Have you heard that NYC is set to officially discourage "Letting the boys breathe"?

Well, the poster example I saw made no reference to weight or sex (yes, I know that “dude” usually refers to men, but not always) so any concern about weightism or sexism is from interpretation, not statement.
And yeah, taking up seat space unnecessarily is just kind of rude during crowded train times.

Why not just be super general and say “Please do not take up more than one seat.” or “Please take only one seat for yourself.”?

I thought this was going to be about Eric Garner!

I will support this when they make seats tall enough for 6’+ people, and they start campaigns against overweight passengers.

It’s really sad when we have to make laws instructing people how not to be rude.

Overweight people can’t make more room simply by changing the way they sit.

6’ people can’t help the fact that they are 6’.

And the guys don’t do it to “let the boys breath.” It’s a primitive way of making yourself look bigger than you are, and also probably a desire to show off their giant genitalia.

“Manspreading” to me sounds like the latest non-issue that social-justice warriors and Tumblr “feminists” have gotten themselves obsessed with.

If it truly is about saving space when subways are crowded, that’s completely different. But then it would also target women who sit like that (and I have seen women sit like that), and wouldn’t only target men. This seems to be more about targeting “immodest” male behavior.

Very few women sit like that after the’re grown.

@hominid, I’m very short, the seats are not comfortable for me, either, yet I don’t condone the deliberate blocking of access to seating. And what does being overweight have to do with it? An overweight person sitting like that is as rude as a six-footer sitting like that. This is a courtesy issue for public transit, campaigning against people that don’t enjoy your “tall man” privilege just lacks compassion.

Have to agree with you on that @canidmajor.

The term is “Manspreading”, @canidmajor, and the poster given in the link represents a polite man and woman and a rude man. “Dude”.
Weightist.

There will be people that view “one seat” as a defined space, @dxs, meaning overweight people are rude. Scroll down.

I’m not in the city on a regular basis, @hominid, so I don’t know about the problem of people 6’+ not being able to sit. If they can get on and in, what prevents sitting?

Not a law, @Dutchess_III, but an awareness campaign.
I’ll give you the ‘primitive way of making yourself look bigger’, absolutely, and I think that’s at the heart of what the campaign is about. On the other hand, if you don’t have ball/boys/testicles to ‘breath’ after a prolonged period of sitting cross legged at the knee, you’re disqualified from comment. It’s like me trying to dispute a bra comment you made.
A goodly number of overweight women sit like that.

@DominicY, if male behavior is ‘immodest’ on public transport, shouldn’t be targeted?

…“campaigning against people that don’t enjoy your “tall man” privilege just lacks compassion. @canidmajor?” There is a “tall man privilege” in place?

I’m 6’5” I need two seats or at least an outer seat. My knees hurt after a while of siting on the bus.

I don’t know of many men that sit cross legged. I think it’s viewed as “effeminate” which is a label that many men don’t want. And why would testicles even need to “breath?”

Overweight women “sit like that” because they can’t put their legs together! They physically can’t sit any other way. The sign is targeting men who do that for whatever unnecessary, macho reason.

About bloody time.

@Dutchess_III (NSFW) they need to be climate controlled or they start hurting and get sweaty and ichy (NSFW).

Is it height or knees, @talljasperman? That cause the problem?

So, if a man crosses his knees on the subway to be polite and not manspread or intimidate women around him, he’s “effeminate” @Dutchess_III? Fag or predator. The ‘man’ options narrow.

I cross my legs when ever I feel like… I couldn’t care less who objects. @ibstubro I don’t understand your question. I just pick the best seat for my height and sit down. Some times I choose to stand and grab the handle.

I sit cross-legged sometimes and have no issue with it. But then again, I am homosexual, so no help there.

But I honestly have seen very few men sit the way this article describes. The only options aren’t cross-legged vs. spread wide. There’s a middle ground; there’s always a middle ground ;)

This is just liberal feminist BS.

No it’s not. When you get some fool macho posturing which takes up at least 2 seats, and leaves some people standing, that’s just macho masculine BS.

@Dutchess_III Oh I get it. There are no rude women riding the subways. Taking up two seat is jus rude and men have no monopoly on that.

Women don’t usually sit with their legs spread. They are taught not to do that from a young age. It’s a mach posturing thing.
But yeah. Sure. Women can be rude. But we’re talking about a specific issue, not rudeness in general.

It’s not that the men take up two seats. Their butts take up one seat (hopefully) but their legs being spread take up the leg room for those next to them.

@Dutchess_III “Women don’t usually sit with their legs spread. They are taught not to do that from a young age.”

Precisely. Women are taught not to do this from a young age, because it’s rude. Now some men will be taught not to do it at an advanced age, because it’s rude. The only thing I see wrong with this picture is that it takes so long to get around to telling men that it’s rude.

Tall man privilege

I was speaking in general about tall man privilege in this case, @ibstubro, which I imagine you have heard of. Sure, women do this, but the vast majority of people who sit in that particular style and block seat access are men. This isn’t a feminist issue or a weight issue, it is simply a courtesy issue, and the campaign is aimed at the people most likely to do this.

Is this really a battle worth fighting? With all that’s going on in NYC right now, your concern seems misplaced.

Can we stop calling this “manspreading”? I’ve seen plenty of women doing this too. Plus, I have an injury where it hurts if I move my right leg a few inches closer. Thus, I have a legitimate reason for doing this.

Women may do it, but not usually to the extent that men do. Men will spread them wider than women usually do.

Our patriarchal male privilege allows us to spread a few more centimeters.~

When I was growing up we always wore dresses so that was one reason we were taught not to spread our legs.

The other was because “nice” girls don’t sit like that. We used to have a chant in Jr. High. Using your fingers to represent a girl sitting a certain way the chant was “Nice girls sit like this (crossed fingers.) Bad girls sit like this (spread fingers, like a peace sign) get this (flipping the bird) like that! (snap.)”

Man, as a woman, I can’t even begin to imagine the grief I would have gotten for sitting with my legs spread! Many men would have viewed it as an invitation. Harassment would have been un-ending.

Perhaps you should voice that concern to the NYTA, @canidmajor, as it is they who have chosen both the battle and the timing.

And yet, @ibstubro, it is you making the fuss. I see NYC as making a suggestion.
Will this courtesy campaign affect you at all?

“Fuss”? @canidmajor I don’t see any “fuss”.

How does What is your tree? impact your life?

Perhaps you view your participation here as required? It is not. If you do not approve of a question you may choose to ignore it, rather than making multiple posts, then trying to dismiss the person that asked the question.

He’s not making fuss. He just posted a question that happened to get a lot of answers. If that constitutes a “fuss” to you, @canidmajor, then you’re part of that fuss.

Now I’m going to see if I can find some subway pictures of people.

Here is a whole slew of pics. Lots of men sitting with their legs spread. I only saw one woman and her legs weren’t really spread. Her feet were splayed but her knees are together. (However, I just glanced through. I didn’t look at each picture in detail so….)

Sit and let sit I say. lol
Whats the BFD? If you have enough space to spread, spread, if not, don’t.
It seems like a no brainer that if someone needs a seat you just adjust your sitting posture.
I am so glad I do not live in a city and do not have to use public transportation.

I could care less about spread legs, more worried about all the germs being packed into a subway like sardines. When I traveled in asia everyone wore masks on the metro.

If this is true, apparently it’s an issue. Macho, aggressive men refusing to make room for others to sit down. Like I said, it’s a sad day for society when we have to put up signs telling people to use their manners.

Thanks for the link, @Dutchess_III, but I simply do not see many pictures of ‘dudes’ inconveniencing others. Almost all the cars are underpopulated, making the argument moot. I saw a couple pix where it looked like the guy might have been hitting on the girl via body contact.

If you go to my original post and look at the sign example given, who exactly is the ‘Manspreader’ in question inconveniencing? He’s between a post and an empty seat.

@ibstubro: If you go on a NYC subway during rush hour, the cars are packed like sardines.

I know, @jca, and I respect that. I have been to NYC a couple of times.

I was specifically referring to the photo gallery linked, and its lack of supporting evidence.

Seems to me a battle poorly chosen, poorly executed.

NYC definitely has bigger fish to fry, but probably when this campaign was thought up, funded and promoted, nobody knew that it would be on the heels of the anti-police demonstrations and now, sadly, the two shootings of the police officers.

@Michael_Huntington: Since you have a legitimate reason for doing this, it’s not rude.

I’ve seen plenty of examples of people that never learned how to sit in public like a gentleman or gentlelady.

As much as it is an eyesore it is not the law’s place to change that.

Ahh, the NYT train…

You hungry? Need a little snack on the go? Fine.

JUST DON’T EAT A FULL ON DINNER OF CURRY YOU SAVAGE.

@ibstubro Hey, man. You’re the one who asked the question! Apparently, my link aside, it IS a problem.

@SecondHandStoke: This is not a law, it’s a campaign asking for courtesy.

I didn’t dismiss you, @Dutchess_III, but your link. There are many above that both believe and disbelieve that this is a problem. I guess we both agree that your link is not definitive. I have been there, done that.

Agreed, @jca, and I tried to stress this earlier.