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Artist's 'non-violent' take on manspreading

Alice CunninghamSuffolk
News imageContributed A woman stands next to a large piece of art. She is smiling and has dark hair that has been tied back. She is wearing a black blouse and a white skirt. The painting shows a woman sat on a tube who has spread her legs wide. She is encroaching on two men wearing suits sat beside her who have angled their legs away from her. The woman is wearing a white summer dress and has a black bag with a rabbit key chain attached to it that rests on the floor between her legs. She holds a book in one hand and her other hand is down toward her ankle. Contributed
Charlotte Miller said the painting was a non-violent push back against manspreading

An artist has created a painting to challenge the phenomenon known as manspreading as a way to empower other women.

Charlotte Miller, 24, from Diss, Norfolk, made the oil painting called Claiming that she said was a "non-violent way" of calling out manspreading.

Manspreading is a phrase commonly used to describe a man and their legs taking up more than one seat on public transport, encroaching on those sat next to them.

Miller's piece is now hanging at Ickworth House near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, and videos and pictures featuring her work have amassed millions of views on social media.

News imageContributed A painting of a woman sat on a tube who has spread her legs wide. She is encroaching on two men wearing suits sat beside her who have angled their legs away from her. The woman is wearing a white summer dress and has a black bag with a rabbit key chain attached to it that rests on the floor between her legs. She holds a book in one hand and her other hand is down toward her ankle.Contributed
Miller posed as a model for photographs, which she then used as a reference while painting

Miller studied University Studies at West Suffolk College and secured an Art Practice degree in 2023.

After graduating, a lecturer invited her to be part of an exhibition that would explore themes of tolerance, resistance and building bridges.

She chose the topic of manspreading because she thought it could be "visually interesting" and it had been something she had experienced on the London Tube.

"We notice it and see it, experience it, but I don't feel like everyone is aware they're doing it," she said, speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk's Wayne Bavin.

"Fair enough, you're trying to be comfortable, but sometimes for women if you're sat down and someone is making you uncomfortable, you don't really get to say anything... [this painting is] pushing back non-violently."

News imageContributed A woman has her back turned to the camera toward a large stately home. She has her arms raised in celebration. In one hand she holds a bunch of sunflowers. She has dark hair that has been tied back and she wears a black blouse with a white skirt. Contributed
Miller's piece is on display at Ickworth House in Suffolk

Once finished, the piece was displayed at Ickworth House in the smoke room which historically was an area for men to gather away from women.

Miller said she had quit her work in hospitality and childcare because of her newfound success.

She said future works would also be based around women's issues, but also "calling out ideas and experiences I've had or what people have let me know".

"If you know, you know, and I think that's what's happened with this one," she continued.

"People who resonate with it, they completely understand.

"Then other people who don't get it are looking at it and questioning it, and fair enough it's art.

"Everyone can have their own interpretation of it."

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