Oh yes oh yes oh yes
Can I get a culture lesson in here?
The style of sitting you see there is what is called in Japan, yankii zuwari, or "Yankee Sit." Now those of us who live in the north in the United States may balk and argue "Hey, I don't sit like that!" Here, though, the term yankee doesn't refer specifically to us good-for-nothing northerners, but instead is a slang term for thug or hooligan in Japanese. Frequently the term was used for semi-delinquent youths who would dye their hair blonde making them look 'American.' It's possible this came from anti-American sentiment way back when, but these days it doesn't carry that connotation anymore, though.
Anyways, that style of sit is supposedly intended in Japanese culture to be sorta thuggish or display rebellious attitude, in short. You see it a lot in Japanese anime as well, although I saw it frequently enough in every day life to decide to research it when I lived in Japan. On a lot of web pages that describe the sit, I've found them to be more critical of the style of sitting than I actually found it in Japan... as in, I didn't have the sense that it was as frowned upon from what I had read. But it definitely does carry the hip/rebellious attitude bit.
![[Image: 41Y2ggUoAXL.jpg]](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PPaiOvp8cZ8/TfxxNcmpbNI/AAAAAAAAAH0/uyUycX59ccI/s640/41Y2ggUoAXL.jpg)
As for where it came from? Those of you who who were talking about staying clean are on the right track. One source in Japan told me that it developed from war, and soldiers would squat like this low to the ground in order to rest, while staying above mud.
It tends to be fairly difficult for westerners to pull off right. The correct way to do it is to squat with your feet flat on the ground. Most people in the States are unable to do it without balancing on the balls of your foot, which is cheating. The right muscles are needed to be trained when you are young to do it right, and the reason why Japanese frequently do it so easily has to do with how their traditional toilets were designed (and I'll stop there). On another note, I noticed the Male Miqo'te doesn't seem to put his feet flat on the ground, so hmmmmmm, maybe this says something about Eorzean toilets?
Personally though, I think they gave Male Miqo'te that style of sit to give them some kind of attitude. That's the modern interpretation of that style of sitting. Though an argument could be made for them wanting to stay clean, as well, as that is where the sit originally came from.[/i]
Can I get a culture lesson in here?
The style of sitting you see there is what is called in Japan, yankii zuwari, or "Yankee Sit." Now those of us who live in the north in the United States may balk and argue "Hey, I don't sit like that!" Here, though, the term yankee doesn't refer specifically to us good-for-nothing northerners, but instead is a slang term for thug or hooligan in Japanese. Frequently the term was used for semi-delinquent youths who would dye their hair blonde making them look 'American.' It's possible this came from anti-American sentiment way back when, but these days it doesn't carry that connotation anymore, though.
Anyways, that style of sit is supposedly intended in Japanese culture to be sorta thuggish or display rebellious attitude, in short. You see it a lot in Japanese anime as well, although I saw it frequently enough in every day life to decide to research it when I lived in Japan. On a lot of web pages that describe the sit, I've found them to be more critical of the style of sitting than I actually found it in Japan... as in, I didn't have the sense that it was as frowned upon from what I had read. But it definitely does carry the hip/rebellious attitude bit.
As for where it came from? Those of you who who were talking about staying clean are on the right track. One source in Japan told me that it developed from war, and soldiers would squat like this low to the ground in order to rest, while staying above mud.
It tends to be fairly difficult for westerners to pull off right. The correct way to do it is to squat with your feet flat on the ground. Most people in the States are unable to do it without balancing on the balls of your foot, which is cheating. The right muscles are needed to be trained when you are young to do it right, and the reason why Japanese frequently do it so easily has to do with how their traditional toilets were designed (and I'll stop there). On another note, I noticed the Male Miqo'te doesn't seem to put his feet flat on the ground, so hmmmmmm, maybe this says something about Eorzean toilets?
Personally though, I think they gave Male Miqo'te that style of sit to give them some kind of attitude. That's the modern interpretation of that style of sitting. Though an argument could be made for them wanting to stay clean, as well, as that is where the sit originally came from.[/i]
![[Image: 51f7fee1a068d6073b38115a.jpg]](http://cdn.guildwork.net/albums/images/51f7fee1a068d6073b38115a.jpg)
