Is there really a language of the legs?

Most serious students of body language feel that we have to be very cautious in reading any signals from leg placement unless we know the person thoroughly. 

Other, more irreverent women-watchers see an erotic language in the way legs are crossed.

If there were such a language, it would have to have been learned recently in historical terms, because it’s only since the coming of short skirts and pants that we’ve been able to see women’s legs clearly. It is also interesting to note that every attempt to study the erotic language of legs is applied to women, never to men! Even so, because of the amount of interest in the subject, it’s probably
worth seeing what the leg-watchers think.

In a recent article, clinical psychologist John A. Blazer analyzed what women say with their legs.

Dr. Blazer divided women into seven distinct types based on how they position their legs while sitting. The organizer is turned on by neatness and order, and she
can be spotted by the parallel way in which she holds her legs. The Schemer is ambitious and competitive. She crosses above the knees and dangles one shoe, flirting but rarely delivering.

The conformist sits on one leg, and Dr. Blazer labels her a slow starter, but he says she likes being told what to do. The perfectionist crosses above her knees and twists her legs. She’s supposed to be insecure and anxious, but sympathetic. The social worker crosses at the ankles and holds her knees apart. She’s affectionate and generous if you’re in trouble.

The emancipated woman keeps her legs wide apart, crossing at the calves, almost in a lotus position. She’s “independent and unconventional.” And lastly, the philanthropist holds her legs apart without crossing. She’s “warm, easy going, and good-humored.”

How much of all this woman-watching and analysis has any basis in reality and how much is just fun and games?

Well, there may be a one percent chance of accuracy in assessing character through sitting postures in both men and women without knowing them very well, but it’s an iffy thing. Generally, open legs indicate an outgoing, free nature, closed legs a more repressed and inhibited attitude.

Beyond these generalizations, it’s a treacherous jungle of interpretation. Venture in at your own risk.

As far as sex differences in crossing legs, men and women do cross differently—usually men in this country tend to cross their legs at a ninety-degree angle, with the ankle over the knee. Women usually keep their thighs close to parallel, the calf, and ankle of the crossed leg below the knee of the other.

These differences may, in part, be due to differences in body structure between men and women and in part to differences in clothes. With her legs crossed, as a man is crossed, a woman in skirts feels more vulnerable and open. In pants, she may well cross as a man crosses.