A student has created two chairs designed to combat, and raise awareness of, manspreading – and we want to show them to every man who has ever intruded on our personal space during the morning commute.
Laila Laurel, a 3D design and craft graduate from the University of Brighton, created the furniture as part of her final year project, but has recently been awarded the New Designers Belmond Award for emerging talent, bagging a £1,000 bursary in the process.
The chairs are designed to spark a conversation around our sitting habits, so women don’t feel obliged to fold into themselves, and men recognise the importance of staying in their own damn space.
One chair is a trapezium seat, with side bumpers to encourage men to sit with their legs closely together. The other is in reverse, with open sides and a small piece of wood in the middle to encourage women to spread out.
[Read More: Manspreading: We Finally Have A Scientific Explanation For The Most Annoying Male Habit Ever]
Of course, we’re not about to start bringing our own chairs on Tubes and trains – but the creation does raise awareness of the manspreading phenomenon.
Laurel says the project was inspired by the sheer frustration that comes from men widely spreading their legs on public transport – and admits the chairs aren’t meant to be taken entirely seriously.
“[The idea] came both from my own experiences of men infringing on my space in public, and also from The #EverydaySexism Project, a website founded by Laura Bates in which women self-testify about sexism they experience,” she said. “With my chair set, I hoped to draw awareness to the act of sitting for men and women and inspire discussion around this.”
Speaking to HuffPost UK, Laurel adds that the chairs are also designed to encourage women to consider the way in which they move through the world or the space they take up in relation to men.
“I think men have a tendency to command space and require women to move for them far more than vice versa,” she says. “In order to achieve gender equality, it’s imperative to consider many different aspects of sexism, and that’s why I thought it would interesting it try to explore political gendered issues around seating.”
The design judges praised the chairs for being “a bold, purpose-driven design that explores the important role of design in informing space, a person’s behaviour and societal issues of today”.
As well as the bursary, Laurel will also be commissioned to create a product for the hotel and leisure company who sponsored the award. Anti-manspreading chairs in every room, perhaps?
While Laurel has had positive reactions from people who’ve come to view the chairs in person, she says the online backlash has been “quite unpleasant”.
“I have received a lot of explicit messages nearly entirely from men who seem to be under the impression I am trying to castrate them and that I hate all men, which couldn’t be further from the truth frankly,” she said. “This has been pretty disappointing but I guess tackling social issues is often very polarising.”
Well, we think she’s a complete hero.