needed I will shut my legs, but even then I will avoid doing it completely since it's uncomfortable as fuck. Your balls slipped? Whoops, enjoy the torture. And trying to put them back in place will make things even more uncomfortable because if there is no space, then I certainly can't move my balls around without anyone noticing.
Even with that idiotically named act I don't take up more than one space. Unlike that nice lady over there that put her bag on the seat next to her despite the bus being full.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

No, it's not comfortable to me.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I guess it looks to me as though there's two aspects to this.

- Using your legs to block off seating area around you, which, if you don't move to allow others to sit comfortably, makes you a jackass.

- Having your crotch visible, which, if you're wearing normal pants that hide your genitals, seems fine. (Though some people probably just get offended that you're "being a man" at them.)

 

[Dollabillyall]

I sit with my legs apart because its comfortable, not as a display of dominance or "rape culture". Manspreading has become a concept because certain radical "feminists" decided that their personal annoyance could be resolved by shouting RAPE RAPE RAPE over and over again. Great way to advance gender issues...
I'm also a big guy, mostly wide. Even if I don't "manspread" I tend to take up more than the assigned seat. The seats are designed for average sized humans.. something that I am not. I also don't feel obliged to actively make myself uncomfortable by squeezing my arms and legs into myself so that I almost kind of fit into my own seat. If I sit comfortably (with my legs apart) most people quickly notice that I don't fit into the seat and they take a seat somewhere else if they can.

Then there is the fact that, like many other people regardless of gender, I like to have more personal space if I can. This leads me as well as many other people to do all kinds of things in order to implicitly discourage others from entering personal space (and lets be honest, public transportation is designed with complete disregard for personal space and varying sizes). Some of these things I named in line with "manspreading" include:
- bagspreading (placing a bag or jacket onto the seat next to you and not removing it unless someone asks)
- seatspreading (taking an aisle seat, blocking access to the window seat unless someone asks)
- stinkspreading (actual or acted display of poor personal hygi?ne)
- phonespreading (speaking loudly on the phone)
- foodspreading (eating something, preferable with many motions and noises like potato chips or french fries)
- womanspreading (using the seat next to you as a personal bathroom counter by placing tons of personal care items on it)
- metalspreading (listening to shitty music on a high volume, headbanging or singing along optional)
- germspreading (coughing and sneezing, blowing nose)
- kidspreading (not controlling your kid, allowing him to perform annoying behaviours including crying and kicking the seat in front)

Get what I'm saying? People do a lot of concious and unconcious shit that results in seats being taken or at least less inviting. To single out the so-called "manspreading" and especially linking it to gender issues is ignoring facts, context and reason in order to yet again take attention away from real issues (like: why is public transport so overcrowded?) in order to bicker about made-up bullshit.

 

[ScaredIndie]

Nope, not really a mannerism I have but I would probably avoid doing it out of concern about I would be femscolded by a femtitled femwhining feminist.

Isn't gendering words that apply equally to everyone for no reason other than to attack a group of people different than you fun and not at all insulting? /s

Being serious I don't think people being jerks on public transit is a gendered issue and I'm pretty sure this is just "activists" trying to create nice soft slap fights as opposed to addressing actual issues.

 

[Silver Lining]

Usually I will manspread if I'm at home, sitting somewhere alone, etc. Not to the point that it's horribly noticeable but, you know, enough to be comfy. For those of you that say "If you can stand up straight without doing it, why can't you sit without doing it?!" I would like to remind you that there is a lot more room to er... use for our junk when we are standing because when you are sitting, they're also usually resting against the seat, meaning closing our legs too much can possibly lead to unfortunate pain.

 

[Chris Moses]

Sorry I am too privileged to have ridden mass transit more than a handful of times in my life. Please take your 3rd world problems else where....

 

[infohippie]

This term needs careful definition. I sit with my thighs at about a sixty degree angle to each other, maybe a little less. That's comfortable, normal sitting, and does not take up more than one seat on the trains in my city. As an experiment, I tried seeing how close together I could move my knees without serious discomfort, and it turns out I can, with some effort, move them to about twenty degrees apart. There's no way they'll stay like that of their own accord though, I have to continue to exert muscle pressure to keep them like that. The moment I relax they flop back to about sixty degrees again. I literally cannot move my knees closer together than that without significant effort and some degree of pain. So, what's "manspreading", really? Is it normal sitting? Or is it extra-wide sprawling that takes up multiple seats? Or is it just a bullshit nonsense term after all?

Incidentally, if we're discussing violations of personal space on public transport, can we please have a few words on the subject of handbags?

 

[manic_depressive13]

This term needs careful definition. I sit with my thighs at about a sixty degree angle to each other, maybe a little less. That's comfortable, normal sitting, and does not take up more than one seat on the trains in my city. As an experiment, I tried seeing how close together I could move my knees without serious discomfort, and it turns out I can, with some effort, move them to about twenty degrees apart. There's no way they'll stay like that of their own accord though, I have to continue to exert muscle pressure to keep them like that. The moment I relax they flop back to about sixty degrees again. I literally cannot move my knees closer together than that without significant effort and some degree of pain. So, what's "manspreading", really? Is it normal sitting? Or is it extra-wide sprawling that takes up multiple seats? Or is it just a bullshit nonsense term after all?

Incidentally, if we're discussing violations of personal space on public transport, can we please have a few words on the subject of handbags?

People here have provided more than a few words on the subject of handbags, conveniently ignoring that men also put their backpacks and shopping bags on seats.

Contrary to popular belief, women's legs don't naturally clamp shut at the knees as a default position. When I sit on a bus or train with my legs shut I'm doing it because it's polite, not comfortable. The muscle exertion can be mitigated by crossing the legs, which men are also capable of, but simply refuse to do because they don't want to seem "feminine". I personally don't like crossing my legs, but I do it on public transport/seating.

To me it becomes "manspreading" when the leg encroaches over the seat division, or where the seat division can reasonably be expected to be. If it is a two-seater, the imaginary division is in the middle. Many times men have sat down next to me and spread their legs so that they're almost touching me. Just because I have my legs crossed isn't an invitation to encroach on my space. I am sitting like that to maintain space between myself and other passengers. I always breathe a sigh of relief when another woman sits next to me.

 

[infohippie]

This term needs careful definition. I sit with my thighs at about a sixty degree angle to each other, maybe a little less. That's comfortable, normal sitting, and does not take up more than one seat on the trains in my city. As an experiment, I tried seeing how close together I could move my knees without serious discomfort, and it turns out I can, with some effort, move them to about twenty degrees apart. There's no way they'll stay like that of their own accord though, I have to continue to exert muscle pressure to keep them like that. The moment I relax they flop back to about sixty degrees again. I literally cannot move my knees closer together than that without significant effort and some degree of pain. So, what's "manspreading", really? Is it normal sitting? Or is it extra-wide sprawling that takes up multiple seats? Or is it just a bullshit nonsense term after all?

Incidentally, if we're discussing violations of personal space on public transport, can we please have a few words on the subject of handbags?

People here have provided more than a few words on the subject of handbags, conveniently ignoring that men also put their backpacks and shopping bags on seats.

Contrary to popular belief, women's legs don't naturally clamp shut at the knees as a default position. When I sit on a bus or train with my legs shut I'm doing it because it's polite, not comfortable. The muscle exertion can be mitigated by crossing the legs, which men are also capable of, but simply refuse to do because they don't want to seem "feminine". I personally don't like crossing my legs, but I do it on public transport/seating.

To me it becomes "manspreading" when the leg encroaches over the seat division, or where the seat division can reasonably be expected to be. If it is a two-seater, the imaginary division is in the middle. Many times men have sat down next to me and spread their legs so that they're almost touching me. Just because I have my legs crossed isn't an invitation to encroach on my space. I am sitting like that to maintain space between myself and other passengers. I always breathe a sigh of relief when another woman sits next to me.

That's why the term really needs definition, I've frequently seen it applied to men who are simply sitting normally. Or, better yet, why do we need a made-up word containing an intrinsic gendered insult when "deliberately encroaching on other people's personal space" can already be summed up simply as "being an asshole"? "Clamped shut at the knees" isn't necessary, I would consider normal sitting to be keeping your knees roughly within the width of your hips.

Though as for not touching at all on public transport - how is that even possible? Certainly not with the size of train seating around here. If someone's sitting next to you, your legs are touching. No way around it, that's just how it is. If you're sitting between two other people, then it doesn't matter how much they're trying to prevent it, your legs aren't just touching your neighbours' legs, they're firmly pressed against them.

 

[manic_depressive13]

Though as for not touching at all on public transport - how is that even possible? Certainly not with the size of train seating around here. If someone's sitting next to you, your legs are touching. No way around it, that's just how it is. If you're sitting between two other people, then it doesn't matter how much they're trying to prevent it, your legs aren't just touching your neighbours' legs, they're firmly pressed against them.

You said in your previous post that you don't take up more than one seat. If two (or more) people are sitting within the parameters of their seat, why should they be touching?

 

[infohippie]

Though as for not touching at all on public transport - how is that even possible? Certainly not with the size of train seating around here. If someone's sitting next to you, your legs are touching. No way around it, that's just how it is. If you're sitting between two other people, then it doesn't matter how much they're trying to prevent it, your legs aren't just touching your neighbours' legs, they're firmly pressed against them.

You said in your previous post that you don't take up more than one seat. If two (or more) people are sitting within the parameters of their seat, why should they be touching?

Because there is literally no more than a centimetre of separation between seats, and the seats themselves are actually narrower than the average person's shoulder width, meaning that not only are your legs pressed against your neighbour's, so are your shoulders.

 

[MrFalconfly]

Though as for not touching at all on public transport - how is that even possible? Certainly not with the size of train seating around here. If someone's sitting next to you, your legs are touching. No way around it, that's just how it is. If you're sitting between two other people, then it doesn't matter how much they're trying to prevent it, your legs aren't just touching your neighbours' legs, they're firmly pressed against them.

You said in your previous post that you don't take up more than one seat. If two (or more) people are sitting within the parameters of their seat, why should they be touching?

Because there is literally no more than a centimetre of separation between seats, and the seats themselves are actually narrower than the average person's shoulder width, meaning that not only are your legs pressed against your neighbour's, so are your shoulders.

See, that's the kind of seating where, if possible, I try to sit with my legs crossed.

Where I encounter issues is the width of the aisle.

I have long legs, which means that if I sit crosslegged on those seats I'm almost able to reach the opposite side of the aisle with my feet.