Insulting Gestures: American Children — Gesture 5

General Information about Item

  • Gesture
  • Genre: Insulting American Children’s Gesture
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Alejandro Cuan-Martinez
  • Date Collected: October 28, 2018

Informant Data

Alejandro is a ’20 that attends Dartmouth College. He is from Los Angelas, California where he grew up for most of his childhood. He is of Chinese-Mexican decent and has an older brother. In high school he was on the swim team. He is interested in studio arts and is a member of the Alpha Theta gender-inclusive greek house.

Contextual Data

Social Context – I collected this folklore from Alejandro in Alpha Theta’s library. I recorded our conversation on an iPhone and asked him to tell me about insulting gestures he may remember from childhood. It was humorous the wide array of gestures he recalled from childhood that he would use to insult his friends in primary school. Many of the gestures were subtle variations of the middle finger, used in a manner to get away with giving someone the bird without actually doing the gesture but fully implying it with a similar one. Most of the gestures he showed me were ones targeted towards a specific person with the intention of being seen and received, with the ability to be quickly concealed if an adult was to look. 

Cultural Context – Alejandro learned this gesture in elementary school when learning sign language. During this time, his older friends taught him how to say “F— you” in sign language.

Item

“You start at the base of your throat and the tips of your fingers move up across your throat up to your chin, and once you reach your chin, you flip your hand out and over kind of like you’re holding a tray.”

Associated File

F*ck you in sign language-1pknotd

Informant’s Comments

Alejandro noted that it was funny how as children, they found a way to insult each other, even during class. 

Collector’s Comments

I remember learning this myself when I was also in middle school and also using it during on of my classes to communicate with my friends if someone was bothering me. Although it was meant as an insult, we also used it as a way to express if someone made us feel uncomfortable or upset.

Collector’s Name: Cherie-Noelle Kaanana

Tags/Keywords

  • Gestures
  • American Children
  • Insults

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