Don’t Walk Like That, You’re Asking For It. Targets For Sexual Approach Based On Walking Style And Personality, Study
Christopher Philip
Certainly it is of value to women to understand how best to control the results achieved in their lives. One area that is particularly salient has to do with unwanted male approach. This is defined as approach in which women did not actively demonstrate interest to a man particularly. It is unlikely that men operate at random when selecting the girls which witch to solicit, but little is know about the exact criteria used.
Two thought arise when assessing likelihood of approach. One is that men normally seek physically attractive women, and the second, which stems from victimology studies, states that when men select targets, they look for women who are less confident and shy. However, very little is empirically proven with regard to these conceptions in real life situations.
The current study, conducted by Japanese researchers Kikue Sakaguchi and Toshikazu Hasegawa, University of Tokyo, devised an experiment to look at two frequently experienced sexual advances by strangers. The first is unwanted approaches by men when no flirtatious signals were provided and the second when inappropriate touching occurs of various body parts typically occurring in crowded modes of transportation. It should be noted that the later approach is considered illegal and punished by law – naturally!
Gait, which is one of the first and usually the most obvious initial nonverbal cue is one area examined in the study. The other is personality. Previous studies have looked at personality as a factor in interaction and it was surmised that it may play a role in propensity to be assaulted, sometimes repeatedly.
It is the cases where repeat assault takes place it provides leads into relevant areas of research. In other words, assailants are picking up on some cue which is driving their motivation to assault and if this can be determined, then the behaviours can be eliminated such that one can better control the outcomes.
The First Study
In the first study, point-light representation of female walkers were produced in the laboratory. Point-light is a method of converting key points on the body into a moving image that contains only major joints including the feet, knees, hips and shoulders. This eliminates other factors such as physical attractiveness. The female walkers also answered questionnaire with respect to their personality and the frequency with which they are approached by strangers.
Male university students watched the videos on a CRT monitor and then rated the probability of selecting the target for certain kinds of advances.
Results showed that walkers rated as likely to be targets for conversation also tended to be rated as targets for inappropriate touching as well as for asking directions. However, the male subjects did not correlate highly with their impressions of the walkers most likely to be approached.
The women most likely to be targets for touching described themselves as neurotic, shy, low in self-monitoring and not extroverted.
Slow walkers with short stride lengths were rated to be most likely to be targets for sexual advance and inappropriate touching, but this was not correlated to the actual frequencies of being approached. Those walkers who had high self-reported frequencies of being touched tended to be fast walkers.
Additionally, slow walkers with slow stride lengths are self-rated as shy and low self-monitoring.
The Second Study
In the second experiment, female walkers were filmed more naturalistically and selected their own clothing.
The study found that footwear was particular important in expression of vulnerability with respect to gait. When walkers in high heels were compared to those in loafers, those in high heels were rated as more likely to be targets for conversing with, and inappropriate touching. Additionally, those in skirts versus slacks were also rated similarly to those wearing high heels.
Interestingly, high heels and skirts did not correlate with reported frequency of being approached.
However, fashionable grooming, feminine impression and physical attractiveness were rated by observers to be targets for sexual advances as well as actual self-reported frequencies of being targets for sexual advances.
Poor posture of walkers and awkwardness of movement also correlated to self-reported frequencies of being targets for sexual advances.
Drawing Conclusions
Precise conclusions with respect to gait are not certain from this study. However, the women most likely to be attacked rated high on grooming, fashion, physical attractiveness, and somewhat with respect to skirts and heels.
Poor posture and awkwardness of movement also seemed to be cues that lead to sexual advances.
The researchers point out that overall femininity may partially explain awkwardness of movement, where those who are most feminine also tend to have gaits that are less coordinated overall. Awkward walkers also tended to be slower walkers.
The take-away message is not as obvious from this study as it is from others, but it does tell us that victim selection is not simple derived from gait alone.
The advice to be given is not necessarily helpful in this case, but being highly desirable through grooming and being physical attractive tends to predict the likelihood of being approached and taken advantage of, as does walking awkwardly.
My best, and unhelpful advice, when walking, especially alone or in crowded areas is to downplay attractiveness including fashion, and heels and skirts to potentially avoid inviting sexual advances.
Sometimes, a target, is just that, something people aim for. So being less coveted, while not exactly feasible or convenient is sometimes the only defense in an imperfect and complicated world.
Image Credit: Steve Baker
Resources
Sakaguchi, Kikue and Toshikazu Hasegawa. Person Perception Through Gait Information And Target Choice For Sexual Advances: Comparison Of Likely Targets In Experiments And Real Life. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2006; 30:63-85. DOI 10.1007/s10919-006-0006-2