Power and Control

  Very interesting studying posture and how it affects how people view us. I tend to slouch a lot and my backpack makes me look asymmetrical but I'd like to believe I can control how people see me (visible vs. invisible, alpha vs. beta whatever you want to call it). Being short helps me easily escape when I want, but sometimes with proper posture and stride people move out of my way. I've been told that I look like I want to kill somebody when I walk in the hallways during school. I've also been told I walk with a 'swagger'. I think my walk is normal and gets me to my classes on time. Despite my poor posture I don't think I am one of those 'invisible kids' in the halls. Although I'm not one of those obnoxious kids who walks WAY TOO SLOW, people still see me and many of them wave hello. Do I stand out? Do I somehow catch people's eye? Do people see me because a lot of people know me? I think I'm going to study how I present myself on my journey from class to class.
When we went out in the halls to experiment with how posture works, my friend came up behind me and tapped me on the back asking, "Why are all the STACies crossing their arms and walking through the hallways sad." I don't know if she is just observant or if we were being to obvious. Maybe if we were a bit more subtle about it would work even better. When I tried being 'invisible' I kept playing with my hands, picking my nails a bit, keeping a neutral face. I think if you chose to look sad or happy that draws attention. I thought it worked for me.

I love Back to the Future. I used to watch it all the time as a child. I never really thought about the postures in the movie until today when it was pointed out. One thing I noticed that wasn't really pointed out that I picked up on was after George McFly punch Biff there was this one shot taken from below making him look much bigger.

On the whole neck and submission topic, my thoughts immediately went to dogs. As you may know I am volunteering at North Shore Animal League and I had to go to orientation. At orientation we spent a lot of time on how the body language of a dog or cat shows their emotions which is very important to know because they can't really speak to us so to know what they are feeling we must study their body.Especially because at NSAL these are for the most part, animals we don't know too well. We don't know their past, and there is possible triggers we don't know about. I have charts and pictures showing what body language means what for both dogs and cats. Maybe I'll bring it in.
Another thing about necks being a sign of submission made me think that this could be why all the respectable business men wear collared shirts and not V necks. But then I thought there is a lot of reasons why professional people don't wear V necks.

I think posture is a silent language people do not think about all that often.