...I can't really cross my legs comfortably. My midsection is too large and my thighs could be mistaken for tree trunks if I was buried head first up to my waist. As a result sitting on the ground sucks for me in any position. But I can stand for hours and walk for miles. (Was a cameraman for sportsball for almost six years until now.)

It's a lazy way: the end result isn't a clean cut but is as jagged as the end of torn paper and will snag anything from socks to sheets. The work smoothing the nails with a metal file or an emory board afterwards makes clippers faster. (It's also difficult with permanently short nails like the pinky toe, so waiting for it to get longer to tear is annoying.)

Anyway, what I do is to sit on the couch and bend forward to cut them.

But as far as I know generally sitting with one foot up in the way you described seems to be a male dominanted way of sitting in general, probably because it takes up quite a lot of space. Its also a common way man manspread at public transport and so on, so there might be something, like a tendency, to your observation.

Occasionally I have done the "ankle over the other knee" thing, but I feel compelled to point out it's a very awkward configuration to be in if you're short, or if you're not thin.