Did you hear the one about the Russian student who was so fed up with manspreading that she took to the subways of St Petersburg to spray diluted bleach on men’s crotches? Hilarious, right?
Wrong.
Look, I hate manspreading as much as the next unreasonable feminist. It’s antisocial, it’s rude, it displays an arrogant disregard for the people sitting around you. It’s a behavior that women just wouldn’t get away with.
And to be clear, I don’t mean that I’m advocating for men sitting with their legs clamped together — I don’t either unless I’m wearing a short skirt. Nor am I insisting that men should cross their legs at all times and that existence of their penis is no barrier to doing this. Some men say crossing their legs is fine, some men say isn’t. Not having a penis myself, I don’t feel in a position to be the final arbiter on this pressing matter.
What I can say, however is that when your legs are spreading outside of the confines of your tube seat, you’re just taking the piss. I’ve seen enough men’s genitals to know that no one’s balls are that big. And if they are, you should probably see a doctor.
But — and bear with me here — even if men invade my personal space in a tragic attempt to signal to the world just how massive their penis is, I just don’t believe that terrorising men is the way to achieve feminist goals. Shocking I know.
Continue reading this article at the New Statesman
