When on a trip, have you been a victim to what has been referred to as manspreading? A term said to be used by “Third-Wave Feminists” and other gender specific sojourners who fall prey to the practice “whereby a man, especially one traveling on public transportation, adopts a sitting position with his legs wide apart, in such a way as to encroach on an adjacent seat or seats.”
Or, as the urban dictionary explains, “Men who spread their legs…to make room for their genitalia.”
One of my FaceBook friends explained in detail how this affliction affected her on a recent flight, along with her solution to the problem at hand, er, well, on hand.
This FB buddy, a woman, said that her seatmate had packed too much in his carry-on, meaning it did not fit in the overhead compartment available to him.
She stated, “He tried to jam [this carry-on into] the foot area [which was] closer to my side because he ‘needed room for his feet’ (wow, right!?) but that left limited space for me to put my small backpack–or my left foot. The flight attendant made him scoot his bag to his side….and then the manspread [began].
This social media member vented that she was “…getting situated and didn’t have room underneath for [her] neck pillow.”
At that point, she “momentarily hung [her neck pillow] on [her] left thigh/knee. Lo and behold: the neck pillow forced him to stay in his lane!”
Wow! A breakthrough.
This clever female finished her lengthy comment, asserting with glee, “Every time he started up again, he hit the pillow … Eventually it created a good buffer between both of us, and then he finally closed his legs! Ha! Neck pillow, for the win!”
So there’s that. And it was a win for this woman who needed some spread while up in the air, too.
Now that manspreading has been dissed, it’s only fair to bring up shebagging, a more obscure term that happens when a woman takes up additional seat space with her bag and legs (see image below).
Given seat constraints, this is a tough position to be in while flying but configuring your body this way is completely annoying to someone who is standing while you/she are/is taking up that extra space on a bus or a subway or a train. Us female travelers need to admit this and acquiesce.
OK, enough said on this topic. So which annoys you more, travelers: Manspreading or shebagging? Oh, don’t be shy. Speak up here and whenever you’re on a trip, but play nice. We have to show some decorum, right? Right?
Featured image courtesy Wikipedia/Peter Isotalo Creative Commons.
I like to hang around. Thank you for this post.
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Manspreading. If you need help removing the cause of your manspreading I am sure someone can help with that. Encroach in my space and you may lose your testicles anyhow. Problem solved.
I’d say it all comes down to manners. Some people just consider themselves the only ones that count; the center of the universe! I did laugh at some of these examples though; I have fallen victim to this rudeness myself many times!!
Actually both bother me. The manspreading on flights is unacceptable at any level – air travel is already painful and we suffer enough without having the little space we have hijacked. The shebagging is more nuanced, in my opinion. I often take the train into Geneva from where I live. I get on about halfway up the line and the later train is often quite empty, filling up at the next station. I do take up an extra space. But when I see people get on, I visibly put my bag on my lap so they can see there is a spare seat. If no one takes it, the bag goes back. I have no qualms in asking women to remove their bag if I need a seat. The harder one is the early morning train when people fall asleep and take up the extra seat – waking them up seems so mean. On the other hand, so is making me stand for 40 minutes…
Both man-spreading and shebagging are just proof of bad manners. Did no one raise these people to have common courtesy when they are in shared spaces??!!
The Italians have a word for them: ‘Maleducato!’
Hilarious, and so true! And what about the elbows and shoulders and the people who think they own both arm rests!
Great post!
This isnt so much based on sex as people who are just rude. Im a guy and I run into rude jerk men who manspread or whatever you want to calk it fairly often.
I was a victim of manspreading just a few hours ago on my flight home! I can’t stand manspreaders (or shebaggers!) and I run into both of them quite often as I commute on public transit daily. To deal with my manspreading seatmate today I simply put my leg gently right up next to his. I assumed since he was crossing into my seat territory, he didn’t mind a little physical contact. I did not push or act like anything was wrong, I just leaned my thigh over to rest on his. Apparently the contact with another man’s leg was not worth having the extra space, so he retreated to his side. Problem solved!
I laughed out loud at the description of manspreading – “Men who spread their legs…to make room for their genitalia” as I doubt they need THAT much room. But I guess its not a laughing matter if you’re getting squeezed out of your seat. OI often travel to and from beach destinations so what gets me is when people put their bare feet on my seat. On a recent flight a complete stranger had her nicely painted toes sideways and so far onto my seat it was crazy!
Traveling is DEFINITELY an adventure! 🙂
Man spreading bugs me most with she-bagging a CLOSE second… Both make me want to be violent, so I have to take deep breaths!
I hear you, Sister Traveler!