One leg in the air like you just don’t care? Eight classic power poses – and what they really mean

The pose of the moment is eye-catching and a little alarming. But it’s not the first to cause a stir. Here is a history of such stances, from the Angelina Jolie leg flash to Andrew Scott’s insouciant hand-in-pocket

You think you know your culture back to front, all the snooker moves that drove us to this point, and then something happens and you realise you haven’t been paying attention. I’m thinking of the modern celebrity power pose: one leg shooting high in the air, preferably while wearing a ballgown. It has to be a woman. If a man did it, he would be mocking a woman, making his power message: “I’m brave enough, and comfortable enough in my own skin, to mock ladies.” Which is powerful, to be fair.

When women do it – Victoria Beckham started it, Myleene Klass has dabbled, Amanda Holden does it all the time (even standing up) – other women liken them to a cat licking, sorry, grooming its butt. Once, memorably, Taylor Swift posted her cat doing this very thing on Insta. But what is this pose meant to be saying? “I may be a pop star or a TV celebrity, but with my flexibility and muscle tone, I am ready at any time to give my services to ballet”? “I don’t want to flash my pants, but I do want to show that I have a tan all the way up to that area, so while I fix this conundrum, may I treat you to one of my legs”? This can only be understood as the natural end point in the complete history of the power pose.

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