One morning I was in the tent with Lawrence when a young Bedouin was hauled in charged with having the evil eye... Lawrence ordered the offender to sit at the opposite side of the tent and look at him. Then for ten minutes he regarded him with a steady gaze, his steel-blue eyes seeming to bore a hole into the culprit's very soul. At the end of the ten minutes, Lawrence dismissed the Bedouin. The evil spell had been driven off!
- Lowell Thomas, With Lawrence in Arabia
We customarily think of the eye as a signal receiver, but it has an equally important role as a signal transmitter. It is easy to edit and modify the spoken language, but the eye language is a true window to the soul, through which shine the real meaning of the other person's intentions and attitudes. For eye signals are to some degree autonomic or almost automatic and do not lend themselves to voluntary control.
Our daily lives are full of examples that illustrate how important eye signals are, and how difficult they are to manipulate voluntarily. Social confrontations (such as asking for a date) are more easily settled by phone than in person. We lose quite a lot on the phone in the subtle signals of varying emotion that can be perceived visually.
The uses of eyes in human behavior are complex and poorly understood: they are rather difficult to study because they are so close to our everyday experiences. Nevertheless, similar patterns can be found among other organisms through the help of comparative ethology.
The stare is undoubtedly a dominant theme. It is mildly threatening to hold the gaze of an associate. The social blink or fleeting glances away from the eye are used to moderate its effect. Someone who refuses to meet your gaze is being usually appeasing, but this interpretation varies somewhat between cultures and subcultures.
The lower-status animals of a social troupe often spend more time looking in the general direction of the dominant than he does in theirs. Daniel Freedman has referred to this fact as a fearful watchfulness on the part of the subordinate and a sort of disdain on the dominant's part. Freedman's experimental work with children showed a similar trend, as have ethnographic field studies. Sheinfield's work with street gangs on Chicago's West Side, for example, showed that the leader never looked at the lower status males; though subordinates watched the leader, neither they nor strangers dared stare into the eyes of the dominant males.
Your first introduction to eye-power was probably the childhood game of "stare-you-down." The rules are simple - only two could play, and you stared into the eyes of your opponent until one person lost by blinking or averting his gaze. It took more than the ability to withstand dry corneas to win; you had to steel yourself emotionally to receive his gaze and to deliver yours. The contest was similar in many ways to a power grip handshake contest. You were giving and receiving at the same time like two balanced forces - any slip in your giving meant an increase in his. It was as if his stare was doing something to you physically. Its effect was as real as a pinch or cut: it was the age-old drama of social confrontation.
We carry our eye values into our feelings about other species. Folklore gives snakes the mystic power to stare a bird out of a tree; and we call the two unblinking black beady dots on white dice "snake-eyes." The glaring stare of snakes arises from their lack of moveable eyelids; unlike other vertebrates, they can never blink. I suspect that much of our attitude toward the penetrating eyes of snakes arises, from our anthropomorphizing of their lack of a social blink. They transmit a signal of arrogance.
The eye's role as a signal transmitter originates from its function as a signal receiver. In order to gather information about an associate or opponent one must point the eyes toward him; consequently, he can read in your stare that you are acquiring information about him, perhaps for some precipitous act. Breaking off social communication by averting the gaze is recognized as avoidance, unlikely to be followed by action.
To stare or not to stare was, however, only the beginning of a long and complex theme in the evolution of eyes as signal transmitters. How do the non-sensory uses of eyes and their associated social organs function, and how have they developed? These questions relate to the two basic wildebeest, Hottentot, or Sioux Indian. The two poles, as we have seen, are self-revealment and self-concealment. They accomplish much the same result, but they are different ways of getting there. One is appropriate in one life style or situation, the other in a completely different one. They are both strategies to increase social advantage and, ultimately, net reproduction.
These strategies show up in the social uses of human eyes and in the display paraphernalia of modified skin, bone, hair, and pigmentation which develop around the eye.
They take the form of what I have called the "goggle" effect and the "shade" effect. The goggle effect is a dramatization of the iris, selera, lids, or surrounding features to contribute to an open social signal. The "shades" effect, on the other hand, is characterized by a concealed eye, or at least by an obscuring of its position or of the emotions being reflected by it.
Let's look first at some comparative aspects of the goggle effect. Many vertebrates have special anatomical features around their eyes which make the eye more striking. One of the most common is a brightly or lightly colored iris. From a comparison of different living vertebrates it looks as if the iris was originally dark to protect the retina, but in numerous lines it became more lightly pigmented or brightly colored. A brightly colored iris not only makes clear the direction and character of the stare, it is also used directly in an iris display. Both birds and mammals have been observed to contract their pupils (increasing the surface of the iris) as they threaten an opponent, and to dilate the iris when submitting. Human beings apparently use this same involuntary signal.
In animals and in humans, there appear to be two main alternatives social strategies – self-revealment and self-concealment. These basic strategies can be seen in the forms taken by eye ornamentation and in its social uses. There are a number of different forms, but they tend to cluster at two poles – those that exaggerate the eye, referred to as the "goggles effect", and paraphernalia that obscure the eye, which may be called the "shades effect." Sunglasses, either silver or stained, have a social effect. They obscure the optical signal being transmitted, allowing one to hide his weaknesses and transmit a steady, aloof image.
Eckhard Hess illustrated how people in a more submissive, attentive, or appeasing mood have dilated pupils. He showed two illustrations of the same girl, one with the pupils inked in to appear larger. The people he interviewed found the one with the enlarged pupils appeared more attractive, warm, and attentive. The fundamental role of iris changes is, of course, to regulate the amount of light hitting the retina, but it is also obviously that of a transmission device.
A very dark iris gives the impression of an infinitely dilated pupil, a warm attentive signal.
Light irises, because of their greater ability to dramatize pupil diameter, are often thought of as cold on a face with otherwise self-concealing features, but on a child they are angelic, dramatizing his openness.
The women's magazines (Vogue, Glamour, Redbook, etc.) more often than not choose models with light irises, probably because women see them as having character - as complex people capable of complex expression. But the girly magazines don't want character and involvement with their models; they usually choose brown-eyed pinups. As Perutz points out, "The girls look available, show what they’ve got and invite masturbation. They are no one’s ideal."
Primate irises, like those of wolves, sheep, and cats, for the most part are not highly colorful. They are just light. The lightening can take several forms: light green, blue, and brownish tan. In some human beings there is a darkened border around the light iris interior, which adds a striking concentric edge-effect to the white background of the sclera. But when it comes to iris color we are bested by many other groups. Some, particularly birds and fish, have brilliantly colored irisesC deep crimsons, lemon yellows, bright orange, or even pure white.
Other eye modifications besides iris color reveal the inner person. Humans are unique among primates in the degree of sclera, or eye-white, exposure. Though Jane Goodall does show some chimps with moderately exposed white scleras, most non-human animals are beady-eyed, with lids that hug the iris edge.
Why should human beings have such naked, bulging eyes? I believe the answer can be found in social uses. It is easy to tell almost exactly where a person with big, exposed scleras is looking, even though he may be on the other side of the room. One can tell if he is looking at your eye or your mouth - a tremendous feat when you realize it is done by calculating the position of two round dots on two round balls, of which you can see only a thin slice. Increased scleral exposure, according to this theory, not only increases the precision of the signal but also increases the breadth of communication. As in most increases in communication breadth, the potential here for self-revealment seems to be disproportionately distorted toward the submissive end of the spectrum. In much the same way that hairless upper lips and mouth areas bare of moustache express more weakness, large, exposed scleras mean sensitivity and attentiveness, or, more basically, submission.
This interpretation accounts for differences in eyes along sexual lines. Generally women have more exposed scleras than men; the most exposed are almost always in women. Cosmeticians are aware of the sclera's importance and so darken the immediately adjacent zones of the eyelid, further emphasizing this optical signal. Shading the surrounding area also adds to the same effect.
Spectacles or goggles tend to do the same thing. They provide more concentric rings around the ones that are there naturally. Witness the current fashion of "aviator" sunglasses for women. They can give a person an air of "directness" by exaggerating his or her gaze, especially if worn by someone of purportedly high stature. It is interesting to note how many men in esteemed positions - statesmen, dictators, business moguls, judges, and experts of all sorts - choose heavy, dark-rimmed glasses.
Humans have a number of optical ornamentation patterns. Most primates and other mammals have an unexposed sciera (a). For example, in some instances it is exposed and colored white around the iris (b). But the classic exposed white sciera is a human pattern (c). Sometimes the iris is lightly colored to dramatize the degree of pupil dilation (d). There are variants which have a dark border around the light iris (f), adding a considerable concentric effect to the direction of the stare. In some races (g) the scieral exposure has been reduced by folds of skin giving the eye a "slit" effect.
But like any ornamentation which increases signal clarity, eyeglasses push the signal latitude in both directions. As well as adding to intimidation when used by the dominant, they also emphasize subordination when used by the subordinate. When worn by a solemn leader, eyeglasses add class and stature as he socks you with his stare. In the other direction, glasses earmark one as someone with an optical defect - something you expect on hoary judges or scholars, but not young fillies or the bully down the block. So when worn by a sissy (remember Superman in his Clark Kent disguise?) glasses aid in the portrayal of subordinate status. The 1960's "left-mod" movement, rejecting the establishment's covert optical display reverted in its taste to thin, wire-rimmed spectacles.
Among Caucasians (particularly in Iberia and North Africa) and Eastern Indians, there is a tendency toward an increased amount of melanin in the skin surrounding the eye. This natural pigment, like artificial eye shadow, gives the eye more latitude of expression, increasing the eye's impact. It seems to be more common among females, but does occur at times in men. Ancient Egyptians and modern Arabs use kohl sticks to further darken the area around the eye.
In the midst of deep emotional trauma, the lower lids of human eyes droop and the areas around the lids turn a purple-brown pastel, which exposes the sclera to its highest degree. A sagging lower lid gives the appearance of openness, misery, and sadness - a tight lower lid resignation and toughness. One can even see these differences in lid carriage among Goodall's chimp illustrations, and the corresponding personality differences.
We have produced sagging lower lids among some of our domestic animal strains, and we characterize their behavior anthropomorphically. The woeful-looking basset and bloodhounds with their open "eyes" never fail to elicit emotions of tenderness and compassion from the human observer.
One sees the goggle effect in many forms among other non-human vertebrates. White eye-rings are particularly common. In the spectacled eider these are exaggerated to the point of resembling true spectacles, rims and all. Among mammals, the Indian blackbuck has large eye-rings. The skin around the eyes in many bird species is enlarged and brightly colored (and among some it is erectile), expanding in some lines to form huge eye wattles.
The "shades" effect, on the other hand, is apparent in colored spectacles and silvered sunglasses. There is a gnawing discomfort in talking with someone who is wearing glasses that conceal the eyes. He is transmitting social signals - you know he is transmitting them, but they are obscure. It's kind of like trying to hold a discussion with someone using "double talk." One is ill at ease because the intonation may be a question but the sentence is unintelligible. The possibility exists that the wearer is looking at you with a direct icy stare or ignoring you completely.
It is an interesting study in display paraphernalia to watch a confrontation between demonstrators and police in a black ghetto. The police officer, with his large helmet and silvered lenses, stares across the barricade at the black tough, with his afro and big shades, who stares back - each with his emotional mask concealing a possible "shifty eye" that might reveal weakness.
Sunglasses, like a full beard over the lower face or a complete face mask, are in essence a super poker face - emotionally flat, and, as a consequence, intimidating. The lack of social information in them brings out all out uncertainties as to how to respond.
But we don't have to contrive a special gadget, like sunglasses, to see how the shades effect works among human beings. There are natural organic structures already in existence for that purpose. Heavy eyelids folds cover more of the eye and as a consequence obscure its signal much as wearing shades does. Behaviorally, the "squint" accomplishes the same thing. Note how the squint is complemented by a brows-down gesture. The "mongoloid fold" of the upper eyelid and the one possessed by the African Bushman (which is slightly different anatomically) seem to have arisen as social organs - a reversal back to the cloaked sclera, the hooded eye.
Physical anthropologists refer to these eyelid modifications as epicanthic folds. Many have tried, unsuccessfully, to correlate their racial occurrence with temperature, wind, light intensity, and other environmental variables. The tight lid, like the tight lip, carries with it a message of a closed soul, a stoic toughness shutting out free social exchange. Those with big, wide eyes can transform their open signal by a slit-eyed squint, but the full epicanthic folds are an almost fixed signal, like a permanently erected mane, crystallizing their social posture. Such eyes are limited in their ability to reveal weakness.
Orientals in general (also Bushmen and Hottentots) give an appearance of an emotionally "flat" face to the wide-eyed Westerner, who is used to giving and interpreting signals from scleral exposure and eyelid wrinkling. Here we can see an anatomical reversal to an earlier primate strategy, which we might equate with the "hooded eye" of the poker player - a non-revealing strategy. Basically, epicanthic folds hide the stare. Like an eye stripe, these folds allow one to look in the general direction of someone of the same species without revealing dominance or subdominance i.e., to play social poker.
The heavy "billed" brow of our ancestors may in fact also have provided a form of the shades effect. A gorilla's protruding brow and dark, deep-set eyes against his black skin make eye expressions difficult to observe, except at extremely close quarters. A gorilla could look at your naval at 20 yards and it would be impossible to tell he wasn't staring you in the eye.
The eyeshade of the poker player and the turned-down hat brim of the cowboy - or of the zoot-suiter of the 30's and 40's, still used to depict a Humphrey Bogart, tough-guy hood - shade the eye like giant brow ridges and produce the same "shades" effect.
Human eyelashes, unlike brow hair, have the obvious, functional role of protecting the tender membranes of the eye, yet they too are part of the communications repertoire. Long eyelashes, like large eyes, give the adult the appearance of being more juvenile or childlike. Eye and eyelashes of children are almost the same size as those of adults, while their other facial features (e.g., nose, mouth, chin) are considerably smaller. A woman's long artificial eyelashes therefore give her a more childlike appearance.
The blue color in the human iris is not due to a simple reduction of pigment, but to pigment reduction in specific areas. The iris has an inner (retinal) and outer (uveal) portion. When pigment is located only in the inner zone, the pattern of light reflection results in a "Tyndall-blue" phenomenon. Newborn human beings of all races (and many other mammals for that matter) are born without pigment in the uveal portion, so they all have blue eyes. It is difficult to keep from speculating that adult blue eyes are neotenic expressions - an evolutionary regression to a more juvenile appearance. But blue eyes in adults are also associated with an expressive "cold stare," especially if they belong to a dominant who can hold a fixed gaze.
We place value on the relative distance eyes are apart. Compared to the eyeless figure on the left and those changed by putting in eyes the, usual distance. apart, then narrowing them and spreading them and finally slewing one to the side, the face with eyes wide apart gives a more "transparent" signal since it is easier to triangulate on his direction of stare. Narrowly spaced eyes are tending toward the image of a single eye.
Eckhard Hess and his students have shown that blue-eyed people are capable of more iris dilation (larger and smaller pupils) with changing mood than are brown-eyed people. They have suggested that brown-eyed people, having pupils which are inconspicuous, traditionally depend more heavily than do blue-eyed people, on other body areas for communication subtleties (he used the hand gestures of Mediterraneans as an example).
In accordance with the shades effect, one eye has more threat value than two, possibly because there is a binocular character of a stare with two eyes. It is more difficult to tell if a single eye is looking directly at you or away in another direction. From this fact derives the terrifying aspect of the Cyclops, the one-eyed giant - or, to a lesser degree, of people with a patch over one eye or even a single "goggled" eye in the form of a monocle. Eyes spaced close together function almost the same; way as a monocle - the exact direction and character of the stare is more difficult to triangulate. We associate widely spaced eyes with trustfulness and sincerity because it is so easy to interpret their signal. It is largely for that reason that widely spaced eyes, like large eyes, are valued for their beauty.
Human beings appear to see signals in the highlight of the eye. We use such expressions as bright eyes, sparkling eyes, glazed stare, deep pools, twinkling eyes, etc. The major signal of an increased highlight, sharpened by more profuse moist or "lacrimal" secretions, is sorrow or submission. A frequent reaction of someone showing deep emotion of a non-aggressive kind is to have "watery eyes," an involuntary phenomenon. Only a few cultivated actors can produce this artificially, and doubtless most of them do so by deeply involving themselves in the role.
The extreme expression of this condition is "weeping." Here the duct that drains the eye cannot drain rapidly enough to keep the tears from breaking the surface tension and spilling over the rim of the lower lid down onto the cheeks. There seems to be a smooth gradient from a slight lacrimal increase, which creates highlights on through to weeping. Weeping seems to be simply an exaggerated form of the earlier highlight display. Neither weeping nor its auditory counterpart, "crying," is learned.
The most evident example of eye signaling is the stare between potential male-female pairs. There are sexual connotations, but these overtones are derived from the stare as an aggressive signal:
"Suddenly he lifted his clouded blue eyes. He was startled as well as she. He, too, recoiled a little. March felt the same sly, taunting, knowing spark leap out of his eyes, as he turned his head aside, and fell into her soul, as he had fallen from the dark eyes of the fox."
- D. H. Lawrence, The Fox
A poetic expression of the spark of male-female eye contact is a ping. One can easily spot someone of the opposite sex who is attracted to him or her by that little flash:
"Stranger yet he discovered how many girls and younger women were willing to ping-ping their eyes at him - even after they knew who he was. . ."
- E. Hannibal, Chocolate Days and Popsicle Weeks
In the literature of comparative ethology there are numerous references to the cross-currents between aggression and courtship or copulation. The aggressive narrowing of the eyelids and slight protruding of the chin accompanying the Mae West stare - the "Why don’cha come up and see me sometime" invitation - are gross sexual signals. Like the soft bite, they are forms of aggression used in a different way, for sexual stimulation.
Recently behavioral experiments on humans have shown that the eye is an important smile releaser between an adult and a small child, strengthening that bond. This love-gaze between baby and adult has been extended in the form of a love-gaze between adults of the opposite sex.
The cartoonist picks out and stylizes the critical visual elements of human expression to convey an emotion at the same time deleting the extraneous parts. Probably no cartoon character illustrates the use of eyes as a signal transmitter better than Evil-Eye Fleegle in the comic strip "Lil Abner" by Al Capp. Evil-Eye uses a "whammy" or even a "double whammy" to zap his opponents. A "whammy" is a form of stare in which the eyes get larger, with more and more concentric rings as they transmit. Little Orphan Annie, who has button spots for eyes, has a forever open, blank expression. On the other hand, the masks of the Lone Ranger, Batman, the Green Hornet, and all the other comic superheroes give the required aloofness of the "shades effect." The language of the eyes runs deep in our culture.
Here is a battery of super-heroes and super-villains taken from comic books. They include: the Lone Ranger, the Phantom, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Captain America, Spiderman, Flash, Captain Marvel, Batman and Robin and many others, Notice how commonly these supermen are given eye masks by cartoonists in their attempt to dramatize strength of character.