Sex and the Single Armrest

I was recently fortunate enough to travel by air to St.Petersberg, Florida this March break. In this day and age, it is a well known fact that you have to pay for any additional perks when you travel. Perhaps the airline should consider adding a surcharge for the use of the armrest because the sense of entitlement to personal space has increased and can or cannot be considered important to some people. Recent studies have shown that males have a preference over females when it comes to using the armrest. In fact the study clearly showed statistics indicating that men were three times as likely to have possession of the armrest over women. There doesn’t seem to be any scientific reason for men to behave this way and this study seemed to only be conducted around airline travel. One’s personal space is definitely compromised when you think about travelling on a busy subway in a busy city. As mentioned in this chapter, it is funny how we tend to need certain types of personal space, and how we deal with it differently in different situations. For example, when on a subway train, people can be in contact with us all around, but our mind shifts to viewing these people as objects rather than people who are invading our personal space. We deal with this type of invasion better than we would on an airplane where it is a constant fight for the armrest. I personally believe that it has more to do with comfort and how it is a natural reaction of the human body to use the armrest. I sort of disagree with Ingram when he says that it has to do with male dominance. I believe it has to do with who gets it first or who is more polite. Maybe women are more considerate when it comes to the armrest. Also, maybe you should think twice about getting up out of your seat because if you had the armrest when you left, you’re definitely out of luck when you get back.