infohippie said:
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.