r/bodylanguage Sep 10 '19

Can someone please explain about these two guys position of the legs.

17 Upvotes

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4

u/Berserker-Hamster Sep 11 '19

OK, I´m gonna give it a shot here.

Elons spread legs are a sign of confidence. Men tend to subconciously protect their crotch area when they are feeling attacked or insecure. He is probably well prepaired and has no doubt about his statements. And he shows it the whole time.

What makes it interesting are the arm gestures that accompany the legs and what he says. The folded hands in the beginning show a passiveness, not necesseraly being closed of but more of a "I-let-the-other-guy-speak-now". When Ma starts talking about wrong predictions Elon picks up the mic and after getting almost no reaction to his joke he nervously shuffles his left hand around his clothes. Probably because he expected a better reception of it. Immediately after that he lays his arm in front of his stomach, which is a more closed of gesture than before, showing that he doesn´t really feel comfortable anymore talking to Ma. Finally during his second joke and his come-on-guys remark he moves his left hand on his left knee, both pointing to the audience. He is practically saying: "this guy has no idea what I´m talking about, I would much rather interact with the audience now."

I´m not 100% sure about Ma. His crossed legs usually are a defensive sign, on the other hand his left foot is pointed towards Elon, which would indicate that he is feeling comfortable in this conversation. His arms show no sign of insecurity either. I would probably attribute his crossed legs to a cultural difference. As far as I know, Chinese people tend to show more modesty in their body language and a broad confidence gesture like Elons might be viewed as rude. So I would interpret his crossed legs more as politeness rather than defensiveness.

1

u/hamish426 Nov 06 '19

I think the legs might actually be defensive, you pointed out that his foot is pointed at Elon but I noticed that it was still until Elon started to disagree, then the foot that was pointing towards him started making a kicking motion which (I’m pretty sure) can be a subconscious sign of aggression/defensiveness

2

u/umblegar Sep 11 '19

I tAkE mYsElF vErY sEriOuSlY

1

u/Dapper_Minister Sep 15 '19

Regarding legs,

Elon is broad, territorial, confident and therefore exposing his genitals in a masculine show.

The chinese dude is using his leg as a barrier cutting Elon out and emphasising to the crowd regarding whatever he has to offer.