Madrid has officially banned manspreading on public transport
There is nothing more uncomfortable than being pressed up against the window of the Luas thanks to the vastly spread legs of the man sitting beside you.
Being confronted with a full frontal view of a crotch definitely isn't what we need to be seeing at 8am, thanks though.
The phenomenon of manspreading – the act where men open their legs as wide as is gymnastically possible while on public transport – has been recognised as an issue by the Madrid government.
Esta es la señal de los autobuses de la @EMTmadrid para respetar el espacio de los demás y evitar el #manspreading. https://t.co/dnqdMycgaO pic.twitter.com/Xwcx3bx8DG
— Ayuntamiento Madrid (@MADRID) June 7, 2017
The city has officially banned the act on trains and buses (much to the delight of the extra people who can now sit comfortably while trying to get from A to B).
The city’s Municipal Transportation Company plan on installing new signs in all its carriages and transport vehicles.
The women of Madrid have been petitioning for months to have the issue addressed, creating a change.org campaign and hashtag to call attention to manspreading.
Madrid has officially banned #manspreading pic.twitter.com/IOxfOevrfz
— Femestella (@femestella) June 7, 2017
'Manspreading is the practice of certain men sitting with their legs wide open on public transport, taking up other people’s space,' reads their manifesto.
'It is not something that occurs sporadically, if you pay attention you’ll see that it is a very common practice.'
The ban was introduced by Spanish left-wing party Podemo.
'We believe that putting a name to, and making visible these kinds of daily sexist behaviour that go unnoticed, is the way ahead to become more aware, seeing what we used not to see and leaving inequality and machismo behind,' said Clara Serra of Podemo, according to Newstalk.
