Free Republic

It is the bane of many female subway riders. It is a scourge tracked on blogs and on Twitter. And it has a name almost as distasteful as the practice itself. It is manspreading, the lay-it-all-out sitting style that more than a few men see as their inalienable underground right. Now passengers who consider such inelegant male posture as infringing on their sensibilities — not to mention their share of subway space — have a new ally: the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Taking on manspreading for the first time, the authority is set to unveil public service ads that encourage men...

Full Title: Why do you MANSPREAD? Woman with her tape measure confronts splay-legged men on the subway about the space they consume It is a gripe that frustrates subway riders daily: men with their legs splayed. So one woman decided to confront male commuters about the amount of space they consume. The investigation comes a month before New York City's MTA launches a campaign targeting 'manspreaders'.

Subway Manspreaders Told: Close Your Legs And Let Other People Ride Poster campaign will attempt to stop antisocial practice Doctors say crossing legs will not affect reproductive powers. Amanda Holpuch Saturday 20 December 2014 Comments As 2014 comes to an end, one thing New York commuters can expect in 2015 is an official city campaign against a growing problem: “manspreading”. Manspreading is the act or practice – typically male – of spreading one’s legs in a manner which prevents others from occupying nearby seats on the subway, commuter train or bus. A Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) spokesman, Kevin Ortiz, described...

Time Magazine has declared that men who are able to sit and not cross their legs are a “manifestation of patriarchal privilege.” In an article called, “‘Man Spreaders,’ There’s No Excuse for Not Closing Your Legs on the Subway,” Time’s Etiquette section slammed men who do not sit with their legs together. But more than it being impolite and against etiquette, there is a much bigger problem with men like this: they are proliferating “the patriarchy.” The article explains that men sitting with their legs apart “is the most visual manifestation of patriarchal privilege and that is why it is...