I never knew what manspreading was. I thought there might be some connection with widespread. I was right! It is just men spreading their legs wide on public transport and taking up too much space. Yes, it is widespread.
Just in case you need reminding, have a look at these photos. They were taken in various locations such as London, Boston, Finland, and Toronto. I am glad they included the one with their feet on the seat as that really makes me mad!
Let me tell you how a simple issue of public etiquette got blown up and manipulated by various lobbies to suit their own purposes.
Last year, manspreading hit the headlines because two Latino men were arrested in New York for this “crime.” The truth is that they had warrants because they had failed to pay previous summonses or appeared in court. One of the crimes was urinating in public. Many press reports just stated they were arrested for manspreading and did not provide the background.
As Robert Gangi of the Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP) explains, these 2 warrants were just two of the 1.2 million that New Yorkers have outstanding:
“Somebody gets a summons for a low-level thing, they don’t show up in court, the warrant is out. … A cop stops you a second time, even if for another low-level thing, and it’s the policy of the department to arrest you.”
But Gangi has also criticized the “broken windows” policing policy, where officers home in on minor crimes hoping to prevent more serious offences. Gangi says this is creating tension and a hostile environment because it mainly affects people of color. There is also the issue of cops trying to get more arrests so that they fulfill their quota and get a good assessment.
Then the MRM’s activist groups (Men’s Rights Movement) jumped on the bandwagon and claimed that it was sexist and they needed more space and air for their private parts! They have also pointed out that many women take up far too much space with their bags and shopping.
As many fair-minded people have pointed out, it is just a matter of encroaching on somebody’s space and having a person pressing their leg against yours can be problematic.
Is it really sexist? Look at the video below to see what happened when Liz Plank did a bit of manspreading on the subway and how she was photographed for doing so! Her male companion Nic had very few problems and his comment “It felt good, it felt really empowering” is more than revealing.
“Dude, stop the spread please, It’s a space issue.”
They issued 12 percent fewer fines than the same period in 2014 so maybe the campaign is having some effect.
Londoners were quite envious of the New Yorkers and as soon as the fines and sanctions were announced, they tweeted that they needed them in London too.
The British must have felt a bit miffed when they saw Prince Harry manspreading at a recent event. It was not on public transport but the photoshoppers got going and there is actually one of the Prince riding the subway. That will never happen, even though his brother Prince William recently took a low cost flight to Scotland.
If the Royal Family cannot set an example, maybe the monarchy should be abolished. We can all play a part in helping to stop the manspreading epidemic and nobody needs to be arrested or fined.
All we have to do is to limit the space we take up and ask others to the same politely, of course. Then we can all feel empowered!
Featured image courtesy of Flickr available under a Creative Commons License
