Chair designed to "prevent manspreading", your thoughts?

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www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/manspreading-chair-design-laila-laurel-award-brighton-university-a9008746.html

So a student designed a chair for men, it goes inward at the edges and has raised edges to force anyone sitting on it to sit with their legs closed otherwise it would be uncomfortable to sit on. She got an award for it and it's been posted all over the media as some groundbreaking idea.

I do however, wonder just how practical this is. If it's installed in public areas or public transport how can you ensure only men sit on it? What if for example the only seat left on a train is one of them and the last passenger to get on is a woman who then has to choose between standing or sitting on an uncomfortable chair? And of course any seats reserved for "men only" mean less seats for women.

btw if you were to flip the chair around and sit on it back-to-front, then you can sit any way you want.

That looks like a staged photo, but no doubt there are many prats who sit like that. However, there are many women who put their bags on seats and roll their eyes when asked to move them, and (the worst) women who spritz themselves with perfume whilst sat next to you.

I think a bit of all round consideration would go a long way, but mainly I was responding to the chair which looks like a real nut crushed. Don't forget that pressure on a man's scrotum can cause impotence over a long period as keen cyclists have found.

The guy in that picture is a clueless dick. The same as people who put their bags on the seat next to them.

It might help us people took their damn coats off. Apart from everything else, they stink.

I think the difficulty is, where would you put them?

Don't forget that pressure on a man's scrotum can cause impotence over a long period as keen cyclists have found.

So stand up. Mechanically men's bodies are more suited to standing for long periods anyway.

And it's a wider issue of taking up space. I'm always struck at my DD's primary schools how much of the available space is boy's space. And woe betide the girls who get in the way.

There's no excuse for it. The last time I experienced it on the Tube with a man sitting with his legs far apart, coming into my space, so I had to move out of the way so as not to have our legs touching, I gave the man the benefit of the doubt because of my female socialisation. I thought maybe he was tall, which is why he had to sit with his legs so far apart. When he stood up he was the same height as me. It's male entitlement and bullying and it's not on. I'm glad women are drawing attention to this. It's our space men are stealing.

I think it's more just a matter of comfort, sometimes taken to the extreme. Women would probably do it too if they weren't used to crossing their legs to protect their modesty.

Men encroaching into women's space is bullying. It happens a lot.

I think the difficulty is, where would you put them?

On your lap. Rainy days are the worst. Train carriages stink and the windows steam up. It’s like sharing a sauna with Wookiee’s.

Women would probably do it too if they weren't used to crossing their legs to protect their modesty.

And socialized to think of others' comfort. And socialized to be afraid of men's reaction.

And so on to the patriarchy.

Women wouldn't do it because we're not bullies. I'm bigger than some people but I still don't think that gives me the right to put my body into their space because it would make me more comfortable. It doesn't compute. it's fucking rude as well as everything else.

I wouldn't never normally NAMALT but lots of men don't manspread. It's only the pricks that do it.

lots of men don't manspread

Of course. But I'm curious as to whether they get manspreaded into as much as women.

I'm sure they don't. It's women who have been complaining about this. I've been googling "what happens when two manspreaders meet" but haven't come up with anything so far.

My dad likes to manspread on the sofa. It's a 3-seater, so there's lots of space. As soon as a 3rd person approaches to sit down, dad adjusts his position to accommodate them. He doesn't make a big deal of it, either.

Women wouldn't do it because we're not bullies.

Wha...?

IME women are equally as bad if not worse in most professional environments I've worked in. This is likely why almost every study conducted on the subject of preferred leadership concludes that women would rather work for men than other women (although I'm sure it'll be dismissed as internalized misogyny).

In the current thread about expectations of women's attire, majority of posters are saying that women have criticised them the most. Same with the thread on here about bullying in the workplace.

I'm not disagreeing to be a contrarian but the bulk of the evidence I've seen doesn't support your claim.

And socialized to think of others' comfort. And socialized to be afraid of men's reaction.

It seems many haven't got the memo on this either.

In the 'who should pay for first date' thread there were women who actually believed men should be 'paying for their company' by footing the bill for everything. Educated, professional women who are statistically likely to outearn said men.

On your lap. Rainy days are the worst. Train carriages stink and the windows steam up. It’s like sharing a sauna with Wookiee’s.

I can't see this working easily. Maybe on fairly quiet bus, but on a crowded one people taking their coats on and off would take up room when the got on and were preparing to get off. Plus they will possibly already have purses or backpacks on their laps.

Coats can be quite bulky in the winter as well, and they won't fit on a lap necessarily.

The more I think about it, the more I think slightly larger seats might solve a lot of problems.

I don't think men are more likely to be bullies either.

They are more likely to be violent, sure, but that isn't the same as being a bully. Lots of women are bullies, and I think they are more likely to do things like spread nasty gossip and cut people out socially - the kind of stuff girls do to each other on social media.

The more I think about it, the more I think slightly larger seats might solve a lot of problems.

Well, yes, but how much wider could the seats be without making the aisle too narrow, especially for people with bags or walking sticks etc?

On tube trains where they're along the sides with a large standing space then yes, maybe have fewer but larger seats.

I'm sure it must be terrible for "fat people" who can't fit in aeroplane seats, but it's not great to have to balance on part of your seat for hours because someone else is on part of it

I spent at the first 10 minutes of a recent peformance of Romeo and Juliet at Covent Garden torn between seething/ disliking myself for seething/ feeling sorry for the extremely obese person sitting next to the person sitting next to me. We were in the "cheap seats" (still around £80) which were padded benches rather than individual seats, so no physical barrier between each seat. Basically she was occupying 2 seats and I and the person sitting next to me were sharing one with me perched on the end of the row.

Bags on seats irritates me far more than manspreading.

Well, yes, but how much wider could the seats be without making the aisle too narrow, especially for people with bags or walking sticks etc?

The buses we have here now are really roomy. Much more so that the UK buses I've been on, usually the front part of the bus has a wide enough aisle that wheelchairs and carts can move around and attach themselves to the safety restraints.

They do carry fewer people than the UK buses. But I am pretty sure in any case that coats on teh body take up less room than coats on them.

Why do men only manspread sometimes? Why, on public transport for example, are they physically unable to sit with their legs together but are they fine to sit on their office chair or a dining chair, or drive a car without sitting legs akimbo?
How on earth to people like Lewis Hamilton manage to bear driving in the confined space of a race car for hours, when Jim from accounts can't manage a 10 minute bus journey?
The answer can only be that they choose when to manspread and don't care about the people forced to share their space.

Bagspreading.

I do wonder if it's to do with the lower back.

Men are generally much taller than women and when slouching a bit in a seat, or sitting uncomfortably, it's much more comfortable to brace yourself with legs out.

And I'm fairly sure Lewis Hamilton's seat is much more ergonomic, customised, and high tech than the average bus seat.

My knees always press against the seat in front on buses (even when sat bolt upright) unless I can spread them, which obv isn't really an option with someone sat next to you.

I do wonder if this method of spreading then becomes the default in other seats (internalised manspreading).

And I'm fairly sure Lewis Hamilton's seat is much more ergonomic, customised, and high tech than the average bus seat, agreed...and still he doesn't require 18 inches of knee-spreading bollock space.

My knees also press against the back of the bus seat in front, but I seem to be able to sit normally the rest of the time.