Author Topic: What's with the stooping? (Read 3064 times)

CAnnoneer · « **on:** October 09, 2006, 04:53:45 PM »

I've suddenly noticed more recently that a large percentage of people tend to have a very poor stance and gait. Stooping, slouching, feet-dragging. The phenomenon seems well-represented among ages and both genders. It seems particularly common among young people, especially women. What happened to "shoulders back, chest out, chin up"?

Matthew Carberry · « **Reply #1 on:** October 09, 2006, 04:59:23 PM »

Good question.

Is it a clothes fashion thing? A "we're so emo and depressed" thing? Bad parenting?

Headless Thompson Gunner · « **Reply #2 on:** October 09, 2006, 05:00:25 PM »

I slouch horribly whenever I sit. Always have. Some consider poor posture to be improper or whatnot. I don't. Except for formal occations I sit however I'll be most comfortable, which usually means slouching.

Nobody ever told me "shoulders back, chest out, chin up." I don't consider it to be evidence of deficient parenting.

"Proper posture" is much ado about nothing.

Vodka7 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 09, 2006, 05:52:07 PM »

I used to get that all the time back in college. One girl was convinced I was at least six feet tall...

"There's no way you're 5'10", *I'M* five ten and you're taller than me!"
"Uhhh.... Take off your shoes and stand back to back with me"
"Oh"

Every girlfriend I've had says no one walks like me, shoulders back, chin up. It's hard to take it as a compliment though, considering it's not something I do on purpose, it's just the way I walk. Now, when it comes to sitting down, I currently have my butt hanging off the chair with my feet propped up on my desk, which is the same height as my head when I slouch like this.

I think it really comes from two things--most people don't make eye contact anymore, and everyone's in such a hurry to get where they're going it looks like they're halfway ready to leap into a sprint at a moment's notice.

Car Knocker · « **Reply #4 on:** October 09, 2006, 06:55:32 PM »

Back pain can cause stooping and foot-dragging.

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #5 on:** October 09, 2006, 09:24:11 PM »

Stooping?

OK, I'm going to try to make this post respectable.

Way back in my college and photo school days, I had a friend--at least I thought he was a friend--who would stop by our apartment from time to time.

In 1976, I'd set up the kitchen belonging to my girlfriend (now my wife) and me as a temporary darkroom. I made a big black box that I attached to the kitchen window, and did everything else to block out the light. I worked in that kitchen/darkroom for hours every night.

One night my supposed friend stopped by.

I'd been standing for hours at the darkroom trays.

And, so, I knelt down on one knee to relax.

"Don't do that," he said.

It struck me as curious, but I got back up onto my aching feet.

It's only in the last few years that I realized why it made him uncomfortable for me to be kneeling on the floor.

BakerMikeRomeo · « **Reply #6 on:** October 10, 2006, 12:10:10 AM »

Quote

It's only in the last few years that I realized why it made him uncomfortable for me to be kneeling on the floor.

Being as how I'm only 19, and I dun want to wait more than thirty or forty seconds to know the actual conclusion of this particular anecdote, what's up with that? What's his problem with you kneeling? Did he not have knees? Was he afraid you were going to pull a severe Mortal Kombat and uppercut him through the roof?

I'm freakin' out, here. Tell us!

~GnSx

Brad Johnson · « **Reply #7 on:** October 10, 2006, 10:10:47 AM »

I have noticed the same thing. Heck, even my school teachers would tell us to sit up straight. Now, kids walk around like a bunch of slouching slobs. I can't figure out if it's some kind of "cool in-thing" or just a generation of lazy slobs who don't care enough about their appearance to give a damn. Given the amount of money people spend on clothes and hair products, you think they sure latch on to an appearance-improving "something" that's free.

Brad

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #8 on:** October 10, 2006, 12:53:38 PM »

GunnySkox, over the years I've come to the conclusion that my ex-friend is homosexual.

DJJ · « **Reply #9 on:** October 10, 2006, 05:15:36 PM »

It's not always by choice. I've got Scheuermann's kyphosis, and I haven't been able to stand straight since I hit puberty. I can (and I'd like to think I do) hold my shoulders back, but all that does is hide it a little (and damn, it's tiring). I can thank my dad - he's got it, and it's a dominant gene. His mother had it.

Matthew Carberry · « **Reply #10 on:** October 10, 2006, 07:35:32 PM »

Quote from: DJJ

It's not always by choice. I've got Scheuermann's kyphosis, and I haven't been able to stand straight since I hit puberty. I can (and I'd like to think I do) hold my shoulders back, but all that does is hide it a little (and damn, it's tiring). I can thank my dad - he's got it, and it's a dominant gene. His mother had it.

OK, that explains one. It's the rest of the mall I want to put at the POA and chew out.

BakerMikeRomeo · « **Reply #11 on:** October 10, 2006, 08:06:45 PM »

Quote

GunnySkox, over the years I've come to the conclusion that my ex-friend is homosexual.

what

Art Eatman · « **Reply #12 on:** October 11, 2006, 05:03:59 AM »

A downside to slouching and stooping is backpain in later years.

For many, the poor posture is an indicator of low self-esteem and uncertainty. (I didn't say "All") It's a message of, "I'm harmless; don't hurt me."

Generally, if you stand erect, look alert, and walk somewhat proudly, you're less likely to be a target for some predatory type. You don't look like the easy target that bullies prefer.

Art

El Tejon · « **Reply #13 on:** October 11, 2006, 05:48:43 AM »

You guys know me and know that I rarely complain.

But this shuffling just drives me nuts! Shuffling along in their sandals with unshaven faces and stocking caps on their ratty heads in August! Ahhhhh!

CA, it's simply the physical manifestation of one's laziness and perceived inferiority.

If I ever see my nephews do this, I will beat them within an inch of their lives.

Keith Wheeler · « **Reply #14 on:** October 11, 2006, 12:07:08 PM »

Quote from: Brad Johnson

I have noticed the same thing. Heck, even my school teacherswould tell us to sit up straight. Now, kids walk around like a bunch of slouching slobs....

If kids didn't slouch back then why would even the teachers need to comment on it?

Brad Johnson · « **Reply #15 on:** October 11, 2006, 12:10:38 PM »

If the teachers said something about it now they'd probably be charged with emotional distress or bruising the kid's delicate psyche or some other new-age BS.

Brad

CAnnoneer · « **Reply #16 on:** October 12, 2006, 10:39:51 PM »

Quote from: Monkeyleg

GunnySkox, over the years I've come to the conclusion that my ex-friend is homosexual.

That's what I suspected too, but then why did he protest?

BakerMikeRomeo · « **Reply #17 on:** October 13, 2006, 12:11:49 AM »

Quote from: CAnnoneer

That's what I suspected too, but then why did he protest?

My gaydar must not include that parameter, or something. What's the story with no-kneeling -> teh ghey?

But yeah, I've been dashing on my mental hamster wheel and I still cant figure out this story. It's like a kick in the head with a ribbon on it.

Sidenote, not intended to offend, only to be humorous: If my feet hurt, and I crouch or sit, and my friend tells me to get up, he'd better give me a really good reason (e.g., "OMG SCORPIONSPIDERBATCACTUS!") right freakin' quick, or all he's gonna get in return is lip.

~GnSx

brimic · « **Reply #18 on:** October 13, 2006, 06:04:21 AM »

I used to slouch in my early high school years. Being 6'4" and 130lbs made me feel awkward and gangly. I was much taller than most of the other kids and it made me feel self-conscious. I guess slouching is a way to try to hide a perceived 'defect.' If anyone remembers what high school was like, it was a lot like the law of the jungle- if you didn't blend in with the rest of the herd because you were too tall, too thin, too fat, too short, or had funny hair color, the predators would pick you out and pull your underwear over your head.

Fortunately God, The Cosmos, the Great Pumpkin, or whatever other power designed things, has a sense of humor. The school predators never seem to grow much after high school, but the awkward gangly herd animals often times grow up to be big bearish men. 15 years later, previous underwear gripper looks really nervous when reintroduced to previous awkward gangly kid. Cheesy

brimic · « **Reply #19 on:** October 13, 2006, 06:06:42 AM »

I can relate to younger kids who slouch or walk with their eyes on the floor. The ones who really bother me are the ones who never bathe and present themselves outwardly as potheads.

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #20 on:** October 13, 2006, 12:24:34 PM »

"That's what I suspected too, but then why did he protest?"

I think he was feeling an urge that made him uncomfortable to think about.

And I don't think I should say any more than that on this forum. Decorum and all. Wink

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #21 on:** October 13, 2006, 12:29:52 PM »

Monkeyleg, you handsome devil. You shameless tease.

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #22 on:** October 13, 2006, 01:14:52 PM »

Geeziz, Fistful. First you hit on Barbara, and now on me.

I didn't know you were AC/DC. Wink

CAnnoneer · « **Reply #23 on:** October 13, 2006, 02:32:25 PM »

Quote from: Monkeyleg

I think he was feeling an urge that made him uncomfortable to think about.

Hmm, I get all sorts of urges when I see ladies bending over too, but they do not make me uncomfortable, well, unless I happen to wear tighter pants...

Anyhoo, Monkeyleg, are you homophobic? Why the urge to indulge in unseemly language over it? From a certain point of view you should feel flattered. (sorry, couldn't resist the pun)

BakerMikeRomeo · « **Reply #24 on:** October 13, 2006, 05:12:30 PM »

Quote from: Monkeyleg

Geeziz, Fistful. First you hit on Barbara, and now on me.

I didn't know you were AC/DC. Wink

"Yeah, this conversation just got weird." ~Bryan, The Switched:On Show

~GnSx

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Author Topic: What's with the stooping? (Read 3064 times)

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