OK, there was a 2003 thread on this but it was very short and didn’t answer the questions that interest me.
Clearly, as evidenced by that thread, it does occur. But how far back does it go? What is the earliest known instance, either from real life, novels, movies, TV, etc? Did this actually originate on the screen? Do gay men sometimes do it when kissing each other or is this purely a woman thing?
I’m not sure I buy the balance explanation. If that were the case it would surely be more widespread than it actually is and every woman kissing her taller boyfriend would be doing it and that isn’t the case.
So if it isn’t a natural reflex that just leaves learned behavior. But learned from where and since when?
Sure the leg lifting shows off the leg, but so too the high heels she is wearing are being worn to show off the legs
Whats the real reason ?
Well you walk with your arms moving for a reason too… it assists in the walking.
So if the arms are forward to ensure the kiss doesn’t become an embrace , surely the lady would put her legs back ?
Whether its strictly a requirement depends on the stoutlyness and hygiene of the male , bust size of the female, and what shoes the female are wearing, and more.
Sure, the leg lift works better for camera.
But there’s also a reason it would be habitual.
Imagine its opening night, and all the famous persons are there, and so she the singer actress stands and kisses every man … So to get through them quick, the reach provided by the leaning kiss means its possible to say hello, and goodbye (by verbal or body language ?), in one quick lean ,twist, and lean out, see ? come out twisted, back turned to last, face to next in line …
It also prevents ,or allows her to escape, the hugging clutch a man might do if he felt it was an amourous gesture…
So the idea that its just because it allows the heads to be seen on camera better, … eg with the hair in place rather than flopping around. yes, but not the only reason. it looks smart, and perhaps thats because it is smart.
I have never seen a woman do this in real life nor I have ever seen a picture of a woman doing this in real life (except as homage or parody), so I’m doubting every bit of your reasoning.
If this happens at all maybe it’s just easier for her to stretch up on one tip toe and turn her head slightly to kiss a taller man. Seems more like a pose though.
I didn’t know this was a thing, except that maybe, if it was pointed out, I would see that it happened sometimes, apparently; however, since it seems to be, might it not be connected to pleasure ? Just as that certain enjoyments can actually be unconsciously briefly felt in the extremities.
Hard to tell if the back foot is off the ground in that shot. The whole thing could be because women don’t want to fall over if a clumsy guy doesn’t hold them up or they pull away. And by VJ Day the pose was well known from movies so if it’s not done for a woman keeping her balance then it could just be imitation.
It was the only real life kiss photo I could find in a Google search that had anything resembling a leg lift. Everything else was obviously from Film, TV or was posed.
It’s late at night here and I live alone, so my tests have been done by myself. Arching back while standing does make you put your foot back, bend your knee and then eventually raise your heel to stand on tip toe, to maintain balance and perhaps to reduce weight. Actually lifting the leg would probably cause you to fall back catastrophically. At least in my solo tests.
I’ll repeat this tomorrow with my SO. If anyone else what’s to kiss their wives to check this out in the next 12 hours, they are welcome. Kissing for science!
The whole thing about that classic pose is that the woman’s body is straight up and down. She is not being pushed backward, not being arched, not needing to brace herself. If anything she might be pushing a bit toward the man. She is perfectly structural, so much so that she doesn’t even need the back foot to keep her upright. I included the comic book image of Lois Lane because her spine would probably snap in half if a real woman tried that pose.
This can’t be counted because the woman wasn’t a willing participant. Her body language reflects the fact that she was being assaulted. Some random sailor just grabbed her and laid one on her without her consent. if you look at the picture with that knowledge, you can see that he has pulled her off balance.
I’ve never seen this in real life, either.
Note that in Exapno’s second link, her leg wouldn’t have shown at all if not for the leg lift, so putting it in there was an excuse to show some sexy leg and shoe.
When I’m trying to reach something on a high cabinet shelf, I will definitely stand on the tip toe of one foot, with the other foot in the air. Putting both feet down necessarily sacrifices a bit of height.
So I guess it’s possible that I’ve done the same when kissing a man who was taller than I. But I was certainly never conscious of it. And I doubt I would have lifted it that high, just off the ground.
