Body Language

The recent observation of how men and women relate to each other was really fascinating as it was obvious to notice the ‘affliative and power cues’ that Janet Mills speaks off in Body Language Speaks Louder Than Words. Although body language can be clearly differentiated between the two sexes, whilst conducting the observation, I noticed that there is other categories that also have a certain behavioral patterns particular to that category.

I conducted my observation at the MTB Coffee Garden from 11:40 to 12:10 on the 18 March 2004. Body language seems to be fairly unconscious behavior yet it does follow some trend. I noticed that men react in similar ways and women react in similar ways. These actions do not seem to be noticed unless the behavior of either of the sexes is outside the normal behavior. I was intently watching a group of five girls and three boys and trying to distinguish their specific body language when all I could notice was the fifth girl, who was last to arrive at the table. She was sitting at the table legs out-stretched and her hands hanging loosely at her legs. This was most interesting as her body language was traditionally masculine. The boys at the table were sitting this way as well, which Janet Mills refers to as ‘power cues’. I found this interesting as I only noticed her as her body language was out of the norm. this clearly illustrates the point that Janet Mills makes.

“These sex differences are socially learned and publicly performed

but are relatively unconscious in both the sender and the receiver

-until someone breaks the rules or norms” (Mills quoted by Ferrante:1992)

If the fifth girl were sitting like the other girls, legs crossed and hands lightly placed over her lap or around her face, she would have fitted in unnoticed, however her strong masculine gestures led me to single out her immediately.

The men at the coffee shop definitely had more aggressive body language than the women. They occupied more space at the table, having either legs or their arms out-stretched, and were often much louder than the girls. They seemed to unconsciously create an impression of power and dominance over the females at the table. The men also seemed to be more aggressive with each other. When they spoke to each other they maintained strong eye contact, almost staring each other down. I also noticed, amusingly, how their body language indicated how the marked their territory. As a fourth boy approached the table, it was remarkable to see how one of the boys leaned closer to one of the girls whereas another boy stretched out his arm around another girl. This shows of their nurtured, learnt body language to show what belongs to them.

Girls on the other hand seem to have less aggressive body language. Girls don’t occupy as much space as guys and maintain less threatening eye contact. Also when in conversation, I noticed that girls often will nod their heads or smile in concurrence. Girls also are more self-conscious. They are often found adjusting their clothing or putting their hair right. They furthermore use nervous hand gestures. This body language indicates that girls are more uneasy in social settings than men are.

Like I mentioned earlier, although these differences are clearly eminent merely between men and women, which can be seen by their interactions; there are other stratifications that exhibit different body language.

While watching a Muslim couple I could help but notice the difference in their body language to many of the other people I had observed. The boy seemed to dominate the conversation, he leaned forward onto the table, very aggressive in an ‘in-your-face’ sort of manner. She sat back in