Body Language of Arms Akimbo
Cue: Arms Akimbo
Synonym(s): Hands Akimbo, Hands On Hips, Fists On Haunches, Pot With Two Handles, “Captain Morgan stance” (The), Straddle Stance, Super Man Stance, Wonder Women Stance, Amy Cuddy Pose (The).
Description: The hands are placed on each hip making the elbows flair out.
In One Sentence: Arms akimbo is an expansive posture used to make the body appear larger and taking up more space thereby creating dominance.
How To Use it: Use this posture to boost your confidence before an important presentation. Research has found that expansive postures such as this one helps boost testosterone and simultaneously lowers the stress hormone cortisol. Likewise, the posture makes the body appear larger and therefore, increases the perception of dominance. Arms akimbo also shows an eagerness to get down to business as it is classified as a “ready posture.” Dominant postures are important when you want to take a leadership role and are prepared to accept the responsibility which comes with authority.
Context: a) Social b) Dating
Verbal Translation: a) “I’m much bigger than I appear, so you must respect me when I puff out like this.” “There are issues here”, “Things are not right”, “I’m standing my ground” or b) “I’m a virile male so check me out!”
Variant: The “Captain Morgan stance” was made popular by a widespread media advertising campaign depicting regular people in the posture. It includes one leg propped up, opening the legs and “exposing the genitals,” with one hand place on the thigh, and the other hand left lose or placed on the hips. This is a dominant, full peacock gesture, as it exposes the genital area for all to view and puffs out the chest, head held high. The aim of the posture is to claim the right to space and soak in the admiration of others.
Alternatively, one hand might be placed on the hips with the other hand gesturing. The thumbs might also be tucked into the belt or into belt loops serving to “frame the genitals.” Women usually aim their fingers backwards to point to their backside rather than their crotch.
Another variant, the straddle stance, is a stable standing position where the legs are straight, and set at, or slightly wider than shoulder width. The weight is bore by both feet evenly. It is normal for men rather than women to hold this stance. It is a display of dominance and confidence, and that a person is “standing their ground.”
Cue In Action: a) Mom is in a good mood until her 6 year old is caught eating sweets from the cupboard. Mom strides to her child, puts her hands on her hips, then begins ecturing him about the harms of junk food. Mom went over to junior, put her hands on her hips, then began lecturing him with a lesson about junk food. b) To make Dave stand out on a dating show, he put his arms on his hips when he stood next to the other contestants.
Meaning and/or Motivation: Having the hands on the hips has roots in evolution. It makes the body take up more space, just like a peacock, and hence appear larger which can be attractive to other men who seek leadership or to women seeking a healthy mate. While in the stance, all the fingers also curl inward so that they point toward the crotch. This draws attention toward the genitals, which punctuates the point even further.
Women will also hold the arms akimbo posture, although more rarely, as it can be seen as assertive (as it draws attention to the genital area by pointing). When women do hold the posture, they usually hold their hands on their hips and point their fingers to their buttocks. Pointing therefore, puts emphasis on our best assets as we state our case! Having the fingers pointed backwards, as women do, is also a more inquisitive, rather than authoritarian, posture. It says, “We have issues.”
The hands-on-hips is also a ready posture when it does not accompany more dominant cues in the cluster. In this case, it appears like a runner at the gate prepared to jump at an opportunity.
Cue Cluster: The cue cluster accompanying the hands-on-hips also includes an upright posture, chin up, chest out and the legs at slightly wider than shoulder width. We may see other dominant gesture such as “batoning” (see Batoning) and finger pointing.
Body Language Category: Ready posture, Confident, Dominant body language, Expansive movements, High confidence body language, Threat displays, Hostile body language.
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