In a crowded Berlin subway, a man sprawls across two seats blatantly. In front of him, two women abruptly open their legs, revealing the following inscription on their pants: “Stop manspreading!”.
In this way, Elena Buscaino and Mina Bonakdar intend to sensitize public transport users about male “despatarre”, that is, the habit of sitting with their legs spread, without the slightest consideration for their neighbors, often women.
In a broader sense, these Berlin women who combine humor and provocation question the distribution of urban space between the sexes.
“It is entirely possible to sit comfortably in transport without taking up two seats by spreading your legs,” explains Mina Bonakdar, 25.
Together with her friend Elena, who like her studies design, she created the collective “Riot Pant Project” that transforms second-hand pants into support for claims, to encourage women and LGTBQ people to reappropriate public space.
This clothing weapon reveals a hidden political message – – “Stop manspreading!”, “Give us space” or “Toxic masculinity”. They have slogans printed in capital letters on the legs of the pants.
“Imitation is the only way for the interlocutor to understand the effect produced by his behavior”, estimates Elena Buscaino.
– An ancient phenomenon –
However, the young woman acknowledges that “very few change their position instantly”, as the AFP has verified during an intervention in the Berlin subway.
“They are often surprised that women can place themselves like this in front of them,” adds the activist, who hopes above all that they reflect.
For Mina Bonakdar, the simple act of wearing these pants allows women to “feel stronger and increase confidence.”
To some it may seem anecdotal but the problem of “manspreading” has existed almost since the appearance of public transport.
“Sit with the extremities close to the body and do not open a 45-degree angle with the legs, because it would be like taking the place of two people,” warned the Times of London in 1836 in an article dedicated to decorum on the bus, explains in “History of the Bakerloo Line” Clive DW Feather, specialist in the London Underground.
The term became popular in 2013 when users of the New York subway posted photos of travelers at ease on social media, while their neighbors were crammed together.
According to a 2016 study from Hunter College in New York, 26% of male users of the city’s subway abuse the practice compared to less than 5% of women.
New York was one of the first cities in the world to try to curb this behavior. In 2014, the manager of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) affixed stickers to the cars with the message: “man, please stop sprawling.”
– Show a dominance –
Since then there have been similar campaigns in South Korea, Japan or Istanbul. In Madrid since 2017, bus users are exposed to a fine in the event of “male spreading.”
On the internet, the subject is controversial: some men justify their position by saying that it is due to their anatomical peculiarity. An argument that no scientific study has confirmed.
It is rather “a question of the distribution of the sexes” in society, Bettina Hannover, a psychologist and professor at the Free University of Berlin, told AFP.
“Men (…) manifest their dominance through their position when sitting, analyze. Women are supposed to occupy less space and above all that they behave in a decent way.”
Asked by AFP, the Berlin transport company BVG ensures that “for the moment” there are few complaints that justify a campaign.