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To whoever invented the term “manspreading”, thank you. Finally, we have a name for that phenomenon that women know all too well: when a man takes up extra room in a seat by spreading his knees as far apart as possible. You know, to make room for his balls. Eye roll.
Speaking of excellent portmanteaus about men, there’s another term, “mansplaining.” That’s when a guy goes out of his way to explain stuff even though nobody asked him.
Here, we have a truly impressive example of both manspreading AND mansplaining IN ONE PLACE.
A Reddit user gave a very ~scientific~ explanation for why men have to manspread. He included diagrams and everything!
Photo Credit: Reddit
It’s all about geometry and physiology, you see? Men have narrower hips, so their legs are less flexible, so they can’t cross their legs as easily. Which obviously means that they have to spread their knees as far as possible and block other people from sitting down!
And something something balance triangle.
Photo Credit: Reddit
“Men are, on average, taller than women, which gives them a higher center of gravity, which narrows the balance triangle,” the mansplainer wrote. “When you’re sitting on a moving bus, you’ll subconsciously seat yourself into a stable position – the taller you are, the lower you’ll have to position yourself in the seat to stay balanced. Spreading your legs helps widen the balance triangle.”
There’s one more point to this mansplanation, which is the one you’ve probably heard before — testicles get hot and they need ventilation.
Cool, but are any of these good reasons to take up room in a public space that could go to someone else? My take: If it’s that difficult to sit down comfortably and be polite at the same time, you should just go ahead and stand up! Like a gentleman.
