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I'm in a mood at present. Introspective, curious, prone to pouncing on odd little things and worrying at them. Heh. Forgive me.
Also, and randomly, I love the word 'cede'. I found the dictionary in the last post looking it up again, too, so it's not just a pretty word, but one that leads you places. *grins* Those are good words.
You may have noticed, in conversation with me, that occasionally I will bow at you in a comment. Heh. That's not an online affectation (I don't actually have many of those, though specific gestures/expressions may be enlarged/exaggerated textually - most things I do at you in comments really are what my body is doing at the screen), that's something I actually do. I bow at people. Which, I think, is not something a lot of people do in Western culture? Certainly I'm one of the few people I know who does it where I am.
Thing is, when I bow at people, it's not a theatrical bow or a showman's flourish (usually, anyway, though I do do that too), which I think is the extant version. Nor, I think, is it quite the way it's used in other culture's like Japanese, where it's ... a gesture of respect? I'm not quite sure what it may mean there.
The way I use it, you bow to indicate that you're ceding something. The floor, the point, the focus, your importance. A bow is an indication of concession. I think this is where the stage version came from? You bow to indicate that you cede the stage, that your part/show is over. And with royalty, they are the most important person in the room, naturally you cede them the floor when they enter (in a royalist context, anyway). You bow when you leave to indicate that you cede the floor to those who remain. You bow in a conversation to indicate that you cede the point, or perhaps the right/turn to speak. Like that?
Heh. It's ... an archaic and very formal gesture, but ... I tend to like those. A lot. *laughs a little* Like in Church, I loved genuflection, not because I felt particularly subservient, but because it was a ritual movement that offered meaning. Well, that and because it reminded me of knights, bowing to one knee, and I liked that. Heh. I almost miss Church purely for the opportunity to use it, because outside of Church and marriage proposals, there aren't a lot of contexts where it's appropriate to go down on one knee. *smiles faintly*
It may also be something of an artefact of the fact that I don't usually learn body language from watching people/emulating them. Mostly because I can't read body language, not while it's changing. I can read broad gestures, broad states, but the intricacies are beyond me (oddly enough, not so much when I write, but that's because I can hold the character static in my head long enough to analyse them). So quite a bit of my body language and the gestures I use are ones I learned from books or other contexts, and quite a lot of them are overtly/elabourately formal. Because formal is easy. I like formal. I like it a lot. Heh. I also like gestures that carry connotations of courtliness, because I read an awful lot of folklore and fantasy as a kid (which may explain a lot of the archaicness about me).
Heh. So I bow at people. Sometimes as a theatrical or courtly gesture, because it pleases me, and more often to cede something to them. It's not actually an affectation, but a formal gesture that I internalised when I was younger, and do instinctively now. Heh. One that I suspect isn't usually used the way I use it (or at all, sometimes), but ... *shrugs, smiles faintly* There you go. In case you were wondering. Heh.
Thing is, when I bow at people, it's not a theatrical bow or a showman's flourish (usually, anyway, though I do do that too), which I think is the extant version. Nor, I think, is it quite the way it's used in other culture's like Japanese, where it's ... a gesture of respect? I'm not quite sure what it may mean there.
The way I use it, you bow to indicate that you're ceding something. The floor, the point, the focus, your importance. A bow is an indication of concession. I think this is where the stage version came from? You bow to indicate that you cede the stage, that your part/show is over. And with royalty, they are the most important person in the room, naturally you cede them the floor when they enter (in a royalist context, anyway). You bow when you leave to indicate that you cede the floor to those who remain. You bow in a conversation to indicate that you cede the point, or perhaps the right/turn to speak. Like that?
Heh. It's ... an archaic and very formal gesture, but ... I tend to like those. A lot. *laughs a little* Like in Church, I loved genuflection, not because I felt particularly subservient, but because it was a ritual movement that offered meaning. Well, that and because it reminded me of knights, bowing to one knee, and I liked that. Heh. I almost miss Church purely for the opportunity to use it, because outside of Church and marriage proposals, there aren't a lot of contexts where it's appropriate to go down on one knee. *smiles faintly*
It may also be something of an artefact of the fact that I don't usually learn body language from watching people/emulating them. Mostly because I can't read body language, not while it's changing. I can read broad gestures, broad states, but the intricacies are beyond me (oddly enough, not so much when I write, but that's because I can hold the character static in my head long enough to analyse them). So quite a bit of my body language and the gestures I use are ones I learned from books or other contexts, and quite a lot of them are overtly/elabourately formal. Because formal is easy. I like formal. I like it a lot. Heh. I also like gestures that carry connotations of courtliness, because I read an awful lot of folklore and fantasy as a kid (which may explain a lot of the archaicness about me).
Heh. So I bow at people. Sometimes as a theatrical or courtly gesture, because it pleases me, and more often to cede something to them. It's not actually an affectation, but a formal gesture that I internalised when I was younger, and do instinctively now. Heh. One that I suspect isn't usually used the way I use it (or at all, sometimes), but ... *shrugs, smiles faintly* There you go. In case you were wondering. Heh.
Also, and randomly, I love the word 'cede'. I found the dictionary in the last post looking it up again, too, so it's not just a pretty word, but one that leads you places. *grins* Those are good words.
