Louder than Words

Women may say they are equal to men, but their bodies are different. This means that their body language also becomes different. Some of ...

Women may say they are equal to men, but their bodies are different. This means that their body language also becomes different. Some of this is because of cultural differences 8211; female babies are handled more gently and delicately by their parents and as they grow, they are told that certain movements such as sitting with their knees apart or taking large strides are unladylike. Boys, on the other hand, are encouraged to be manly. And the rough activity they engage in is often shrugged off since, 8220;boys will be boys.8221;

Another example of a gender difference is apparent in the different ways girls and boys carry their school books. Part of the answer for this lies in the physical differences between men and women. Once girls begin to mature, they have larger hips and are not comfortable carrying anything at fingertip length on their side. Also, the way the joints in a women8217;s arm operate make it easier for them to carry weight against the breast. Nature, in the interest of evolution, may have designed things to make it more comfortable for a women to carry a baby against her breast.

There may also be a psychological shielding operation at work in young girls. Books can be a protection for the body in shielding the developing breast. Another example of a women unconsciously shielding and protecting herself is when a man and woman pass each other in a crowded street. Men tend to bare their chests while women cover and bend their shoulders forward at a slight angle. Notice the way most women throw a ball. Part of the reason most women can8217;t throw as far as men is that they have been conditioned to feel that moving their limbs too far away from the body is unladylike. So, they tend to throw from the wrist and the lower arm. It8217;s not very often that we notice women sitting with their hands clasped behind their head 8211; this involves moving the upper arm away from the body and women tend to make women feel unfeminine.

Other gender signals that are masculine and feminine are signified by body movements. When a women talks, her pelvis tips forward and up and she holds her arm close to her body and swinging usually from the elbow.

When men walk, they keep their thighs apart, roll their pelvis back and swing their arms from the shoulders. Women tend to close their eyes more slowly than men. The quick blink is considered as a masculine signal. The way we hold our hands at the wrist is related to gender 8212; gesticulation with the hands is considered more feminine than masculine.
Samantha Kochhar
The author has studied People8217;s Skills from Northwest University, Chicago/Pivot Point International.