Why is manspreading a thing?!?!?

[FrenchFancie]

I’m sat in an airport departure lounge (aka seventh circle of hell) and there’s people everywhere (of course, it’s Easter). A very unscientific survey of the packed seats around me show every man with their legs wide appart, taking up space. All the women are cramped up with legs crossed, trying not to infringe on other’s space.

now I’m willing to admit I’m in a perimenopausal rage over this, but AIBU to be annoyed about this? Why do men need so much space?!? Even the teenage boys are at it!!!

would I be unreasonable to suddenly start taking up more space in retribution?!?

(May not see any replies because : flight to catch!)

It's their giant bollocks.

Isn't it?

I've seen men do this but women take the other route and use bags to take up space in my experience.

Yep cause of their overinflated balls and egos.

Entitlement to take up ALL THE SPACE

It's a psychological thing. Men are "open" for sexual activity and spreading their legs is a subconscious way of advertising they are available for a quickie. Women tend to be less interested in casual sexual encounters with random strangers and adopt a more "closed" pose. I think part of it is an ingrained habit of not sitting with legs apart that has been passed down through generations of skirt wearers.

YABU how else are they supposed to let everyone know they have giant genitals that are bigger than the man sat opposite, drop their pants in the middle of departure? That would be chaos.

I was next to a major man spreader on a flight once. He wanted the arm rest next to me as well as the one on his side. I pointedly took possession of ‘his’ armrest as soon as he moved. Stayed leaning on it for a good 30 mins. Petty? Yes. Did I feel better? Also yes! He was not happy and huffed a bit and stared but I smiled benignly.

I know MN hates this but it seems very intolerant to me. Considering that so many men do it, there must be something about it that is comfortable for them. Just like it’s comfortable for many women to sit with one leg crossed over the other. Whether it’s their balls or their bellies or anything else, we just need to accept that that is how men like to sit and stop being so pathetic about it.

When people take up space that is designed to belong to someone else, like on airplanes, then they are being rude. When people are just sitting there way they like to sit, others should mind their own business.

If I had stuff dangling between my legs, I imagine that I'd be more comfortable sitting like that, too. I think we tend to forget that anatomical differences play a part.

Having said that, egregiously unnecessary levels of spreading is really annoying, and I'm not defending that. I had someone next to me on a plane last year whose legs were right in my foot well.

I was sitting on a bus once with my face pressed against the window because a gentleman was taking up three seats with his manspreading.

Yep. DH hates this and says it’s not at all necessary anatomically.

He got so fed up of an oaf doing this next to him on the Tube recently that he told him ‘Mate, close your legs, your balls aren’t that big’.

Happily the man was so stunned he obliged, as I dread to think of the contretemps DH might have found himself in if the bloke had taken exception to being called out.

3 seats? Really? Did he have Go-Go-Gadget legs?

He may as well have.

feel free to spread your legs - I would if i had trousers on lol

Men take up space in this world. They manspread to maximise their personal space boundaries. They are large and loud and assertive, and women are taught to be small in comparison. I’ve started taking up space - not moving out of the way when a man walks towards me, using my bag to reclaim space on the train, using the arm rest at the movies instead of shrinking into my seat. You should try it, it amuses my menopausal bad humour!

It is very annoying. I’ve learned to sit with my legs wide apart (enough for my hips through my knees to touch the sides of my seat) and cross my ankles (so my feet are still in my space), and then place my arms on both armrests. I’ve only been asked once by a man if I could move and asked him what part of my body was in his space. He didn’t reply and I didn’t move. I never have to assume such a territorial stance when sitting next to women, it is always a man.

using my bag to reclaim space on the train

Nope, still not a justification for taking up a seat that someone with a paid ticket could reasonably sit in.

As a woman, I'd be asking you to move that bag and I'd like to sit down, if there were no other seats.

No amount of "but I'm doing it to reclaim the space from the man-spreaders you can't see!" would justify that one.

@JacquesHarlowwhere did I say I use another seat on the train? I said I reclaim space on the train. I put my bag NEXT to me on MY seat so that a manspreader can’t encroach on my space. Take a breath.

Don't wanna cruch their balls, innit.

Primate crotch display of masculinity 🙄

It's because of skirts.

Girls naturally sit with their legs apart, just like boys. They have to be taught not to do this. It starts in primary school whenever there is a concert, show or school photograph, the staff remind them, 'knees together girls'.

Because it's uncomfortable to sit with our legs together. It's not really even about my genitals getting squashed, although that's part of it. It just feels almost painful around my hips to sit with my legs together for any length of time.

Doesn't mean that we should take up someone else's space, I'll always stay within my assigned space if there's someone sat next to me. But if there's noone next to me then my natural sitting position is with legs a bit spread.

I think it's probably a lot more comfortable for a man to sit with his legs slightly apart, for obvious reasons, and that's fine. However, there's a different between that and manspreading. It's only manspreading if they're actually spreading their legs into the space for the seats either side of them.

Whenever I see manspreading on public transport where I live, it's almost invariably very young men or teenage boys and I think it's a subconscious attempt to assert themselves by monopolising a space etc. It drives me mad; it's very annoying.

I think the teen girl / young woman equivalent is very loud screeching and giggling with mates which they know is attracting attention.

Apparently it’s because their balls are in the way. Although how they seem to manage to walk around with their legs shut then is a mystery to me!

How do you walk with your legs together then? I’m confused. Shouldn’t you be walking like John Wayne? 😂