As they say:

There's no point having a big car unless you know how to drive it.

I always thought it had to do with the "wild west".

After riding on a horse for hours or days, it was too hard for the men to cross their legs completely, so they would just do the partial cross.

As time went on, and the cowboy became the American symbol of masculinity, the partial cross was integrated into that symbol and American men adopted it as the "manly thing to do".

In Europe, the "wild west" didn't grow to mythic "manly" standards as it did in the U.S., so the men there didn't adopt the partial cross.

As an American woman, I will add that I find the full cross on a man rather sexy - it shows off his limberness and self-assuredness.

This is so so interesting!

In previous eras when women were either a) peasant/working class or b)privileged class, you had one group laboring and probably sitting in the manner best suited to their work. The other group was usually dressed in garments that either restricted their movement or covered their lower half in layers (or both) = either way dictating some postures, preventing others, and also making modesty less an issue . (A woman in long petticoats, skirts and more layers surely didn't have to worry about keeping her knees together. Though all those bustles could prevent sitting back in any comfort.)

In the 20th century we have both a meeting of the classes and a merging of fashion for both of them. Quality and costliness aside, well-to-do and lower-income women have dressed from the same catalogs of items for generations now. With skirts that revealed more of the legs, the sitting and leg crossing styles were dictated for propriety's sake. Now we have the likes of Britney who can't even get out of a car without flashing the world. Girl, you know you're going to be photographed and you know you're going commando - so how about keeping the knees tight?!)

In my grandmother's generation, crossing legs at the knee was possibly considered a bit racy. Knees together and parallel was the standard for a "lady".

Men did whatever they wanted, as usual - except that to sit in the way dictated for women was not considered manly. It wasn't that it was inherently so, just that it was the woman's style, so became "wrong" for men.

In our society, women may be thought sexy when they put on their husband's or father's pjs or shirt - or even boxers. But a man in anything identifiable as women's wear is either a) a comedian or b)otherwise laughable and worthy of ridicule. That's how it is. A true double standard.

(As I write this I note that my ankles are crossed UNDER my chair = but my knees are apart, so I guess I'm OK. Phew - that was a close one.)

On next week's show: The Chair / Sitting-on-something cultures vs reclining-and-ground sitting cultures.

I never heard of the leg-crossing being the way American spies were found but did hear that a pie/tart was served & an American spy was discovered because the American turned the wedge toward himself & ate the point first. Others just dug in.

I have no idea if it's true or not but Americans do always turn a triangular piece of pie to eat the point first.

Hi CB,

>..Americans do always turn a triangular piece of pie to eat the point first...<

Except those who live between the Appalachians and the Sierras who, to be polite, snip off the point of the triangle (the best part) and leave it on the plate "for Miss Manners".

((I))