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Woman seeks advice about 'manspreading' passenger during flight

A woman who claimed her space was invaded by the leg of a man sitting next to her on a flight took to Facebook seeking advice on how to handle the situation.

Posting to a private group on Wednesday, the woman shared a photo of her sitting on a Sydney to Melbourne flight with the man next to her spreading his leg past the armrest they shared.

“What the actual is this?!?” she wrote.

She claimed when the flight was bumpy she “took advantage” and he shifted his leg a little bit, but did not ask him to move as “he also got quite agitated and a bit scary”.

Hundreds of people sympathised with the woman’s squishy flight, offering suggestions on what she should do to reclaim her personal space.

“Flop your arm over the armrest and drop it in his lap,” one said.

Another claimed the same thing happened to her recently and she asked him to move his leg after “fuming for 20 minutes”.

The woman claims the passenger was manspreading on a flight from Sydney to Melbourne. Source: Facebook
The woman claims the passenger was manspreading on a flight from Sydney to Melbourne. Source: Facebook

Others expressed frustration over the passenger’s “manspreading”.

“Men walk with their legs together, why can’t they sit too?” a woman commented.

“Manspreading,” another simply said.

Some however defended the man, saying people were too quick to judge why he might be taking up so much room.

“Is it too hard for you to think that this may be the only way his legs fit? Would you enforce your arbitrary norms if he had a disability?” one man questioned.

“If he was tall I can assure you this would have to be acceptable – he would have no other choice.”

The woman who posted the picture said she exchanged sympathetic looks with another woman sitting on the aisle, so felt “a bit vindicated”.

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