But it is actually both true, BUUUUUUUUUT when girls sit unladylike in the presence of men, most of the time, it isn't showing confidence, but they are more likely to be interested in the guy.
Don't sit like that on the busy subway or bus, period. When people are getting on, close your legs. Sitting like that is just as ignorant as putting your groceries and bags on the seats. If you're that uncomfortable and need to spread out, walk or go buy a car. You can't afford one and that's why you're riding the bus? Same with other people, and they didn't pay their fare to have to ask you to move so they can sit down.
People who down voted you don't live in NYC like me because this is just the truth. Some guys won't even move their legs to make room for the elderly on a crowded train.
You don't have to tell me, I live in a huge city and had to take public transport for ages. A lot of these guys were NOT just sitting this way to be comfortable either, they'd look you dead in the eye and not move even if you asked politely. Even the one in this post was being a jerk...he didn't move his hand until it became obvious a person was sitting down. Then even when a person was sitting next to him, he STILL didn't close his legs until the other person started opening theirs and forcing him to. Obviously there were some who moved as soon as they saw the train or bus was getting full, but they were the minority.
I'm a guy and yes it's perfectly acceptable to have your legs spread in order to make room for your genitals, however you do not need to spread them so wide that they encroach on the seat/seats next to you and having your hands down on the seat next to you is unnecessary and unnaceptable if people are still trying to sit down, so yes not everything is about the patriarchy but that guy was an asshole.
I'm a male and I get yelled at when I cross my legs. I like to cross them, but it IS true indeed that spreading them is wayy more comfortable for our boys.
I only cross my legs because I don't want people looking at my crotch, lol.
Unless you're hung like a goddamn elephant you don't need your legs more than a few centimetres apart. Room is required but not as much as most of the dicks (pun intended) on public transport use, often they are just being obnoxious.
For me personally it's not just about the pressure it's about the heat on them, if it's like 20 minutes of them close together on a hot day then they're going to need a bit more than a few centimeters otherwise it's going to be hairy, sweaty soup down there.
Y'all say you need room for your nads and spread out like a damn starfish but whinge when someone's actual fucking body takes up an extra centimeter on the bus.
I really wonder how sitting a certain way has become a charged method of shaming in today's society. It's almost like when girls were told to sit with their legs closed because it was the chaste thing to do.
I only cross my legs because I don't want people looking at my crotch, lol.