During his weekly “Body Language” segment on the April 3 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly commented that body language expert Tonya Reiman had “surprised me” the previous week “by saying Ms. Couric used some sexual body language.” O'Reilly was referring to CBS News anchor Katie Couric's interview with former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and his wife, Elizabeth, about their decision to continue his presidential campaign after learning that her cancer had recurred. After playing a clip of Couric during that interview, O'Reilly asked about Couric's “little head flip,” to which Reiman replied: “Typically, though, when you see that head pull back like that what you're trying to do is show off that you really care about your appearance. And coupled with the smile she gives, it doesn't necessarily have to be sexual, but it was definitely a look of satisfaction, a look of feeling good, so to speak.” O'Reilly then prodded: “But in general -- because I know a lot of women who do that with their hair -- that is a sexual gesture?” Reiman added that "[i]t's a gesture that shows, 'I'm trying to impress you. I'm trying to look my best for you. I want you to notice that I take care of myself. You know, I'm pulling my hair back to make you notice me a little bit more.' " She concluded: “Any time you move, what you're doing is asking someone to look at you.”
O'Reilly then asked Reiman for two examples of “other sexual gestures,” which Reiman proceeded to describe.
From the April 3 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: And body language, the sex edition. Don't miss this one.
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O'REILLY: Right back with my quest to buy an American automobile that gets decent gas mileage. And later, body language, the sex edition. What signals do people send out in this area? Coming up.
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O'REILLY: When we come back, body language designed to sell sex. Can you fake that? And what gestures and mannerisms are sexual signals? Tonya Reiman has the answers. Moments away.
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O'REILLY: Thanks for staying with us. I'm Bill O'Reilly.
In the “Body Language” segment tonight, last week Tonya Reiman was analyzing the talk between Katie Couric and Elizabeth and John Edwards. Tonya surprised me by saying Ms. Couric used some sexual body language.
COURIC [video clip]: Your decision to stay in this race has been analyzed and quite frankly judged by a lot of people. And some say what you're doing is courageous. Others say it's callous.
O'REILLY: All right. Now Tonya Reiman joins us. The little head flip, right?
REIMAN: Yes.
O'REILLY: What is that?
REIMAN: You know, you have to put it into context. Typically, though, when you see that head pull back like that what you're trying to do is show off that you really care about your appearance. And coupled with the smile she gives, it doesn't necessarily have to be sexual, but it was definitely a look of satisfaction, a look of feeling good, so to speak.
O'REILLY: Because it didn't have any context. She was asking an important question.
REIMAN: Right.
O'REILLY: But in general -- because I know a lot of women who do that with their hair -- that is a sexual gesture?
REIMAN: It's a gesture that shows, “I'm trying to impress you. I'm trying to look my best for you. I want you to notice that I take care of myself. You know, I'm pulling my hair back to make you notice me a little bit more.”
O'REILLY: OK. To make -- notice that I have nice hair, or?
REIMAN: To make notice of me in general. Any time you move, what you're doing is asking someone to look at you. If you're standing straight, you know, people aren't going to notice you. But the head gestures, the swinging around, that's when people take notice.
O'REILLY: In general, what are other sexual gestures? Give me two.
REIMAN: OK. One of the sexual gestures would be to look down and then have my eyes look up at you. Because what I'm trying to do is give you that, like, almost childlike, innocent look when I do that.
O'REILLY: OK. That's for a woman, not for a guy.
REIMAN: That's -- yeah, for women. Another gesture would be if I were to, you know, thrust myself forward to you. What I'm trying to do is say, “Hey, look at me. Here I am.”
O'REILLY: OK, so any movement like this?
REIMAN: Right.
O'REILLY: Is that for both sexes?
REIMAN: Especially with the chest. Women, you'll notice -- and we'll see that on the video tonight. Women will kind of push their chest forward to say, “Hey, here I am. I'm a woman. Take a look at me.”
O'REILLY: Now, this is all done unconsciously.
REIMAN: Some of it is unconscious, some is conscious. You know, when you talk about that, when we talk about, say, Marilyn Monroe, a lot of that was not necessarily conscious.