What elbows position hides?
T o appear dominant , people need t o creat e an impression of physical st rengt h, t o look calm, and t o appear unconcerned about any t hreat s f rom ot hers. One way t o achieve t his is by placing t he hands on t he hips. T here are t wo main versions of t his post ure – t he one-handed ‘arm akimbo’ and t he t wohanded ‘arms akimbo’. T he t wo-handed version is more spect acular, but t he one-handed version can be point ed at ot her people in a way t hat t he t wo-handed version cannot . T here are t hree component s t hat make hand-on-hip post ures dominant :
THE EXPANSION COMPONENT When someone places a hand on t heir hip t hey appear t o be larger and pot ent ially more t hreat ening. When bot h hands are used, t he ef f ect is doubled. Hand-on-hip post ures also expand t he t errit ory t hat someone occupies – rat her like st raight - leg sit t ing post ures.
THE THREAT COMPONENT Anyone who has ever t ried t o push t hrough a large crowd knows how ef f ect ive t he elbows can be at clearing a pat h. Elbows are bony and sharp. T hey can be used t o nudge, lever or prod people out of t he way wit hout causing t he kind of of f ence t hat might arise if one were t o use one’s hands. In t his respect t he elbows are a ‘second-grade weapon’, but a weapon nevert heless. T his makes it possible f or t he elbows t o be used in an underst at ed, almost subliminal way. Wit h t he arms akimbo t he message is subt ler – t he elbows t hreat en people wit hout t hem being f ully aware of what ’s happening.
THE PREPARATORY COMPONENT T he arms akimbo post ure is half -way bet ween having t he hands down by one’s side and having t hem raised and ready f or at t ack. T he post ure is t heref ore a part ial preparat ion f or at t ack-one where t he int ent ions of t he person are disguised by t he f act t hat t he hands have convenient ly come t o rest at t he hips. In t he case of people who are armed wit h a sword or a pist ol, placing t he hand on t he hip of t en brings t he hand closer t o t he weapon. T his allows t he hand t o be at rest while it is preparing f or at t ack.
During t he sixt eent h and sevent eent h cent uries t he arm akimbo post ure was an accept ed part of upper-class male deport ment . People in high of f ice were f requent ly depict ed in port rait s wit h an elbow f ully ext ended – Hans Holbein’s f amous paint ing of Henry VIII is a good example – and somet imes wit h t heir elbow point ing menacingly at t he viewer.
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