Why do some women lift one leg while kissing?
Joe Admire
on the title topic; how come some women lift one leg, or one foot,
while in the middle of a kiss? This odd gesture turned up a lot in 40's
and 50's movies (it was so common, in fact, that Bob Hope did a spoof
on it with Jane Russell in "Son of Paleface" in 1952). More recently,
I remember that Hanes (the hosiery manufacturer) employed this gesture
in several TV ads in the late 1970's and early 1980's. I also
remember an article about this subject in the Washington Post about 15
years back, but I can't locate said article.
I'm not sure whether this is a genuine or artifical gesture; it seems
to me that, if the woman were trying to show off her legs, it would be
difficult for the man to see them in that particular position. If I
remember the Post article rightly, the writer said that it was sort of
a shorthand way of showing "good-girl" characters caught up in passion,
and (as in the Bob Hope example mentioned above) was often played for
laughs; I don't remember ever seeing it in a dramatic movie, only in
comedies (esp. romantic comedies) and musicals. David Feldman asked
about this in one of his "Imponderables" books, but I don't remember if
he and his readers ever came to any definite conclusions.
If any of you folks have ever noticed this, what are your theories
about it?
-Joe-
--
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030...@my-deja.com/joe...@yahoo.com/jad...@monumental.com
Webmaster, For the Love of Opera Gloves -
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Stevie Nicks is _still_ the queen of rock 'n' roll!
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Before you buy.
GrapeApe
>on the title topic; how come some women lift one leg, or one foot,
>while in the middle of a kiss?
If deja was still a useful Usenet Archive, you would find something, because I
remember it being discussed before.
Was it ever an official Cecil question anyone?
The gesture is most often seen while kissing a taller man, and there can be a
bit more reach when one leg is lifted, if the head is tilted into a deep
kissing postion. That is, there can be genuine needs of balance involved.
It probably became expanded as colorful stage direction in plays into
situations where the gesture was much less necessary for balance, but proper
body language for the stage to convey an action to an audience.
--cut and paste to adopt this sig file---
Make Deja a useful Usenet Archive again!
Brian Cubbison
In article <8tpnlr$an2$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>, Joe Admire <030...@my-deja.com>
wrote:
> I'm not sure whether this is a genuine or artifical gesture; it seems
> to me that, if the woman were trying to show off her legs, it would be
> difficult for the man to see them in that particular position. If I
> remember the Post article rightly, the writer said that it was sort of
> a shorthand way of showing "good-girl" characters caught up in passion,
> and (as in the Bob Hope example mentioned above) was often played for
> laughs; I don't remember ever seeing it in a dramatic movie, only in
> comedies (esp. romantic comedies) and musicals. David Feldman asked
> about this in one of his "Imponderables" books, but I don't remember if
> he and his readers ever came to any definite conclusions.
>
> If any of you folks have ever noticed this, what are your theories
> about it?
>
> -Joe-
>
It's kind of a dainty way for a shorter woman to stretch up to reach a
taller man. In the movies, it conveys a "catch me, I'm falling in love" kind
of feeling , too.
Brian Cubbison
Syracuse, N.Y.
The Uncanny Dutch Courage
>It's kind of a dainty way for a shorter woman to stretch up to reach a
>taller man. In the movies, it conveys a "catch me, I'm falling in love" kind
>of feeling , too.
It's also a visually appealing device for the viewer.
"My notion of democracy is that under it the weakest should have the same
opportunity as the strongest. " -Freidrich Von Hayek
ctc...@my-deja.com
Three points define a plane, and the guy would look pretty silly
standing on one leg (Plus, man tending to be larger, the woman
may have more trouble balancing the one legged man)
Xho
Ian Munro
> I've recently been searching the web unsuccessfully for any information
> on the title topic; how come some women lift one leg, or one foot,
> while in the middle of a kiss? This odd gesture turned up a lot in 40's
> and 50's movies (it was so common, in fact, that Bob Hope did a spoof
> on it with Jane Russell in "Son of Paleface" in 1952).
I agree with the basic, um, thrust of the Post article; I think of it
as a sort of erotic semaphore, popular at a time when movies couldn't be
more explicit in displaying sexual pleasure. In other words, lifting
your leg meant you were curling your toes.
Ian Munro
--
"so, he's all like, 'Graah! I'm a language grump!' and so I go 'dude! the
mote in someone else's eye versus the beam in your own, you know,' and
like, I hope he clues that this belongs on alt.usage.english *for sure*."
--Michele Tepper
Boron Elgar
wrote:
Oh boy did I ever read the subject line of this one wrong. I stared at
it trying to figure why any woman would lift one leg while pissing.
I have been working too hard.
Boron
Opus the Penguin
Next!
--
Opus the Penguin
KGename
I thought this response was funny enough:
>Oh boy did I ever read the subject line of this one wrong. I stared at
>it trying to figure why any woman would lift one leg while pissing?
But then I read the next post, right after reading the one quoted above:
>Because if she lifted both legs, the guy might strain his back.
Forget the subject line, just put these two posts together. There's something
there, I tell ya. Let's analyze it closer:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------
>Q: Why would a woman would lift one leg while pissing?
>A: Because if she lifted both legs, the guy might strain his back.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
73,
Keith "I'm kinda sure I heard that joke on the old Bozo show" G
*TASKMASTER EXTRAORDINAIRE*
--Revolutions halted--Tigers tamed--Computers verified--Bars emptied--
--Uprisings quelled--Creationism disproven--Dictators overthrown--
--'Pi' calculated completely--Female Minds Understood--
rob...@bestweb.net
>I've recently been searching the web unsuccessfully for any
>information on the title topic; how come some women lift one leg,
>or one foot, while in the middle of a kiss? This odd gesture turned
>up a lot in 40's and 50's movies (it was so common, in fact, that
>Bob Hope did a spoof on it with Jane Russell in "Son of Paleface"
>in 1952). More recently, I remember that Hanes (the hosiery
>manufacturer) employed this gesture in several TV ads in the late
>1970's and early 1980's. I also remember an article about this
>subject in the Washington Post about 15 years back, but I can't
>locate said article.
>I'm not sure whether this is a genuine or artifical gesture; it
>seems to me that, if the woman were trying to show off her legs, it
>would be difficult for the man to see them in that particular
>position. If I remember the Post article rightly, the writer said
>that it was sort of a shorthand way of showing "good-girl"
>characters caught up in passion, and (as in the Bob Hope example
>mentioned above) was often played for laughs; I don't remember ever
>seeing it in a dramatic movie, only in comedies (esp. romantic
>comedies) and musicals. David Feldman asked about this in one of
>his "Imponderables" books, but I don't remember if he and his
>readers ever came to any definite conclusions.
>If any of you folks have ever noticed this, what are your theories
>about it?
>--
I'd guess the dramatic gesture and/or actual act would be for balance. The
lady is shown to be really into it by leaning forward, and therefore needs a
counterweight.
With my obesity, which increased over years, I found myself more often
lifting one leg as a counterweight while I lean forward for some purpose.
Robert
Net-Tamer V 1.11 - Registered
rob...@bestweb.net
>Oh boy did I ever read the subject line of this one wrong. I stared
>at it trying to figure why any woman would lift one leg while
>pissing.
Huh? THAT one's EASY!
Joe Admire
mutigho...@aol.comscoob (The Uncanny Dutch Courage) wrote:
> "Brian Cubbison" bcub...@twcny.rr.com writes:
>
> >It's kind of a dainty way for a shorter woman to stretch up to reach
a
> >taller man. In the movies, it conveys a "catch me, I'm falling in
love" kind
> >of feeling , too.
>
> It's also a visually appealing device for the viewer.
>
'80's article in the Washington Post, it was said that, in those 1940's
and 1950's movies where you'd see the "device" employed, the actresses
who'd do it were folks like June Haver, Janis Paige, and Gloria
DeHaven - all, IIRC, "good girl" types, and, possibly even more
relevantly, all actresses with shapely legs. (Thus, another purpose of
the gesture would undoubtedly be to draw attention to a woman's legs,
and it seems to work best when the woman is wearing high heels. Which
also explains why it's been used in hosiery commercials - and, in fact,
I just remembered, from somewhere way back in the recesses of my mind,
a TV commercial for some kind of floor cleaner (!) in which that
gesture was used - except that the woman was barefooted, which shoots a
hole in my high-heel theory.)
-Joe-
(P.S. Don't ask why I remembered that. All sorts of odd things get
stored in my mind. :D )
> "My notion of democracy is that under it the weakest should have
the same
> opportunity as the strongest. " -Freidrich Von Hayek
>
>
--
Alternate posting address for Joe Admire -
030...@my-deja.com/joe...@yahoo.com/jad...@monumental.com
Webmaster, For the Love of Opera Gloves -
http://www.operagloves.com/glovmain.html
Stevie Nicks is _still_ the queen of rock 'n' roll!
Joe Admire
Ian Munro <ian....@ualberta.ca> wrote:
> Joe Admire <030...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> > I've recently been searching the web unsuccessfully for any
information
> > on the title topic; how come some women lift one leg, or one foot,
> > while in the middle of a kiss? This odd gesture turned up a lot in
40's
> > and 50's movies (it was so common, in fact, that Bob Hope did a
spoof
> > on it with Jane Russell in "Son of Paleface" in 1952).
>
> I agree with the basic, um, thrust of the Post article; I think of it
> as a sort of erotic semaphore, popular at a time when movies couldn't
be
> more explicit in displaying sexual pleasure. In other words, lifting
> your leg meant you were curling your toes.
>
> Ian Munro
I think you're right about that. I mind me that many of these kissing
scenes were also accompanied by fadeouts or cuts to a different scene,
leaving it up to the viewer to imagine what took place in between.
Yet another leg-lifting factoid; Playboy magazine has used the device
on their covers several times, frex, the July (?) 1978 cover where the
woman was shown from the bottom down in skimpy lingerie so that there
wasn't a _whole_ lot of doubt as to what was about to happen.
Joe Admire
> > I've recently been searching the web unsuccessfully for any
information
> > on the title topic; how come some women lift one leg, or one foot,
> > while in the middle of a kiss? This odd gesture turned up a lot in
40's
> > and 50's movies (it was so common, in fact, that Bob Hope did a
spoof
> > on it with Jane Russell in "Son of Paleface" in 1952).
>
> I agree with the basic, um, thrust of the Post article; I think of it
> as a sort of erotic semaphore, popular at a time when movies couldn't
be
> more explicit in displaying sexual pleasure. In other words, lifting
> your leg meant you were curling your toes.
>
> Ian Munro
I just now realized one other thing. In that particular posture, when
the lady lifts her leg and bends it at the knee, it has the effect of
moving her thigh forward. If she's pressed up against a gentleman (as
when she's kissing him), three guesses as to what parts of his body her
thigh ends up pressing against.
Of course, this wasn't shown in the scenes under discussion (the camera
generally focused from the knees on down in that shot), but it adds
weight to your "erotic semaphore" thesis.
Lalbert1
writes:
>I just now realized one other thing. In that particular posture, when
>the lady lifts her leg and bends it at the knee, it has the effect of
>moving her thigh forward. If she's pressed up against a gentleman (as
>when she's kissing him), three guesses as to what parts of his body her
>thigh ends up pressing against.
1. His knee, if she is a very short woman?
2. His stomach, if she is a very tall woman?
3. His face, if he has scoliosis?
Did I guess correctly?
Les
Boron Elgar
And I gues it depends on exactly what part of the woman is being
kissed, too. I mean, a guy could get kneed in the face.
Boron
rob...@bestweb.net
>I just now realized one other thing. In that particular posture,
>when the lady lifts her leg and bends it at the knee, it has the
>effect of moving her thigh forward.
I had envisioned the hip's being kept straight, or even dorsiflexed, if the
leg was being put behind her for balance.
Barry Nos Sher
>Joe Admire <030...@my-deja.com> wrote:
>> I've recently been searching the web unsuccessfully for any information
>> on the title topic; how come some women lift one leg, or one foot,
>> while in the middle of a kiss? This odd gesture turned up a lot in 40's
>> and 50's movies (it was so common, in fact, that Bob Hope did a spoof
>> on it with Jane Russell in "Son of Paleface" in 1952).
>
>I agree with the basic, um, thrust of the Post article; I think of it
>as a sort of erotic semaphore, popular at a time when movies couldn't be
>more explicit in displaying sexual pleasure. In other words, lifting
>your leg meant you were curling your toes.
My vote's with you.
Greg Goss
>I've recently been searching the web unsuccessfully for any information
>on the title topic; how come some women lift one leg, or one foot,
>while in the middle of a kiss? This odd gesture turned up a lot in 40's
Our wedding photographer had us do this. Several with her on one
foot, a couple with both of us balancing.
I have ear problems, thus balance problems. He had to snap fast
before we started to fall over.
mje
information
> on the title topic; how come some women lift one leg, or one foot,
> while in the middle of a kiss?
Their panty hose are too tight.
--
Michael Edelman
http://www.foldingkayaks.com
http://www.findascope.com
GrapeApe
>Our wedding photographer had us do this. Several with her on one
>foot, a couple with both of us balancing.
The gesture seems a bit unnatural in the typical wedding gown, with that train
dragging the floor and all.
I have seen this pose doubled with the 'garter' shot- never knew quite what to
think of a third party grabbing the garter off the exposed leg while man and
bride doing the one leg lift kissy face.
Lalbert1
(GrapeApe) writes:
>I have seen this pose doubled with the 'garter' shot- never knew quite what
>to
>think of a third party grabbing the garter off the exposed leg while man and
>bride doing the one leg lift kissy face.
>
>
Ain't you never seen three people in love before?
Les