When sitting, should a woman cross her legs?

When sitting, a woman tends to cross her legs. But should we? According to Maura Graber, who has been teaching manners to children and adults for 15 years and is the director of The R.S.V.P. Institute of Etiquette, says, “When sitting, a woman should cross her legs at the ankles. For one thing, by crossing one's legs at the knees, one is cutting off circulation and can end up with spider veins. It is not considered lady-like to cross one's legs at the knees, especially if one is wearing a short skirt.” To further elaborate, “spider veins” are red or blue short jagged lines that look like tree branches or spider webs. Veins have valves that prevent blood from flowing backwards as it moves up the legs. If this valve is weakened in anyway, due to lack of circulation, hormone changes or exposure to the sun, the blood collects back in the vein. Experts also think that hereditary factors can increase you chances of developing these nasty little buggers. To prevent them when sitting they advise you to not cross your legs at the knees, do not wear tight slacks or tights that constrict your skin, and get up at least every thirty minutes to walk around. You can also invest in some good elastic support stocking if you think they may become a problem in the future. There are treatments available for spider veins but most, if not all, of them cost a lot, can be quite painful, and are not 100% effective. Prevention is always the better route. Besides the health problems that it could cause, crossing your legs is just not very comfortable or aesthetically pleasing. A woman tends to do it out of habit. As we all know, the pressure and the tingling afterwards can be quite unpleasant. Even though many movies tend to zoom in on the sight of a woman’s nylon encased leg being sensually draped over the equally tan match, in real life others do not always glance over in the “correct camera angle”, the lighting is often poor and there is no real life air brushing for the very real bulges sitting in this way creates. Another way some women tend to sit, since the appearance of jeans is with their legs spread apart. This is never in good form when it comes to proper etiquette. As long as your demeanor is one of openness you’ll easily be viewed as “laid back” as well as classy if you sit properly. It is true that you shouldn’t compromise your comfortableness for the sake of propriety but you also shouldn’t compromise your femininity for the sake of the world’s changing views. To break any bad habit a woman has when sitting, she needs to practice the correct way of crossing her legs. If you are one of these women, you can do this while typing at the computer, when eating a meal, or even while watching TV. At first it might feel uneasy, but remember that this is only temporary. It truly is a more comfortable, not to mention lady-like, way to sit. It’s just different than what you are used to.