Men spreading is a man's habit of sitting with legs wide apart, while restraining other passengers. Sometimes men sit in such a way that neighbors on both the right and left are cramped and uncomfortable. The term manspreading (manspreading - from the words man and spread) first appeared in 1915 in public service advertisements about behavior in public transport, and in 2015 entered the online version of the Oxford Dictionary.
Of course, everyone is interested in what caused this specific behavior. Member of the European and Russian Professional Psychotherapeutic League Vladimir Fainzilberg said in an interview with the 360 TV channel: “I think that on the one hand, this is an anatomical feature.
On the other hand, there is such a stereotype of man's behavior.
This is an innate quality that demonstrates a masculine essence - gender, or even sexual superiority. This is not a very attractive position. She demonstrates disdain and superiority towards others. And since we are talking about public transport, a large man, sitting like this, takes up more space than he should be."
In many countries, there is a public service advertisement that encourages you to sit differently. A new sign has been announced on buses in Spain. It depicts a man with legs wide apart, crossed out with a red cross. The New York subway used to have posters condemning such male behavior.
Similar ads were found in other states and cities of America, for example, in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Washington state, Seattle. Groups of women are usually involved in combating men spreading through posters and other public service announcements.
Condemnation of men spreading is often criticized. Women also often occupy more than one space, for example, putting bags or bags not on the floor, but next to them. But there is no term woman-spreading, quite the contrary. It is possible to explain the behavior of a person of any sex by innate psychological qualities, but it still won't make it any easier. Although the "seizure" of more places than necessary, this is not male or female behavior, but a common human bad manners.