Blog: What the Heck are Bird Hands?

One of the random things that popped up in my feed recently was a video discussing what the phenomenon of “bird hands” are. For those of you who somehow are unaware of what this hand gesture is, it’s basically the chef’s kiss gesture, only pointing at you or the person speaking. It could also be defined as the stereotypical gesture used by angry Italian grandmothers. As for the reason why it went viral, it went viral as a theory is because it seems to fit in with the larger discussion of why Leftist women are the way they are since it’s mostly Leftist women online using the bird hands.

For the most part, I think this is just a meme. It might have some truth to it the same way septum-ring theory or colored hair theory has some truth to it, but overall, I think the rest of it is pretty bogus.

I believe the reason why bird hands are so common online is because they’ve become a new form of non-verbal communication, especially amongst women. Think about it. In conversation, while some people aren’t super inclined to do this, there are others who are very animated when talking and use their hands a lot (I’m one of those people). The hand movements almost become part of the speech as almost a second language adding additional emphasis to what they’re saying.

How this spreads to the online space, then, is that many people, especially in short form videos, treat the video more as a conversation. It’s not a high-budget production with a script. It’s usually just a person sitting in their car, their house, somewhere outside, etc. talking to their audience casually. Because of that atmosphere, the hand gestures get incorporated.

Now, how exactly this specific gesture became a big part in our collective hand-gesture vocabulary, I’m not sure. My guess is that someone used it, their video became popular, and other people started using it for whatever reason, similar to how “yeet” eventually got added to our vocab. At this point, with how many people use it and how easily it seems to come to them, I’m not even sure if they realize they’re doing the bird hands, much less other hand movements.

Another reason why I think the bird hand theory is bogus is because it’s not just the closed, chef’s kiss/ angry Nonna hand gesture that’s getting classified as bird hands. Apparently, there are multiple types of bird hands, with one variation being pointing with your thumb and forefinger pinched together.

The issue this poses for the memable bird hand theory is that it’s not just Leftists who do this. I have seen plenty of women who lean conservative do the bird hands or one of its variations before (myself included).

Maybe I’m taking this too seriously, but the septum-ring theory and colored hair theory, though it also has its issues, have a better case to work off of than the bird hand theory for identifying Leftists.

Until next time,

M.J.