Body Language of The Stare, Evil Eye or Unblinking Eye
Cue: Staring or The Evil Eye.
Synonym(s): Stink Eye, Dead Man Gaze, Unflinching Stare, Stare, Gaze Fixation, Unblinking Eye, Eye Threat, Eye Darts, Prolonged Eye Contact, Unwavering Gaze, Power Star (the), Unflinching Stare.
Description: These are unblinking staring eyes filled with contempt. The evil eye is an offensive eye pattern where the eyes remain unblinking and threatening or leer at another person for an uncomfortable length of time. Regular gaze happens when the eyes travel around the face and body of someone we care about. Staring, on the other hand, is unmoving. The eyes are piercing and intense and seem to want to penetrate the eyes of another. An aggressive stare is even more intense and happens by narrowing the eyelids creating a deep focus.
In One Sentence: Staring for prolonged period of time is in effort to reduce a person to the status of an object.
How To Use it: Use staring when one wants to intimidate others. Staring harshly during aggression can belittle and degrade. When it is done in a sexual context, staring can diminish a person to a lesser status as an object.
In dating, men might view staring as being a compliment, however, if the feelings are not mutual, women will feel violated due to their perceived powerlessness. Therefore, men should only use staring (see Gazing adoringly) to support an existing emotional connection.
Use staring when one is prepared for the negative outcome. As a signal of dominance, the cue is unmistakable.
Context: a) General b) Dating.
Verbal Translation: “I’m using inappropriately long and violating eye contact in order to pierce through your exterior in order to threaten and intimidate.”
Variant: See Gazing Adoringly for a more welcome version of The Stare. Also see Eye Avoidance.
Cue In Action: a) Mark was in a stupor and accidentally bumped into a girl. He didn’t know it but she was the girlfriend of the muscle-bound man who immediately threw eye darts in his direction, unflinching and steady. Mark quickly averted his eyes because he knew it wasn’t a fight for him. Despite looking away, he still felt the piercing stare against his body
b) A particularly attractive girl made her way through a crowd, you could see men turn their heads, but one man made the mistake of looking for too long as he followed her through the crowd. She didn’t like the look of him and stared right back. He smiled, but she didn’t reciprocate; only a deadpan face looked back. He quickly averted his eyes.
Meaning and/or Motivation: Staring is built on the assumption that eyes can damage from prolonged looking. It is as if the eyes are able to assault when eye contact is done for too long and without permission. This violates the “moral looking time”, or the unwritten code of conduct we all obey regarding proper eye contact. As a result, it produces negative feelings in others.
a) In most animal species unwavering gaze is used to display dominance and aggression. However, this is only so when it happens between members of the same species. When it happens across species it indicates that a prey has been centered out and the stalk has begun.
Research shows us that a steady stare of more than ten seconds creates anxiety and discomfort especially in subordinates making it a dominant signal especially when this includes direct eye-to-eye contact. When done by two equally dominant individuals it can lead to feelings of aggression and in extreme cases, even produce physical altercations.
b) Eye assault happens when men appear to undress women. In turn, women might appear to give “dirty looks.” We call this “eyeball assault.” Assault is a matter of length and type. Lingering stares of unbroken eye contact is the high of eyeball assault. Eyeball assault, therefore, violates the “moral looking time.” This is an unofficial, but salient length of time by which eye contact (to the body or eyes directly) is permitted and accepted as normal.
When eye contact is welcome, it evolves into gazing which leads to arousal (See Gazing). Sometimes legitimate liking is present and staring is an indication, but it still remains inappropriate and an assault as it is defined by unwavering and an unwanted violation of privacy. Staring can also indicate boredom or disengagement, but only when it is not directed at a person or target (i.e. staring off into space.)
Cue Cluster: Staring eyes are coupled with expressionless or angry faces. The head usually is fixed unless the target is moving.
Body Language Category: Amplifier, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Anger body language, Boredom body language, Disengagement body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Dominant body language, Emotional body language, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Liking, Negative body language, Ownership gestures, Space invasion, Threat displays.
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