A passenger complaining about “manspreading” inflight is gaining attention because the phenomenon of men encroaching on the personal space of others in economy has become de rigueur. Those beside these men take on guerilla tactics placing bags defensively to try to block his legs.
It just feels like a universals experience at this point
byu/SouthernNanny indelta
Women are fighting back! One offers, “I absolutely put my feet as wide as possible under the seat… to defend the space.” Another commenter though thinks it’s his right: “he’s wearing a Rolex Submariner. Thus, by law he owns that row.”
Perhaps the most egregious case of manspreading is a passenger who encroached on an aisle seat from across the aisle:
@claireandpeter GOODBYE
I’ve seen people argue that manspreading is justified because the airline offers so little space, though I think you have to acknowledge that most airlines offer seats with more space for an additional fee – whether it’s extra legroom space, extra seat width, or the opportunity to buy two seats.
- Someone may not wish to spend more money to travel, even if they need it
- That doesn’t give them the right to encroach upon the same, limited space another passenger paid for
Each passenger is entitled only to the space within the confines of their own seat, except that the window seat passenger can lean into the window, the middle seat passenger gets both armrests, and the aisle seat passenger can lean into the aisle at their own risk.
Here’s how to handle a seat-spreading situation.
- Try to start a polite conversation about it.
- Should that not help, look around to see if there’s an empty seat in the cabin. If there is, ask a crewmember if you can change seats.
- And if there’s not, enlist a crewmember to help ensure your seat opponent stays within the confines of their own space.
Passengers shouldn’t have to endure this, but there’s a limit to how much escalation is possible or wise while stuck inside a metal tube. What would you do?
As a well endowed man (8.25″), I empathize with airline passengers who need to manspread. The width of an Economy seat is simply too constricting, and it’s not because of my waistline (28″).
Despite my empathy – no sympathy. I agree with this article, we are all entitled to the confines of our own seat.
Advice #1 (“polite conversation”) is not actionable, so let me help out with a suggestion. “Pardon me sir. Your legs are in my space. Would you mind keeping them in your own space? I appreciate it.” Any polite man will immediately oblige and any man who does not immediately oblige is impolite and uncouth.
That’s one reason I prefer an aisle seat, so I can man-spread into the aisle and not into my neighbor’s space.
@E Jack Youlater…so how tall are you vertically? We all know your length horizontally now
It’s the people who expand beyond the armrest that bother me most
The man does not have a gold Rolex. He is trash.
I once sat between two husky men wearing the uniform of the Colombian Navy (Armada) despite it being a domestic US flight. They did not manspread but their shoulders were so wide. The flight was only an hour. I felt slightly compressed. There were several of them on the flight.
Ah yes, the Rolex Submariner. The watch for those who have taste and also for those who don’t. 50/50 shot.
People do this shit on public transit all the time. They all back down when you call them out.
Sounds like a seat recline issue where a person has an absolute right to slam a seat back into someone else’s space. Since there are no barriers to spreading legs, maybe the space is shared (sarcasm).
Solution: When flying, wear those blue jeans that have the sharp metal studs running up the outside seems.
@E. Jack Youlater — You remind me of fellow commenter @Erect. Hope that guy’s doin’ alright. Maybe he got soft.
@L737 — Bah! This guy ‘watches!’
@Gary, I think you’re setting completely the wrong tone by calling the person seated next to you an opponent. Why not just call them The Enemy and be done with it?
As far as the excuse that people need more space – sometimes it’s not an excuse. I’m 6’4″, have 20″+ wide shoulders, and weigh a good bit more than I’d like. Accordingly wherever feasible I book myself a bulkhead, exit row, or premium cabin seat. However, sometimes there just isn’t an extra space seat to be had and my legs barely have enough space in a 32″ pitch seat. If the person in front of me reclines then my legs either go to either direction or my knees go into the recliner’s back. That’s not done out of rancor, just necessity. Unfortunately some of these huge a$$#oles need to try compensate for, shall we say, being small in other ways and try to pretend that makes up for their shortcomings.