Conference turris::womannotes-v1

    Holding one's head inclined downward makes it easier to avert
    one's eyes down. Many cultures consider this "respectful
    behavior" especially from the young, and females. To gaze
    directly at another is considered disrespectful from ones'
    'inferiors'. This would probably be most common in male
    dominated societies, especially patriarchies.
    
    Here in Springfield, where there are many minorities,
    I see many minority women doing this, probably sub-
    consciously. I even get it from black women above me
    in the organization chart. (I'm WM). Disturbing. 
    
              Dana

    When I saw a therapist a few years back, he worked a lot with me
    on my "presentation" of myself.  I was having problems at the time
    with people not listening to me, and interrupting me to say something
    to a third person as if I were not present.
    
    He told me that I was most powerful when I was "centered" enough
    to sit still and not fidget or jiggle my foot, sat up straight and
    made calm, clear eye contact, and held my head erect.  We also
    discussed tone and pitch of voice.  I got a little better, but when
    I no longer received constant feedback, I slipped back (partly) to
    my old ways.
    
    I hear slightly better with my head cocked to the side, so I sometimes
    have to make an choice between hearing well and appearing powerful.  
    I enjoy watching women who present themselves calmly and powerfully,
    and comparing my mannerisms and posture with theirs.

In our culture (USA) holding your head cocked to the side is a common
"listening" posture. I do it unconsciously, and I see other people doing it
all the time. It seems to convey the message that one really is
listening, not waiting for a chance to jump in with something to say.

It's also common for the listener to look directly and steadfastly at the
speaker, while the speaker only glances at the listener to see that they're
still looking (and listening) and then glances away. When the speaker is
done his or her gaze comes to rest upon the listener as a signal that it's
his or her turn to talk.

This is for behavior between equals, I don't remember about
dominant/subservient pairs.

I didn't notice this myself, I read it somewhere, but I can't remember where
either!

Don.

     A few years ago I was in an NTL class called Human Interaction
     Laboratory (or something like that) in which we (part of the time)
     sat in groups and gave each other feedback on how our body language
     comes across to others.

     There was one girl who looked like the stereotypical pretty dumb
     blonde.  She hunched her shoulders, ducked her head, and looked up
     at you through furiously batting eyelashes.  She was anything but
     dumb, but going by appearances (which lots of people do) you would
     tend to discount the probability of her having anything worthwhile
     to say.

     Anyway, it was suggested that she try sitting and standing erect,
     with shoulders back and head up, and that she deliberately widen
     her eyes to stop batting them.  It was amazing, but she almost
     immediately stopped looking like a pretty dumb blonde and started
     looking like a confident, alert, and intelligent young woman.
     And guess what?  When she said something, instead of wasting time
     with the reaction "Hey, pretty smart remark for a dumb blonde"
     we immediately accepted it as input to the ongoing conversation.

     Should it have made a difference?  Probably not.  But fair or
     not, people use stereotypes to get a quick fix on what kind of
     person they are dealing with.  And once that initial impression
     is made it is very hard to change.

     Susan

    Maybe it's the blond hair and blue eyes that make people unconsciously
    stereotype me and interrupt...I never thought of that as a possibility!
    
    

    The book _Body_Language_ has a lot of information about the sort of
    thing being discussed here -- I don't remember the author but it was on
    the bestseller list a couple of years ago and the bookstores in Nashua
    still have it in stock. 
    
    One thing to remember about our interpretation of posture, angle of the
    head, etc. is that it's not silly or trivial, it's based on some of our
    deepest and oldest biological traits.  Most higher animals communicate
    through their posturing and posing, and a down-tilted head is all but
    universal in the animal world as a sign of lower status.  If we
    interpret that posture as indicating a 'dumb blonde' that's cultural,
    but the gesture itself appears to be as old as animal life. 
    
    --bonnie, who spends too much of her life in bookstores
    

    Like a lot of other women, I grew up with my mother nagging me to
    stand up straight, and unlike my sister (5'7" with a terrible slouch),
    I listened.  After all, I couldn't do much about being flat-chested,
    wearing thick glasses, or my teenage acne, but I COULD stand up
    straight.  
    
    I'm not conspicuous by any means, but I do stand out in a group
    walking down the halls or down the street, because I hold my head
    up.  Here in the Mill, with the long corridors, people tend to walk
    with their eyes cast down, to avoid eye contact with the people
    they are walking toward for such a long time.  I catch myself doing
    it, too, but always try to correct it.  

>    Here in the Mill, with the long corridors, people tend to walk
>    with their eyes cast down, to avoid eye contact with the people
>    they are walking toward for such a long time.  I catch myself doing
>    it, too, but always try to correct it.  
    
    A reason for not making eye contact is to avoid staring. I've caught
    myself purposely not looking at oncoming traffic, especially when
    there's a single woman approaching, both because I don't want to be
    thought of as staring, and don't want to stare.
    
>    I'm not conspicuous by any means, but I do stand out in a group
>    walking down the halls or down the street, because I hold my head up.

    Well, I stand out in crowds anyway. It's hard not to when you're 6'5"
    with long hair and a beard.
    
    					-- hs

    In the Mill, it's a good idea to walk with your eyes cast down
    just so you can tell what the floor is about to do in front of
    you.

   There is an article in July's issue of SHAPE about posture, here
    it is:
    
    Dr. Rene Cailliet, director of physical medicine and rehabilitation
    at Santa Monica Hospital Center in California, a clinical professor
    at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, says;
    "Where the head goes, so goes the body."
    
    While many of us try to follow those time-honored rules of good
    posture-tuck in the buttocks, square the shoulders and hold in the
    stomach-they're difficult to maintain for any length of time, so we
    quickly revert to bad posture habits.  when your head (which weighs
    10 to 15 pounds) slumps forward, you lose 25 to 50 percent of the
    range of motion in your neck.  In time, this lack of flexibility
    grinds the neck joints and can lead to osteoarthritis.
    
    Bad posture can also result in fatigue, bursitis, depleted lung
    capacity, gartrointestinal problems and TMJ (temporomandibular joint)
    syndrome, a painful disorder fo the jaw once considered to be solely
    a dental problem.  And of course the body language of our posture
    tells the world how we feel about ourselves.
    
    I for one will now start to watch my posture.
    Jude    

    Your body posture and position help tell others what you think of
    yourself. You help them form their oppinion of you. This is even true
    of what animals think of you and what your status is. I just finished
    8 weeks of taking my new dog to obedience school. One of the first
    things the instructor told us was not to make an submissive body
    gestures to the dog and make sure they always know that you are
    "bigger and badder" or they won't respect you and obey. liesl