My ex-girlfriend’s mother is Asian. Back when we were dating, I often noticed that whenever anyone in her mom’s family was photographed, he/she would hold up a hand level with his/her chest, extending the forefinger and middle fingers in a ‘V’ - as in “‘V’ for ‘victory.’” (Or maybe it resembles a peace gesture more. Don’t know if there’s any difference.)
Since then, I’ve seen other instances of Asian people making the same gesture when being photographed, most recently yesterday afternoon at my current girlfriend’s graduation (MBA- I’m so proud of her).
My question is: Why do they do that? Does it symbolize anything? Or is it just an Asian tradition, the origins of which have long been lost? My ex-girlfriend’s explanation at the time was “That’s just what they do.” Then again, she was a total … well, I won’t go into that here.
Incidentally, my ex-girlfriend’s mom came from Taiwan. I don’t know if that tradition is isolated to Taiwan specifically or not.
“I wept because I had no shoes, then I met a man with no feet. So I took his shoes” - Dave Barry