A viral video has reignited a long-standing debate over “manspreading” on public transport after a woman had a brilliant response to a male passenger in her space.
Emma Brown, who lives in the U.K., shared her recent experience on a flight where she was stuck next to a fellow traveler who had his legs spread wide, leaning into her space.
In a video on TikTok with thousands of views, Brown wrote: “POV you’re a woman sat next to a man on a plane,” highlighting a common frustration for female travelers.
Commenters quickly weighed in, with some defending the man’s posture as a necessity due to limited legroom.
“He looks like he has the same problem as I have, my legs simply can’t fit straight,” one user wrote.
Another added: “That is something any TALL PERSON (no gender) would do when flying. You just can’t fit.”
But Brown, who says she is the same height as the man in the video, didn’t think it was acceptable.
“I follow a lot of travel influencers and it appears to be a common theme,” she told Newsweek. “Me and my friend made it clear he should not be in my space and he moved, but only temporarily.”
Other viewers sided with Brown, arguing that passengers should always respect each others’ space.
“People defending the man are not it, you paid for your space so why’s he invading that?” one commenter asked. Another viewer said: “Oh no. I don’t allow men to do that. (Or women, but that never happened to me yet). I spread my legs so I take up all of my room.”
“The reaction I think has been mixed and a bit controversial,” Brown said.
Manspreading—the practice of men sitting with their legs widely apart, often encroaching on adjacent seats—has been a topic of public debate since at least 2013. Critics argue that it reflects a disregard for personal space, particularly affecting women in public transport settings. The term was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2015.
Public transport authorities in cities like New York and Madrid have even taken action to discourage the behavior, launching awareness campaigns and even posting signs urging passengers to keep their legs within their designated space.
This is far from the first time manspreading has become a viral conversation. Last year another woman raged online after a similar experience on a flight. Canadian Erin Rempel said she shared her experience to “shed light on a very common situation, especially for women.”
Another woman shared her experience on public transport, filming the offending passenger who didn’t bat an eyelid as she recorded what was happening.
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