Pole-hogging: it’s rude, inconsiderate, and we can’t believe it’s a thing. (Picture: METRO/Daniella Birtley)

The other day, I hopped on a busy train at High Street Kensington, saw there were no empty seats, and quickly headed towards the centre pole.

And there he was. A man, leaning with his entire back, shoulders, and butt against the pole, oblivious to the one woman gingerly holding the pole above his head.

I walked around him, said ‘excuse me’, and in the moment he shifted his back (not in response, he was just getting comfy), quickly slipped my hand onto the pole.

I assumed that once he knew someone was there and attempting to cling on for dear life, he’d move. He didn’t. Instead, he shifted his back so that he was pressed against my hand.




I didn’t want to give in – as the other woman had already done at this point – and try to balance as the train shuddered. So I kept my hand there, adjusting it every few seconds as a subtle ‘yes, there is a person’s hand in between your back and the pole’ gesture.

It didn’t work, and he began to aggressively press his shoulders into my hand until four stops later I got off, bruised and incredibly pissed off.

By leaning on a pole, you’re preventing at LEAST five people from holding on. (Picture: METRO/Daniella Birtley)

This is an extreme example of pole-hogging – the epidemic that just shows, yet again, that men think they have more of a right than women to public spaces

Every day, people on public transport witness pole-hoggers: people that choose to lean and take up an entire pole, preventing anyone else from holding on.

And yes, occasionally pole-hoggers are women.

But here’s the difference. Every time I’ve seen a woman doing a lean on the pole, she’ll quickly move – and profusely apologise – the second another commuter coughs, signals to the pole, or even stands nearby and looks, longingly, at its metal support.

@TfL Those posters you did about tube etiquette. Could you do one about pole leaners please? pic.twitter.com/oEyXN2zfnx — James Ross (@Sketches2) March 12, 2015

Men (and yes, we do know it’s not all men. Just the dickish ones), don’t. They stay put.

And they’ll stay put until someone actually says to them ‘excuse me, please can you move?’, if then, and they’ll act like they’re doing the noblest thing of all time by shifting their butt and standing on their own two feet.

Just like manspreading, it proves that men feel they’re more entitled to public space than other people, particularly women. Because this isn’t just a case of a man refusing to give up his seat for an older woman who maybe needs it more.

By leaning your full body against the tube’s pole, you’re preventing at least five people from holding on.

Meaning pole-hoggers, for some bizarre reason, think their comfort is worth more than the comfort of FIVE people.

When people lean against the central pole in rush hour ? #itsnotjustforyourback @tube_boob pic.twitter.com/6gxT91QWvl — Tracey Penn (@TraceyPenn) June 10, 2014

And as they watch other people stumble, position themselves in the sturdiest possible position, and desperately try to reach up and cling on to something (I’m short, too, so it’s a struggle), they don’t even consider that moving might be the right thing to do.



Instead, I imagine their thought process goes like this: ‘Well, I’m comfortable, so I’m just going to continue leaning. I’ve earned this.’

And while we’re sure men will try to come up with some excuse for their pole-dominating behaviour – just like their ‘we need to make room for our balls’ nonsense to excuse manspreading – there isn’t one.

It is so blatantly inconsiderate, we can’t believe it’s a thing.

The worst type of commuter in my opinion! The Pole Hogger! #eeewwww pic.twitter.com/BDnHxM0OSp — Alex Cullen (@Alex89Cullen) March 6, 2013

And because all of us Brits are too polite to say ‘hey, you’re preventing anyone from holding on. Move’, it’ll keep being a thing.

Until men stop being entitled idiots and realise that their desire to lean doesn’t supersede everyone else’s need to, well, not fall down.

Pole-hoggers of the world: stop being dicks. Stand up straight, get your butt off the metal, and hold on to the pole like a normal, considerate member of society.

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