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Beautiful? It’s all a question of luck. I was born with good legs. As for the rest… beautiful, no. Amusing, yes.
Josephine Baker
Many people do not recognize the importance of legs body language in their conversations. This is perhaps because although people talk quite a lot about such things as eye contact and smiling, not much is said about the legs in that respect. In fact, a few people find it rather absurd to refer to the legs as an important tool of communication.
When’s the last time you paid attention to your own legs?
Well, the truth is that the legs are very important in communication. Something interesting is that we all use legs body language, often without knowing it, to judge the people we are talking to, while we hardly ever pay any attention to our own legs. Although it is very important to listen to people, watch their gestures and keep eye contact, reading the movements of their legs can help you make more accurate conclusions about the tone and attitude of the person.
Where the feet point to…
FIRST, THE DIRECTION OUR FEET POINT TO MATTERS A LOT. WHEN SOMEONE IS INTERESTED IN THE CONVERSATION, THE ‘DOMINANT’ LEG WILL POINT TOWARDS YOU WHEN THEY ARE STANDING. THE DOMINANT LEG IS THE RIGHT LEG FOR THE RIGHT FOOTED AND THE LEFT LEG FOR THOSE WHO ARE LEFT FOOTED.If you notice that someone’s leg seems to be pointing in a different direction, then it means that they are either not interested, or uncomfortable. The direction their legs points to in this case is the likely exit.
Leg Crossing 101
Crossing of legs is very common, and can mean different things in different circumstances. When standing, crossing of legs may mean that someone is either a rigid kind of person, or just has a closed mind about the topic you are discussing. Usually this person may not may not be in agreement with what you are saying.
Leg-crossing can also be a sign of submissiveness. It is a good sign for a man if they approach a woman and she talks with her legs crossed, as it means that he is probably ‘scoring some points’. However, it could also be just a pointer to the person’s character, which is either shyness or lack of confidence.Sometimes also, although not too common, crossing of legs while standing simply means that someone badly wants to pee.
Crossing the legs when sitting means slightly different things, though. In fact, there are two ‘types’ of crossing the legs while sitting. Crossing of the knees is called European crossing. It is usually an indication that someone has already made a conclusion about whatever you are discussing, or about you. It depicts a sense of aloofness about a person. However, you ought to take it in it’s context. Sometimes people cross their legs only because they are feeling cold.
The other type, is called American crossing. This, basically, is placing one ankle on top of the other. Often, it depicts the person’s personality, as much the attitude towards the conversation. Crossing the ankles shows that a person likes to argue or compete. It does not necessarily imply that this person is not agreeable. It only means that it is someone who likes to be heard out.
It conveys the same ‘closed’ and defensive attitude as that in the standing position. During a conversation, it can indicate a ‘withdrawn’ attitude and it has been observed that people who cross their legs in the seated position tend to talk in shorter sentences and reject more proposals and are more inattentive to what’s going on compared to those who sit in a more ‘open’ position.
Apart from the usual defensive attitude, the seated 'legs-crossed' position can convey a lot more. For example, it is common observation that, while seated, women frequently cross and uncross their legs if they like what’s going on or are in the company of people they like.
I have told repeatedly in this section that women use submissive gestures to display attractiveness. Sitting in a leg-crossed position, besides revealing the thigh, also signals a submissive attitude and therefore women unconsciously assume this position when they sit to appear attractive, and they do. Many polls and surveys have revealed that men find the seated legs-crossed position the most attractive seated position a woman can take.
Oh my! Work of art!
Also, sitting with legs crossed reduces the overall perceived size of a woman. Dominance and submission are proportional to body size. More the body size, more dominant an organism is perceived to be. Less the body size, more submissive an organism is perceived to be. This is one reason why men like to be bigger or taller and women want to appear at least thinner, if not shorter.
When we are interested in someone, we tend to cross our legs in the direction of that person such that both our knees point to that person. Again, this gesture is also more frequently observed in women. In a seated position, if they like a guy they are talking to they’ll take up this gesture and if the guy is also interested, he’ll soon follow suit and mirror her gesture.