This is a guest post by Daisy Duchess, President of the National Organization of Feminist Weasels. My publishing of this article should not be taken as an endorsement of Ms Duchess’s views.
Will the horror never end? Will the patriarchy never cease to come up with new and novel ways to oppress the sisters? The latest instrument of male dominance being unleashed upon Swedish women is — I shudder to name it — men sitting with their legs open on public transport! As can be seen on this site, men all across Sweden have started oppressing women by refusing to cross their legs while commuting to and from work — or more likely, given that they are men, to and from the unemployment office.
What this shameful patriarchal display does is establish and reinforce unconscious patterns of dominance, thereby subliminally convincing women that men are superior beings. Though she may not be aware of it, the average woman will look at such a display and think “Look at the size of those gigantic legs! How can a poor little woman like myself ever compete in the workplace against such a superior being ? I had better go back home and make someone a sandwich.”
So how should the Swedish state deal with this latest salvo in the worldwide war on women? The answer is clear — unless Sweden wishes to be seen as the most misogynist country in Europe, it must immediately criminalize sitting open-legged on public transport. A special branch of the police force should be set up for the purpose of patrolling the public transport network for such criminals, and issuing fines for first time offenders and hauling repeat offenders off to jail.
No doubt the chauvinistic bastards committing these crimes will have their excuses, claiming “B-b-b-but, sitting cross legged will squash my fiddly bits!” To this I say “Rubbish!” Such men should either stand or simply take their fiddly bits and go home. In fact, now that I think about it, why are men even allowed to sit down at all on public transport, when the space could be used by a woman and her shopping? There’s something to think about…