Feminist Designs A Chair That Averts Manspreading, Wins A Design Award

The act of ‘manspreading’ is currently gaining more attention than it deserves. Definitely, it’s really a social faux pas as self-centered and intolerable as any other, but the gender part always seems to pass out the over-reaction and division, to the height where manspreading has been defined as an exhibition of male social domination.

For more insight, 23-Year old, Laila Laurel – a 3D Design and Craft graduate embarked on final year project titled ‘A solution for Manspreading”. Finished from the University of Brighton, she created two wooden chairs – one for men and another for women.

It is shaped in a way as to force the male gender to sit with his legs closed and with a small piece of wood in the middle in a bid to encourage the female gender to sit with legs apart.

Laura explained that the chairs are however not t be taken seriously, but sure give a clear definition to the issue women face.

“I designed and generated these chairs in order to identify and challenge problems surrounding the act of sitting that might potentially be more gender-specific, such as manspreading.”

My design exercise is contextualized within fourth-wave feminism and another huge motivation for these pieces was Laura Bates’ Everyday Sexism Project, a platform in which women can testify about the sexism they have experienced,” Laurel stated.

Laurel’s work has however impressed a lot of individuals, as it has also won a Belmond Award. The Honor, presented by a Luxury Hotel and Leisure Company stated that the chairs were bold and purpose-driven designs exploring the significance of design in informing space, societal issues of today and behavior.

Reacting, Laurel added she was thrilled with the reaction she got with her design. “The reaction of the people who engaged and interacted with my pieces at my Graduate show was really encouraging and exciting as it seemed to spark interesting conversations and also make them laugh, which is something I really value in my work,” Laura expressed her joy.

Here’s However What People Said About The Designs: