Manspreading: A Silly Song. An Interesting Issue.

Why manspreading? Why now? Why write a song about it?

Well, let's start at the start. I'll try not to bore with the details.

Launching a YouTube channel -- a successful YouTube channel --  is not easy. But, it's something I always wanted to do. Out of the blue, a dear friend of mine lit a fire under my ass and got me motivated enough to get started. A great way to start is to have content for which people are already searching. Hence, a parody of Taylor Swift's latest hit song, "Blank Space," centered around a topical issue -- manspreading. "Make Space" was born.

It seemed simple enough. I've been writing songs my whole life, I worship the ground upon which "Weird Al" Yankovic walks, and I had an idea. I was off to the races. Wrote the lyrics, recorded the music, shot the video. Done.

It turned out WAY better than I thought it would or could. And, it was one of the most fun creative ventures I've ever embarked upon.

Admittedly, when I began all this, I thought the concept of manspreading was ridiculous. I've manspread myself on occasion. As a man, or anyone, it feels nice to sit all sprawled out. Master of your domain. I get it. I simply thought there are considerate people and inconsiderate people. I still feel this way, but a modified version.

When I started telling people about my parody project, I was -- and continue to be -- blown away by the way response from women. "Ugh, I can't stand that," said one woman. "It's so annoying. It happens all the time," said another. "It's always guys taking up all the seats like they own the subway or something," said one more.  

Did they have a point? Short answer: Yes, yes they did. A strong enough point that the MTA joined the fight, spending over $76,000 on signs that read "Dude, stop the spread, please. It's a space issue."

Why do men do this? Every "dude" has their own reason. But, a tall friend of mine told me that Harvard did a study on sitting in a manspread posture, and they found that, when positioned that way, both men and women experienced a 20 percent spike in their testosterone levels. I did a quick Google search for this study and couldn't find it. However, my tall friend told it to me, which means it's true. After all, everyone knows tall people can't lie. Then again, I heard that from a tall guy, too, so...

I do not manspread at all anymore. Furthermore, I am now hyper-aware of anyone who does. And, from what I've seen, there are practically no female manspreaders. Just guys. So, fellow fellas, knock it off.

Look. You need to bring your bike on the train, fine. You bought a bit too much from Ikea, fine. You're going to the airport with a few suitcases, fine. We all pay the same $2.50 to ride the train, entitling us all to the same amount of space. Everyone needs a little extra now and then. But, taking up two seats during rush hour simply because you have man bits between your legs and it's "more comfortable" -- is not okay. Does anyone else look comfortable during rush hour? No. No they don't. And, that means you don't get to be either.

P.S. - It should be noted that I never once heard "Blank Space" before starting this, or pretty much any Taylor Swift song, except for that one about "never, ever, ever getting back together." The ambassador or New York City sure knows how to make a catchy song. I would happily make space for her to sit next to me on the subway.