The Definitive Book of Body Language - Barbara Pease [81]
Hands-on-Hips—used by models to make clothing more appealing
These aggressive-readiness clusters are used by professional models to give the impression that their clothing is for the modern, assertive, forward-thinking woman. Occasionally the gesture may be done with only one hand on the hip and the other displaying another gesture. This is commonly used by women who want to draw attention to themselves by using this cluster with a pelvic tilt to emphasize their hips-to-waist ratio, which indicates fertility. Hands-on-Hips is regularly used by both men and women in courtship to draw attention to themselves.
The Cowboy Stance
Thumbs tucked into the belt or into the tops of the pockets, frames the genital area and is a display used mainly by men to show a sexually aggressive attitude. It is the most common gesture used in television Westerns to show viewers the virility of their favorite gunslinger.
Also jokingly called the Man-of-the-Long-Thumbs gesture, the arms take the readiness position and the hands serve as central indicators, highlighting the crotch. Men use this gesture to stake their territory or to show other men that they are unafraid. Apes use the same gesture, but without a belt or trousers.
The cowboy stance—his fingers point at what he wants you to notice
This gesture tells others, “I am virile—I can dominate,” which is why it's a regular for men on the prowl. Any man talking to a woman while he's standing like this—with dilated pupils and one foot pointing toward her—is easily read by most women. It's one of the gestures that gives the game away for most men, as they unwittingly declare to her what's on their mind.
The sexually assertive female
This gesture is principally used by men, but women wearing jeans and trousers can occasionally be seen doing it, too. When wearing dresses or skirts, the sexually assertive female displays one or both thumbs tucked into a belt or pocket.
Sizing Up the Competition
The next illustration shows two men sizing each other up, using the characteristic Hands-on-Hips and Thumbs-in-Belt gestures. Considering that they are both turned at an angle away from each other and the lower halves of their bodies appear relaxed, it's reasonable to assume that they are unconsciously evaluating each other and that confrontation is unlikely.
Sizing up the competition
Their conversation may sound casual or friendly, but a relaxed atmosphere won't exist until their Hands-on-Hips gestures are dropped and open gestures or head tilting are used.
If these two men were directly facing each other with their feet planted firmly on the ground and legs apart, a fight could be likely.
Gesture clusters show aggressive attitudes
Even though Adolf Hitler used the Hands-on-Hips gesture to try to appear authoritative for publicity photographs, he still could not stop his left hand from crossing his body and attempting to cover his solitary testicle.
Contradictory signals: his right arm shows pointed aggression, while his left hand attempts to protect his front
The Legs-Spread
This is almost entirely a male gesture and is also seen among apes who are trying to establish authority over other apes. Rather than risk injury fighting, they spread their legs and the one with the biggest display is seen as the most dominant. And so it is with male humans; even though it's usually done unconsciously, it sends a powerful message. If one man does the Legs-Spread the others usually mirror to maintain status, but it has very negative effects when a man uses it in front of women, especially in a business context, because she can't mirror