Men’s Rights Activists: If Women Can Breastfeed On Buses, ‘Manspreading’ Should Be Protected Too

Men’s rights activists are worried that their right to engage in ‘manspreading’ — the act of spreading the knees wide apart when sitting — might be in danger on public transit. To that end, they’ve started a petition, in which they compare their spreading (which, according to female passengers, takes more than a fair share of space and makes seat partners uncomfortable) to a variety of other bus behaviors, including breastfeeding.

The petition is in response to a fear of a ban on manspreading, and the 1,000+ who’ve digitally signed it say that they’re the victims of misandry and sexism. The petitioners fear that the Toronto Transit Commission will put such bans in place, and that each man will be confined, legs and all, to a single seat and single legspace.

As proof that a ban on spreading would be sexist, the men’s rights activists behind the petition offer up odd evidence: women are allowed to breastfeed on buses, and strollers and children are allowed on. So are canes and walkers.

…if they need extra room whether for baggage, carts, walkers, canes, or children they should seek it as a special permission.

We can’t force woman to stop breast feeding on busses or trains and we can’t force men or women to stop bringing strollers on, why should we force men to close their legs?

If they’re proposing that anyone who needs to take up extra space should have to receive special permission, or pay extra for the space, it’s not clear whether they intend that to apply to spreaders, too.

As for the difference between leg-spreading and items such as canes, walkers, and wheelchairs, the petitioners suggest that theirs is as dire a need:

This sets a very bad precedent as men opening their legs is something we have to do due to our biology. It sometimes can be physically painful for to close our legs and we can’t be expected to do so.

The question men’s rights activists have failed to explicitly answer, however, is whether the right to ‘manspreading’ supercedes the right of another passenger to a normal amount of leg space.

[photo credit: LA Wad ]

Men’s Rights Activists: If Women Can Breastfeed On Buses, ‘Manspreading’ Should Be Protected Too