I think thats just fairly typical human behaviour jenna - not confined to gender or background.
I have lost track of the number of people I have seen - ranging from white male teenagers through to black middle age women and all shades inbetween - who sit on the outside seat on an intercity train, and pile their luggage onto the neighbouring window seat. Its an obvious attempt at creating your own safety and comfort bubble.
The most obnoxious, in my anecdotal experience, has been the white middle-aged businessman, sitting in the outside seat, briefcase on the window seat, laptop claiming all the space on the communal table, loudly informing everyone else in the carriage via their mobile phone that they are "on their way" or that they had " a bloody great meeting" or some other such inconsequentiality that they feel so significant they have to share with the rest of us... :)