Body Language

Using Space ...................................................................................................

Whether you’re protecting your property, demonstrating dominance, or

showing submission, the way that you fill your space indicates your attitude.

Touch an object and you’re saying, ‘This is mine’. Turn away from it and

you’re saying, ‘No, thanks’.

Demonstrating ownership.................................................................

When you use your hands to lead and guide another person, you’re taking

control. Your behaviour becomes dominant as you touch what you consider

to be yours. When you lead another person by the hand, when you guide

someone by placing your hand on his back, or when you stand close to your

partner and put your hand on his upper arm, you’re demonstrating that you

own that piece of property.

Victoria Beckham and Catherine Zeta Jones are masters of the female propri-

etorial pose. When they stand close to their husbands and place a hand on

their man’s chest or upper arm, you can’t misread the signal telling you that

the man belongs to them. Private property. Keep off.

Placing your hands on an object suggests a proprietorial relationship with it.

Even if you don’t actually own the object, by touching it you’re establishing a

dominant relationship with that item. When you touch an object, you’re indi-

cating that psychologically, if not in actual practice, you own, or are in con-

trol of, the object.

Chapter 12: Territorial Rights and Regulations 199

Reality TV?

The media has brought strangers into our lives

to such an extent that some people believe that

they know, or have a personal relationship with,

actors and performers. Actors frequently tell

stories of being treated as if they were the char-

acter they portray rather than themselves.

When playing the part of Nurse Carol Hathaway

on the television programme ER, Juliana

Margulies was frequently approached by fans

asking her how she would deal with a particular

medical condition they were experiencing. The

fans were infiltrating her private space based

on their perceptions of her from her public

space.

Television comes directly into a person’s private

space and brings its characters with it. People

believe that they have a relationship with an

actor because they’ve spent time together in

the home.