Why do women curtsey and men bow?

Question

Why two different movements? What do they symbolise?

Answer 1

these gestures have been around for ages. Something to do with the social class and gentry. Also I was thinking that a woman really couldn't bow with a dress on.

Answer 2

A curtsey (also spelled curtsy) is a traditional gesture of greeting, in which a woman bends her knees while bowing her head. It is the female equivalent of male bowing in Western cultures. The word "curtsy" is a phonological change from "courtesy" known in linguistics as syncope.

In more formal variants of the curtsey, the woman bends the knees outward (rather than straight ahead), often sweeping one foot behind her. She may also use her hands to hold her skirt out from her body.

Traditionally, women would curtsey for those of senior social rank just as men would bow. Today this practice has become less common. In European cultures it is traditional for women to curtsey in front of royalty. It may then be referred to as a court curtsey and is often especially deep and elaborate. Further, some female domestic workers curtsey for their employers.

Female dancers often curtsey at the end of a performance to show gratitude or acknowledge any applause from the audience. At the end of a ballet class, students will also curtsey or bow to the teacher and the pianist to show gratitude. According to Victorian dance etiquette, a woman curtseys before beginning a dance.

Answer 3

I think it's probably skirt-related.

Answer 4

cuz it looks ridiculously funny

Answer 5

These are gestures that should be outlawed except possibly in social dance situations. There is no place for these outdated practises in the modern world.

Answer 6

The curtsey is the female equivalent of the male bow; however, as any Texas debutante will testify, it features the prominent display of a skirt or dress.  Unless a man is wearing a kilt, he doesn't need to lift his hem while bowing the head and bending the knees.  

Answer 7

so women dont stick their butts out, so people can see up their skirts, and men bend down so they cant see the ladies's butts, if that made sense?

Answer 8

God knows why but you can be sure of this if the queen came a visiting me she would get no curtsy out of me!

Answer 9

Men bow and women curtsy because they are no longer expected to kneel.

There are different types/degrees of bowing.  As someone already mentioned, the person who is bowing is making himself look smaller/shorter, to show submissiveness.  He is also presenting himself in a vulnerable position -- exposing his neck and looking down.  He is, in a symbolic sense, acknowledging that his "superior" has the right/power to kill him -- but also trusting that either the superior will not do so or submitting to that fate.  Think of the nod as a modified bow between equals.  The neck is exposed only to a minor degree and briefly.  Eye contact is not broken.

Women curtsy for the same social reason as men bow -- to show submissiveness or acknowledge the other person is superior in some way, usually in rank.  Also as noted by others in this thread, women curtsy instead of bow for practical reasons -- so that certain body parts don't stick out.  Another historical reason is a woman has no reason to expose her neck for the superior's sword, because the woman is thought of as property.  She is usually not put to death for her husband's/father's wrongdoing; and if she is, she is usually not beheaded, but executed in some other way.

Answer 10

Ever leaned over in a low-necked blouse?  This would be why women curtsey instead of bow.  It might also have to do with the practicality of a corset (since I'm not sure when the curtsey started).  many corsets do not allow a woman to bend at the waist for a proper bow.

Answer 11

Men bow, as it is directly equivalent to a submissive gesture in the animal kingdom: you are making yourself physically smaller than the other person, therefore confirming their superior status.

Women curtsy for much the same reason, however it is perceived to be more graceful, and therefore feminine, than bowing.

As a random fact, it is called a bow because that's what you do: you 2bow2 in the middle; however curtsy is a corruption of courtesy - as in you are making a courteous gesture.

Answer 12

Really?! Have you ever heard a guy ask "Does this make my rear end look big?"

Answer 13

if a woman bows she shows her ***.  especailly when this tradition was first used, many more dresses etc and a more conservative society.  

similar to how men and women are segregated in mosques incase the woman i in front of hte man kneeling to pray.

Answer 14

This question belongs in " anthropology"

..animal antics

Answer 15

I really don't know, maybe something to do with tradition.