Another reason to like Hillary
Nonverbal communication expresses power and dominance. In public, professional settings, who gets to touch whom and the nature of that touch plays out and defines gender relations. Because it’s typically subtle, people are often unaware of this dynamic. When it’s more obvious, those who are in the “one down” position see it clearly and those in the position of power remain oblivious as part of their sense of entitlement. The stereotypical male boss/female secretary and male customer/female waitress interactions illustrate this over and over again. However, as gender roles change, the accompanying nonverbal behaviors change with them. Hillary is the perfect example.
This clip from Mad Men illustrates my point (see :40 – :50). Mad Men is a wonderful show to use for examples like this because it does such a good job of capturing the cultural milieu of the 50s and 60s where gendered roles were incredibly rigid. Peggy, a copy writer who is often treated as a secretary (skip over the politics of being the secretary), asks her boss Roger for her own office. Roger reaches out, grabs Peggy’s elbow, and attempts to guide her down the hall. She resists. He calls her aggressive, she demures, and then he replies that her assertiveness is cute and contrasts her to his male staff, few of whom “have the balls” to ask for an office. Now, having balls is a good thing in the Mad Men world, but the entire scene illustrates the gendered power dynamics of touch in a professional context.
Betty Castor
I remember attending several USF graduation ceremonies in the late 90s when Betty Castor was president. I noticed how she touched the students walking across the stage. After shaking hands, she would guide them very firmly with a hand on the back, usually at the small, and the other on the elbow or gesturing to the stairs leading off the stage. Now male presidents do this without notice; it’s natural, expected, and also practical in this case. Castor’s firmness stood out to me, though in retrospect I’m not sure if it was because it is so against the norm for women or because she was especially directing about it.
Hillary and the Diplomatic Handshake
Now anyone who knows me knows I am a Hillary fangirl. She has consistently and controversially challenged gender norms throughout her public life, a well-known fact. True, she’s had some lapses, like the chocolate chip cookie makeovers and the Democratic primary tears. Still, she carves out a space for herself in both obvious and subtle ways.
So I was sitting in the doctor’s office the other day and the news was running a video of her meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for peace talks. Hillary’s nonverbal behavior in this clip is stellar. The video opens with the required diplomatic handshake. Abbas initiates but Hillary outguns him. Instead of waiting, she steps in to bridge the distance and then pulls Abbas close and wraps her arm around his back. Admittedly, the positioning of the handshake prevents Abbas from controlling the sideways embrace, but that doesn’t shake her. Instead of standing by passively, she acts the way any man would, without blinking an eye, as if it were natural and expected. Though there’s the bodily awkwardness of all diplomatic encounters, this interaction doesn’t appear any different from any other. It’s just Hillary doing her thing.
I expect that the cultural transformation from Peggy and Roger to Hillary and Abbas is invisible to many folks since most nonverbal behavior operates so unconsciously. I’m certain my students don’t even recognize Hillary’s actions contradict gendered norms, perhaps because the norms have changed so much, or perhaps because it’s just Hillary and we’ve finally reached the point of comfortableness with her so she don’t raise anyone’s eyebrows anymore. It’s a good thing either way.
(See seconds :01 – :12.)
