Sola Aoi 蒼井空, and Origin of the Scissor-Hand in Asian Photos

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

Asian girls have this scissor-hand syndrome in photographs.

Sola Aoi 2013-07-26 x69891 Sola Aoi 2013-07-26 x12871
Sola Aoi (蒼井空) (the one with black hair)

she's the famous Japanese porn star Sola Aoi (born 1983) (蒼井空; 蒼井 そら) And now she's also a media personality, quite popular in China. She's also learning Chinese. She's on Twitter aoi_sola and Sina Weibo 蒼井空.

苍井空演唱会〈Girls Up〉 劲歌热舞改变形象. Sola Aoi singing Chinese.

Origin of the Scissor-Hand Gesture in Asia

Note that the V sign gesture is mostly known as a Victory sign, used by allied troops in World War 2 (1939 – 1945). (it is of course commonly used to signal the number 2).

Then, it became a peace sign in US counter-culture movement in the 1960s.

Here's a quote from Wikipedia:

The V sign (U+270C ✌ victory hand in Unicode) is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted, while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the cultural context and how it is presented. It is most commonly[citation needed] used to represent the letter “V” as in “victory,” especially by Allied troops during World War II. It has also been used by people of the United Kingdom and related cultures as an offensive gesture (when displayed with the palm inward); and by many others simply to signal the number 2. Since the 1960s, when the “V sign” was widely adopted by counterculture movement, it has come to be used as a symbol of peace (usually with palm outward).

John Lennon with Yoko Ono 1971 peace sign
John Lennon with Yoko Ono 1971

〔➤see American, War ＆ Peace; Art Film: I Met the Walrus (John Lennon)

but how did Asians started to use it in photograph?

According to Wikipedia:



The pose is gaining significant popularity in South Korea due to the common usage amongst Kpop idols and young people – especially in Selcas. V signing is commonly linked with aegyo, a popular trend in Korea meaning 'acting cutely'.

Janet Lynn 1972 Olympic figure skating, at Sapporo, Japan. She fell at 1:48.