The way people walk
April 21st, 2008How a person carries themselves matters. And there are lots of ways to do this. One of my people-watching theories is that you can tell quite a bit from the way a person walks. The idea being is that a person subconsciously leads with their strengths.
The nerd.
If a person is most confident about their scholastic or intellectual abilities, they will lead with their head. And by ‘lead’ I don’t mean that they walk head down like a battering ram or anything. More that their head (brain) is the first body part that one notices when they walk by at a distance.
The athlete.
A person confident of their athletic ability or strength will lead with their shoulders. This is much more common in the men that I have observed, less so in women. In fact, most of the women I have seen walk in this fashion are either college athletes (the ones I’ve seen up close) or Olympians (I’ve seen on TV)
The athlete variation. (Gorilla walk)
Some men (all these are men, in my observation) who work their upper body in disproportion to their lower body walk in a way that holds their arms out from the body and draws more attention to those as opposed to their shoulders.
Sexy
When a person holds most confidence in their gender or their sexual talents, they walk with their hips. Ok, yes, I know. Everyone walks with their hips. But this is the first thing you see. From what I have observed, this is both men and women, both gay and straight.
Belly walk
This is how pregnant women usually walk. Sometimes because they are physically unable (at that point in pregnancy) to walk any other way. Sometimes because they identify best as ‘pregnant’. I have seen some men (always with beer bellys) walk like this as well. They indemnify most with their belly. I find that a bit odd, but to each their own.
Left foot, right foot
If you watch a young kids walk, say between the ages of 3 and 6, they tend to pay just a bit more attention to their feet, since they are relatively new to the whole walking thing, and they don’t appear all that certain of how their feet really are attached. I’ve seen adults do this too, and I can’t decipher why this is.
Switching.
Not everyone walks the same way all the time. I’ve seen people walk like nerds on one situation (after class) and then walk like athletes later (after playing tennis).
Negating factors.
People who are carrying things, or pushing or pulling things.
Members of the armed services – some always walk like a ‘solider’, which is to say, with very little distinguishing features. Some do this only in uniform.
People who are injured.