'Manspreading' is now a no-no on Madrid's public buses

This is in my city, in the morning going to work. If someone does put a bag on his/her next seat, there will be real trouble.
It's a Twitter video.

https://twitter.com/beto_lazarte/status/853908892602028032

And mandatory ballgags for all children below 10 since they are not to be trusted to adhere to the no talking rule.

+1

It indeed is a jerk move, yet that doesn't mean that everyone who is manspreading is doing it unnecessarily wide. I actually am a person who almost exclusively crosses his legs, yet I find this ridiculous.

Scratch that off :D

And I can see lawsuits just rolling in...
I'm a guy too and I "Manspread" - I also have what doctors have described as abnormally large reproductive organs - that is, while my uh... "old fella" is normalish... my testes have been described as "Big enough to come in a dumptruck" which results in my having to sit down carefully, so I don't sit on them (As you get older this becomes more and more common - check it out - it's a fact that a lot of people won't talk about as it's very embarrassing but men sag in places too - it's not just a womans' issue), and once sitting down it actually becomes almost impossible to close my legs, even with supporting underwear.

+1

I'm a guy too and more than willing to give up my seat for old people, women and children. The word 'Manspreading' is intended to be inflammatory and misandrist.
Singling out men as the ones lacking in manners and using their genes to make a slur word.
I'd have the same stance on a word describing females putting their bags on the seat by them not allowing anyone to sit there. It shouldn't be 'womanbagging' or anything retarded like that. Its just a lack of manners from a person. Its not genetic and shouldn't be described as such.

What kind of buses are you getting into? One of those Japanese porn ones? :D

The official naming isn't "manspreading," that is simply the buzzword the headlines will use.

the official naming

From the article the OP linked:

The agency's decision follows months of campaigning by women's rights groups. Earlier this year, one group, Mujeres en Lucha, started a campaign #MadridSinManspreading (#MadridWithoutManspreading).

Given that a Spanish group decided to use an English word, the international utilization of the word is presumably reasonably well established (which also indicates the practice itself is pretty well-spread). That said, it is a predominantly male action (same reason we don't have femsplaining- the labeling is reflective of the entitlement of a majority grouping). The term may be clumsy, but as a means of reference, it's very intuitive and precise. As such, when discussing the specific topic [of male entitlement as reflected by excessive legspreading] it makes sense. As you say, in any setting where equality is of consideration- such as in official guideline establishment- it's clearly inappropriately specific.

That said, it looks like the government hasn't formally used the term as part of the effort in question. From another article:

Fed up with men whose thighs fail to respect the boundaries of bus seats, the Spanish capital’s Municipal Transport Company (EMT) is to put up signs discouraging the practice. The EMT – which explains that “el manspreading” is “an English term that describes the posture of men who open their legs too wide and take up neighbouring seats” – said the new signs are intended to remind people of the need to respect the space of all bus passengers.
Would-be manspreaders will hopefully be deterred by small pictures of a thoughtless, faceless red man invading the seat to his right.

In sum, it looks like all they did was put up fairly gender-neutral stick figure signs, nothing more. The rest is all just outside argument.

Well, it is not sexual assault everywhere but I accept your point

Language does indeed have an amorphous quality, but that doesn't mean people cannot have an opinion that terms coming into mainstream usage sound dumb. 'Sexting' still sounds brain-meltingly dumb to me.
Besides, subjects of passive sexism usually benefit from being challenged (albeit better to do so with rationality rather than gripe against an idealogical totem, but still-).

I know that anything that I say won't change a thing, but, hey, what am I supposed to do? The way the thread is structured implies that it's asking for an opinion on the matter, doesn't it? I could just not post anything since I know it's ultimately worthless in the grand scheme of things (and indeed that's what I do the majority of the time), but if everyone always followed that logic no thread based on opinion would ever function.

Plus, I guess I'm just kinda pissed off that language is so easy to manipulate that such a stupid "term" would be allowed to be used like that. Anger helps with overcoming existential pointlessness, I guess. :D

Bahaha, noice

Uh-huh, I see... now we're mansplaining!

:P

View attached image.

What I mean is that all this is just bullshit trying to cover all the corruption cases opened in Madrid Council with this colourful smoke screen

Finland.
:)
There was only like 6 people whenever I got on a bus.

I feel lucky if I can turn around on the tram/bus/underground sometimes lol...

:'(

I dont see how someone could sit like that and not have some kind of medical problem

"Manspreading is like mansplaining- it's not that you're posturing/explaining in a way that matches your own natural circumstances, it's that you're willfully expressing yourself in a way that is entitled and limits others."
That's the problem though. While those terms originally served a specific and mostly innocent purpose (dealing with dudebros and obnoxious entitled people), as the terms circulated and came into common usage, their definition softened considerably. Mansplaining in particular is a gripe of mine, as I've seen it used (and had it used against me) as a simple measure of denying any discourse based on my sex, not based on my tone or content of what we were engaging in. Once those terms qualify into genuine sexism, the divided intentions make the word too heated to use passively, especially when the subject they address are not limited to the sex they derive their name from (and problematic when used by any individual).

In the case of these two terms, they're not worth trying to reclaim. The sexist connotations and usage have engulfed them entirely, and it should have been expected given what they're constructed of. "Legspreading" is neutral and immediately more evocative of the subject it addresses. "Mansplaining" might run off the tongue and not have a good alternative in short form for tweets, but 'patronising' works fine in its place.

Regardless, as someone suggested elsewhere in the thread, these aren't the official names adapted for the public transport policy, the website is just banking on the terms to get more clicks (thank christ :P)

the included image seems to be part of the campaign by the group mentioned. both men appear to be sitting in a normal manner and hardly their fault if the seats arent large enough for them. almost all cases where I have seen people commenting on how a man is sitting online, have been about cases where they are not sitting inappropriately at all. any kind of leg spreading by a man is labeled that.
I imagine obesity would likely take up a greater amount of space on these buses, I havent seen anyone suggesting something like a 'no fatties' sign or charging them double fare. and most people would agree that it would be absurd to do.
these signs are likely to encourage harassment of any man just trying to sit comfortably on these buses. and not someone like the example doctorofjournalism gave. As well for every picture of a man taking up 'extra' space you will surely be able to find just as many with women doing it.

View attached image.

I wasn't expecting to say this but, too many links to click :P
Creo que sigo cual link responde que.
Igual sostengo que los buses atestados de gente es un problema propio de toda ciudad grande, cada vez que voy a Buenos Aires me siento como una sardina enlatada en cualquier transporte público mientras que en mi ciudad solo pasa en el horario que los chicos de secundario entran o salen del colegio, y en las ciudades chicas o pueblos hay tan poca frecuencia de buses que se vuelve inevitable.
Y no te preocupes, nuestros políticos son peores, acá el gobierno de la presidente anterior era tan corrupto que directamente era una mafia. Al punto que cuando un fiscal le hizo una denuncia a la presi el pobre tipo aparecio muerto de un tiro en su departamento a los 2 o 3 días, ni siquiera disimulaban.