204 I Can Read You Like a Book A
The body language of conflict would look much different from
what we are seeing here. This photo captures resentment. She
may stand near him, but he is definitely feeling the cold shoulder.
These two people lived on the same street less than a block away
for years before his death and never even waved to one another.
Time
This is not just a time-of-day or time-of-year issue, as in
Christmas Day or a birthday. Time as a factor in analyzing context
relates to the way a gesture fits into a whole sequence of actions.
When did the action you are analyzing take place, that is, what
gestures preceded it and followed it? How long did it take to complete
the gesture?
If you’ve ever seen a silent movie, in which movements seem
faster than normal, you’ve observed the influence of timing on the
meaning of a gesture. An actress portraying grief will put her head
down, bring it up to talk and cry, put it down again, and repeat the
process. It looks funny instead of sad to us, because the speed
makes it look as though the grieving widow is bobbing her head up
and down in a “yes” gesture.
Consider the range of possibilities in this example: A young
woman smiles at you, but breaks eye contact quickly. Is this enough
information to make the decision about approaching her? Does the
type of smile have greater significance than the duration of her
glance? How important is where her eyes shifted after that?
Now consider the range of possibilities created by this kind of
eye contact: A young man smiles at you and stares. It is a friendly
smile, but without any brow movement, so he doesn’t recognize you.
