The phenomenon of "manspreading" When men take too much legroom
A TikTok video triggers heated discussions. The reason: on a flight, the woman in the video gets the seat in the middle. However, her male neighbors hardly give her any space.
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- Legroom on airplanes is notoriously limited.
- Now a woman has published a video that has sparked heated debate. The reason: she has no room in her middle seat on the plane because the people sitting next to her spread their legs.
- Leg-spreading is also known as "manspreading".
Legroom on airplanes is notoriously tight. This is also shown by a woman's TikTok video. Under the video, she writes: "This fills me with so much anger." The reason: she was sitting in the middle, between two men who spread their legs.
This phenomenon is called "manspreading". Specifically, it involves men sitting with their legs apart on public transport. On seats that are designed for two or more people to sit next to each other, men take up more space than they are entitled to.
Women in particular suffer as a result. They have to squeeze into the seat next to them, move their legs to the side or expect to feel someone else's leg against theirs. Men probably don't notice this at all.
But why is this phenomenon particularly common among men? Gender researcher Paul Scheibelhofer from the University of Innsbruck recognizes deeply rooted gender roles in "manspreding". Men are used to taking space for themselves and ignoring others' claims to space. Many men would not reflect on this automatic claim to power, but women do.
The woman on the plane is not the only one who is annoyed by "manspreading". Women repeatedly comment on this phenomenon on social media and talk about their experiences.
