Few things seem to get the feminist hamster worked up more than the fact that men take up more space on the subway. This fatty decided to "do something" about it.
Highlights below.
Full story here.
TL;DR version: Pregnant-looking fatty runs "experiment" for a weekend, spreading her nasty FUPA over several seats. Feels empowered. Comes to the conclusion that the solution to the "problem" is to start a public campaign with signs (i.e., for men to solve the problem).
And, just in case you're wondering:
Highlights below.
Full story here.
TL;DR version: Pregnant-looking fatty runs "experiment" for a weekend, spreading her nasty FUPA over several seats. Feels empowered. Comes to the conclusion that the solution to the "problem" is to start a public campaign with signs (i.e., for men to solve the problem).
Quote:Quote:
Why Do Guys Spread Their Legs When Sitting on the Subway? My Weekend of Sitting Like a Man
Gabrielle Moss
There are only a few sure things we can count on in this crazy, ever-changing world: The moon’s regal orbit around the earth. The gentle change of the seasons. And the fact that, on any given subway car, there will be at least one man with his legs spread across multiple seats.
A problem as frustrating as it is mysterious, the man who takes up multiple seats on public transit with his splayed-out legs inspires all sorts of questions among his fellow riders: Is the leg-spreader exercising his male privilege, or, as some defenders would have you believe, merely attending to the unique spatial requirements of his balls? Is he blocking off empty seats to his left and his right with his knees out of obliviousness, or passive-aggressive malice?
I’m certainly not the first to spill digital ink addressing the phenomenon — men taking up too much room on crowded trains has been the focus of a Turkish feminist Twitter campaign; the subject matter of the Tumblr Men Taking Up Too Much Space on the Train that attracted viral attention last year, with one user even catching a picture of the King of the North, Games of Thrones actor Richard Madden, in the act; and the inspiration behind another particularly awesome Tumblr, Saving Room for Cats.
....
I decided, for the length of one weekend, to become a slouch-and-spreader. To truly understand the phenomenon, I decided I’d act like the worst examples I had encountered in my own commuting life: I wouldn’t budge for a knee nudge or exasperated expression. I would hold my ground. I would embody the worst of slouch-and-spread assholery to the letter. I would try very hard to imagine that I had balls, and that those balls were desperate for air. And by the end of the weekend, I hoped to understand what made the slouch-and-spreaders slouch and spread.
....
And then, as my weekend wore on, a funny thing happened: I registered the fear and displeasure of strangers less and less. I went from faking being absorbed in my book as I maintained a nervously wide stance, to actually being absorbed in my book, forgetting that my legs were splayed out like I was holding a beach ball between my knees.
In other words, I became unconscious of my own manufactured privilege. As people viewed my leg spread as an act of aggression and possible instability and steered clear of me, I slowly began to stop even noticing them.
....
By the end of the weekend, I felt immensely confident, and also profoundly ashamed. I was horrified at myself for having capitalized on the very terror of aggressive strangers on the subway that I myself had felt so many times. But God, it was so easy to act like a dick on the subway! How could we possibly get people to stop slouch-and-spreading when it was this easy to do and this scary to stand up against?
If people were afraid to call me out on the subway, then urging people to potentially risk life and limb confronting slouch-and-spreaders on their own isn’t the answer. To make any progress on this issue, we can’t demand that individuals take the lead themselves — we need a public shaming campaign undertaken by the transit system itself. Technically, taking up multiple seats can already net you a $50 fine in New York City (though I’ve never personally seen one given). So why doesn’t the city create some subway ads to let us know?
(continues.)
And, just in case you're wondering: