Man calls anti-manspreading campaigns 'hypocritical' and sparks furious debate

There are no two ways about it, manspreading is an incredibly annoying habit, and one that doesn't seem to have much justification.

This man, however, has tried to argue that it does.

Taking to Reddit, he's posted a defence of manspreading that he argues is based in scientific fact - sparking a furious debate about the practice.

In response to a thread that claimed that men spread their legs in order to avoid their testicles from overheating when they're using laptops, Reddit user Jex17 said:

Part of it is the q-angle - women have a wider hip structure, which gives a wider range of flexibility along the q-angle, letting them comfortably sit one knee over the other, whereas most men don't have the range of motion to sit that way at all, let alone comfortably.

Another big part is the balance triangle and how it relates to center of gravity - men are, on average, taller than women, which gives them a higher center of gravity, which narrows the balance triangle.

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.

Lastly, there's the testicular heat stress response - heat stress is lethal for sperm, so the testes evolved to stay cooler than core temperature, migrating into the scrotum upon puberty to better regulate temperature, unlike ovaries.

There's a few mechanical responses to heat stress - the scrotum itself will relax and elongate, 'sagging' the testes away from the warm body - but there's other physiological responses.

When men's testes approach heat stress temperatures, there's a driving urge to spread the knees to cool them down.

Frankly the whole "manspreading" campaign is such ridiculous hypocrisy.

It's coming from the same people who preach about equality and fair treatment, how we shouldn't judge people for their bodies, how we shouldn't objectify people or demonize perfectly natural behaviors, yet they're straight up pushing for Government legislation to control how men sit.

They're teaching an entire generation of young boys that it's socially shameful to open their legs when their body is activating its testicular heat stress response.

If this becomes a social norm, that it's unacceptable for men to open their knees, it's going to further drive down the already plummeting sperm rates.

Other Reddit users were quick to offer their thoughts on the topic.

One said:

This guy spreads.

Another responded that they think the 'manspreading' debate is actually about dominance, not simply about the physiognomy of being seated:

I don't think the 'manspreading' debate is about how men sit per sé.

It's more about the fact that some men think it's okay to sit with their legs so far apart, that somebody else doesn't have room to sit next to them anymore.

It's about the kind of dominance some men want to establish by declaring both seats for themselves.

A third thought that women are more likely to show dominance by placing their bags on the chair next to them than men:

I've seen far more instances of women placing their bags on the seat next to them, entirely denying it to another passenger, than I have of men spreading their legs so much the neighboring seat is inaccessible.

Is it a dominance thing when women do it?

HT Bored Panda

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