DBlevins writes:
It might be that because mens center of gravity is higher (chest shoulder area) than for women, who's center of gravity is at the hips. As a man, folding your arms might make you feel slightly off-balance as you walk because it raises your center of gravity slightly.
There's a very simple way to demonstrate this.
If you put a chair up against the wall and then stand bent over it with your body forming a 90 degree angle and your head meeting the wall, a man will not be able to pick up the chair while a woman would.
When I was in college 60 years ago, when this fact was brought to our attention, our entire physics department had a lot of fun testing this out. As more and more people saw other people trying to do this, more and more people stepped up and volunteered. It was funny watching the macho, body building type guys trying with all their might and failed to pick up the chair that way. The women thought it was the easiest thing to do.
Fun times...
Not to mention one time one of the groups accidently shot their air canon into the wall and made a hole in the wall. My partner and I topped it off by making our gasoline engine rigged into a hydrogen engine explode in the lab.
Still keeping my fingers crossed about them sending us a bill.