Paul Sandby - London Cries- A Man Swaggering - Google Art Project

Swaggering is an ostentatious style of walking affected by someone wishing to assert their dominance. It is also a form of

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

sexual display A courtship display is a set of display behaviors in which an animal, usually a male, attempts to attract a mate; the mate Mate choice, exercises choice, so sexual selection acts on the display. These behaviors often include ritualized movement ( ...

which takes up more space than needed for simple motion. The exact

gait Gait is the pattern of movement of the limbs of animals, including humans, during locomotion over a solid substrate. Most animals use a variety of gaits, selecting gait based on speed, terrain, the need to maneuver, and energetic efficiency. Di ...

will vary with personality and fashion but it is generally more of a loose, rolling style than a stiff strut. The feet will be kept apart rather than following each other in line and the more swaggering the gait, the greater the lateral distance between them. Studies have found that people are able to determine sexual orientation from such cues and a shoulder-swagger was perceived as a heterosexual orientation. Among London

cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or b ...

s, swaggering was stylised as the coster walk which became the dance craze of the

Lambeth walk Lambeth Walk is a street in Lambeth, London, England, off Lambeth Road. It was at the heart of a working-class residential area and there was a street market. The area was originally developed with wells and a recreation ground. Houses fol ...

. Among African-Americans, it is known as a jive-ass walk or pimp walk. The actor

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

was known for his swaggering walk which became a distinctive element of his screen image. A cane may be used as a

walking stick A walking stick or walking cane is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture. Some designs also serve as a fashion accessory, or are used for self-defense. Walking sti ...

as part of the performance. In the military, this became stylised as the

swagger stick A swagger stick is a short stick or riding crop usually carried by a uniformed person as a symbol of authority. A swagger stick is shorter than a staff or cane, and is usually made from rattan. Its use derives from the vine staff carried by Rom ...

— useless as a support and just used for gesturing and prodding. Portraits which are ostentatiously posed in the

grand manner Grand Manner refers to an idealized aesthetic style derived from classicism and the art of the High Renaissance. In the eighteenth century, British artists and connoisseurs used the term to describe paintings that incorporated visual metaphors i ...

are known as swagger portraits. The

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

held an exhibition of these in 1992, featuring the work of

William Dobson William Dobson (4 March 1611 (baptised); 28 October 1646 (buried)) was a portraitist and one of the first significant English painters, praised by his contemporary John Aubrey as "''the most excellent painter that England has yet bred''". He ...

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

and

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Life Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch ...

References

Walking {{anthropology-stub

See also

References