If you were on a plane, how would you respond if someone of the opposite sex requested you move seats due to reasons of religion?
I know, old story, I have just been thinking about it recently. If you don't know the background, there have been situations where women are asked to move on planes because Orthodox Jewish men are not supposed to touch menstruating women (therefore it's safer for them to just not sit next to women in general).
Article: http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/07/female-passenger-asked-change-seats-because-gender/
8 years ago by Xeno
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Their beliefs are not mine. So they should move, not me. Why should I solve a problem they themselves created? Their problem, they fix it themselves. Good luck finding another place to sit.
This is where I fall in line too. They should have been responsible enough to make their own accommodations.
I'm all for people like that not touching any woman in any context, ever. (Just to be safe, right?)
However, it's their responsibility to follow their religious beliefs. Not anyone else's. If they need to be seated elsewhere, then THEY need to move. To do otherwise isn't to hold a religious belief - it's to impose it on others.
It's an issue of responsibility. I imagine most people who have things like this make arrangements (buy extra seats, contact airline or whatever) but it's the expectation of last minute accommodation that really irks me because it is irresponsible.
I'd inform the man (I refrain from using the word "gentleman" for misogynists) that he's welcome to change his own seat, but his religious preferences do not constitute an obligation for anyone else.
And as a man myself, he's invited to sit somewhere far away from me.
Right, this is more my issue with a lot of these stories... the men trying to get women to move or asking other people to switch seats with them are expecting others to accommodate. He should have bought extra seats or contacted the airline well before to make arrangements. If the airline he is flying is randomly assigned upon arrival, he shouldn't have flown that airline.
Or, for the sake of argument, assuming that it was a last minute booking finding a new seat on his own rather than placing the burden on any women sitting next to him.
If I was a transporter, I would totally give that accomodation to those people so they don't have to sit next to women, children, whatever they wish as long as they are willing to pay full price for the empty seat next to them.
I'd say no, because I paid for a specific seat and if I move I take someone else's seat. End of discussion.
Not a hope in hell, unless the airline gave me an upgrade.
I'm gonna go against the grain here... But if a woman asked me to move for religious reasons, my response would depend on how inconvenient this would be for me.
If switching seats was a simple matter of going to sit elsewhere on the plane, I'd do it. I mean, who cares, really? I don't need to make a stand here because I'm non-religious and think gender segregation is silly. I don't really need to agree with the reasons for the switch, it's just a civil thing to do. Depending on how much coffee I've had that morning, I might make a snarky remark on the way out.
If switching seats would greatly inconvenience me, I'd refuse and ask the other passenger to switch themselves.
Reading the article, that's what the Jewish man ended up doing... He switched seats when the woman refused to switch, which was her right. I don't think this was as big an issue as people make it out to be.
I think it could be potentially humiliating too as a woman. There is an example I found that may resonate for you more as a man; apparently there are several airlines that have a history of asking men to move if they are seated next to a minor under the age of 15... automatically assuming that men are pedophiles. I think that's when you'd start to feel marginalized and upset, right?
What a great example... Thank you. I think I understand the woman's reaction better now, and I'm not so sure anymore that I would be so accommodating.
If I'm feeling polite, "No thanks, this is the seat I paid for". If they are insistent, or I'm in a crabby mood, "Get bent, your problem, not mine".
What if the person next to you wasn't wearing pants?
That could make for a fun flight. Or awkward.
Nope. Feel free to move. It's not ok to make someone else responsible for solving your own problems.
I don't care what the reason is whether it is religion or someone else's convenience, if it improves my situation I'll take the swap, other than that you can take a hike. Obviously if there is a medical consideration I can be flexible, I may be a jerk but I'm not a heartless jerk.
"Fuck off."
If the move involves an upgrade, then hell yeah. If not, they can eat shit.