What Every BODY Is Saying_Navarro, Joe & Karlins, Marvin

GETTING A GRIP 155

Genital Framing

Men sometimes, subconsciously, will hook their thumbs inside their
waistbands on either side of the zipper and either pull up their pants or
even let their thumbs hang there, as their dangling fingers frame their
genitals (see figure 56). Genital framing is a powerful dominance display.
In essence, it is saying, “Check me out, I am a virile male.”
Not long after starting to write this book, I discussed this nonver-
bal behavior when teaching a class at the FBI in Quantico, Virginia.
The students scoffed, saying that no man, especially subconsciously,

Often used as a sign of insecurity or social

discomfort, thumbs in the pocket transmit

this message readily and thus should be

avoided.

Fig. 55