Keep your legs to yourself: STIB asked to stop manspreading

Brussels public transport authority STIB has been asked to start a campaign aimed at raising the awareness of male passengers to the horrors of “manspreading”.

You may be in the need of some elucidation, or “mansplaining”. It goes like this: When seated on a bus or tram seat intended for one, men have a tendency to spread their legs and take up part of the space attributed to the person next to them.

Even worse is the two-person seat, where the hapless fellow passengers risks being swallowed up entirely as the man’s knees, thighs and goodness knows what else expand to fill all space available. Women, it should be noted, don’t do this.

A campaign against manspreading, which, needless to say, also affects male passengers, has been carried out on the New York subway. Céline Deforge, a member of the Brussels parliament, says that’s what’s needed for Brussels.

STIB says it has yet to receive a complaint from passengers about manspreading, which since the phenomenon is an act of at least passive intimidation, isn’t all that surprising. Passengers on public transport put up with an awful lot without saying much, which is why the absence of complaints doesn’t necessarily signify the lack of a problem.

The authority did spread the news of the New York campaign via social media, and it does have an annual campaign on the need for politeness towards our fellow passenger, a spokesperson said.

Photo: Twitter @Miranda19c