Is there a gender neutral equivalent of “manspreading”?

Question

Who knew that the term manspreading is considered deeply sexist? I didn't

A nameless user proposed to delete the term from an answer of mine. His explanation was “remove misandry”. I had written

[someone] who spreads their legs and invades your space (AKA manspreading)

The comment got me thinking. At first, I was quite flabbergasted and speechless. Agreed, the term is not complimentary, but I had considered it mainly to be a humorous term that was basically stating a truth. Men often do sit with their legs apart. It can show swagger, confidence, and suggest dominance. It can be due to their height, the taller the man, the more difficult it is for him to close his legs when seated in public transport.

That's what I thought

But according to one spinal neurosurgeon, John Sutcliffe, the reason is two-fold

“The overall width of the pelvis is relatively greater in females and the angle of the femoral neck is more acute. These factors could play a role in making a position of sitting with the knees close together less comfortable in men,” he told The Independent.

and

“I suspect most men would suggest the reason for adopting the more spread posture in sitting would be the avoidance of testicular compression from the thigh muscles. The pelvic rotation goes some way to improve compression in both aspects,” Sutcliffe continued.

The Independent

I suppose that makes sense. The phenomenon is dictated by physiological differences that are inherent in men and women's bodies.

I turned to Wikipedia. It confirmed the user's standpoint, and why he suggested its removal

Both this posture and the use of the neologism "manspreading" have occasioned some internet criticism and debates in the US, UK, Turkey, and Canada. The public debate began when an anti-manspreading campaign started on the social media website Tumblr in 2013; the term appeared a year later. OxfordDictionaries.com added the word "manspreading" in August 2015. Use of the term has been criticized as "a caricature of feminism" and the practice has been juxtaposed with examples of women taking up excessive space in public spaces with bags.

Further on, it supplies a female equivalent of the term

The criticism and campaigns against manspreading have been counter-criticized for not addressing similar behavior by women, such as taking up adjacent seats with bags, or "she-bagging".

So much controversy over a non-vulgar term, living in Italy I had no idea about the heated debate this term has sparked. So to make some sort of amends, I edited my answer and now it reads

[someone] who spreads their legs and/or invades your space (AKA “manspreading” or “she-bagging”)

But it's not a perfect fit. And she-bagging doesn't work if you're talking about an airplane seat, does it?

• What would be a gender-neutral equivalent of manspreading. A term that would not offend men, but could be applied to both sexes?

Answer 1

Seat hog

Without having an example sentence, it's hard to suggest a perfect fit, but I would suggest "seat hog" or "seat hogging."

There's even a whole blog dedicated to posting pictures of this sort of people. (I tried to pick a photo with a non-obvious gender) From that blog:

SeatHog – noun – \ˈsēt-hog\ – a selfish or clueless individual who deprives another individual of any reasonable or unimpeded opportunity to sit down.

(In my dialect in regular IPA: /ˈsi:tˌhɑg/)

The sort of picture they share:

Washington state's Sound Transit* uses "seat hog" to teach people how to ride the train. (Included the other ones because they're cute too.)

For readers unfamiliar with this use of "hog," it follows this OED definition:

[6] b. orig. U.S. Chiefly with modifying word: a person who appropriates or monopolizes something in a greedy and selfish manner. Cf. hog v.1 7b.

• Seattle metro area, the "Sound" refers to the Puget Sound, which lies directly west of Seattle.

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Answer 2

To avoid the accusation of being biased and the ire of those who may be offended; a passenger who takes up too much room or invades their co-passenger's space could be termed a

• space hog

‘Worse, they're also tremendous space hogs, gobbling up dozens of precious square feet in useless aisle area.’

The verb hog (hogged, hogging) is used indiscriminately, M-W says

to take in excess of one's due
hog the credit

In fact, the term was already in use during the 1940s-50s

(1953)

A whimsical, illustrated ad from the Tube (shown above) […] admonishing riders who are hogging seats. Even though the time, place, and design are very different, the message—it's really not cool to take up seats that should go to others who need them more—is crystal clear. Curbed

(1947)

Designed by Amelia Opdyke Jones for the New York City Subway, these posters were in use for over 40 years beginning in 1918.

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_{This answer, edited, was being composed when @Azor Ahai posted his answer "seat hog". My comments, first and foremost, thanking him and then apologising for posting a similar answer were deleted.}

Answer 3

sprawl [sprawl] verb (used without object)

1) to be stretched or spread out in an unnatural or ungraceful manner:

Source: Dictionary.com

Example 1

• ”I suppose only a man can man-spread their legs.”

• ”Both a man or a woman can sit with their legs sprawled out.”

Example 2

• ”Can you give me some room on the bench. You are man-spreading, I can’t sit.”

• “Can you give me some room on the bench. You are sprawled out, I can’t sit.”

Answer 4

Legs akimbo: knees bent and protruding from the trunk.

 a tailor sitting with legs akimbo

Answer 5

No.

While there are words that carry the meaning of sitting in a way that takes up too much space, an essential part of the meaning of manspreading is the connection to a culture of male entitlement and the power dynamics of gender and personal space. If this is the meaning you intended to convey, you should keep it. It is not "misandry", and claims of "misandry" should be treated as highly suspect of being misogynist in nature (denying the reality of gendered power dynamics). There are cases where the word "misandry" is a meaningful criticism (e.g. denying that a man could be the victim of sexual assault or claims that men are not suitable as single parents) but this is not one of them.

Answer 6

How about "knee-spreading"? It doesn't cover the case where someone has excess bags but it could refer to any person of either gender who is sitting with their legs spread far apart.

Answer 7

When discussing the issue as a comparative between the sexes on public transportation, one Slate writer used the term legroom-encroaching jerk

So it seems that men and women alike prefer to travel with women, generally perceived as less likely to be loudmouthed, legroom-encroaching jerks. Do you disagree? You can tell me all about it when you sit next to me on the train.

Source