Manspreading or man-sitting is the practice of some men sitting in public transport with legs wide apart, thereby covering more than one seat. The public debate began when an anti-manspreading campaign started on the social media websiteTumblr in 2013; the term appeared a year later. The journalist Babara Ellen described it in 2013 as "essentially anger at the space these men feel entitled to take up". OxfordDictionaries.com added the word "manspreading" in August 2015. Manspreading is considered a form of Microaggression against women because it is a way of disrespect to their personal space. Lyndsay Kirkham, a professor of English at Humber College, called man spreading a metaphor for men being given permission to take up more space in society.
Transit authority responses
In 2014 the Metropolitan Transportation Authority 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. The MTA campaign, which criticized many behaviors such as leaning on poles and applying make-up, used the slogan "Dude, stop the spread please!". Transport officials in Philadelphia, Chicago and Washington D.C. have not noted complaints against manspreading in particular although the Philadelphia Transportation Authority at that time had an etiquete campaign with the slogan “Dude It’s Rude... Two Seats — Really?” aimed at people who occupied seats with bags. Despite social media pressure and public debate to extend the campaign to the Canadian city ofToronto a representative of the Toronto Transit Commission stated “We’re not commenting on the manspreading campaign", and she reminded the users to be courteous to each other, allowing someone else to take an empty seat beside them. Since 2017 taking more than one seat is forbidden by Madrid Municipal Transport Company. In some cases, people who find manspreading offensive have taken to photographing manspreading, and posting those images on the Internet.
Controversy
Both this posture and the use of the neologism "manspreading" have occasioned some internet criticism and debates in the US, UK, Turkey, and Canada. 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 equity feministCathy Young as "pseudo feminism – preoccupied with male misbehavior, no matter how trivial." 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. As an example, in New York, actor Tom Hanks was photographed on the subway, taking up two seats and criticized for it. He responded on a talk show, "Hey Internet, you idiot! The train was half empty! It was scattered – there was plenty of room!" The Canadian Association for Equality, 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 " women to stop breast feeding on buses or trains...". Commentators in media have made similar arguments regarding the need for men to spread their legs to properly accommodate their testicles, although there is no medical reason to justify this claim. It has also been argued that judging by the number of men who manage to sit without spreading their legs, that there is no physical impediment. Peter Post, the author of the book “Essential Manners for Men” has been cited as saying that the proper way for men to sit is with their legs parallel rather than in a V-shape. In 2016, the word appeared on Lake Superior State University's list of "banished" words and phrases. In 2019, two women received criticism for a "womanspreading" banner that they displayed on a feminist march in Pakistan.
Social signalling
Sitting more expansively may signal dominance and sexual attractiveness for males. Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk, a UC Berkeley post-doctorate researcher recently published studies that found spreading out legs and arms is more sexually attractive when males do it. Using photographs, she found that images of men spreading out got 87% of interest among female viewers. Expansive poses were not as effective for women, who appeared "vulnerable" and "starfish-like" according to other researchers. On the other hand, some analysts have found that women sitting cross-legged may be perceived positively as an expression of femininity. The opposite seating posture to manspreading, leg-crossing, is often viewed as effeminate.
