The 'V' Sign

The ‘V’ sign; a trademark of Winston Churchill as a sign of victory and defiance for the people of occupied Europe back in 1941. Today, the ‘V’ sign lives on, although not in the same majestic league of symbolism, but the ‘V’ sign lives on. Not in the blood of fallen war heroes but in pink candy-like photo booths of Neo-Prints, where teens and has-been teens display their defiance of mental maturity.

One can only take a cyber stroll on friendster (as one would during office hours) to realise that if only you could get a dollar for each picture that displays the ‘V’ sign, you will earn enough for a weekend trip to Tahiti.

This proliferating phenomenon is rather perplexing. I struggle to comprehend or decipher the symbolic representation of making ‘V’ signs in any photo shoot. My initial impression was that it could be in remembrance of the war, but through further scrutiny, it appears that these ‘V’ wielding characters will probably struggle to differentiate Normandy from North Korea.

Then a moment of epiphany struck me as I realised that the ‘V’ wielding teenagers do not appreciate the symbolic connotations, but really to use the ‘V’ as a form of visual communication. Somewhat like how Vulkons in Star Trek use hand gestures to offer salutations while at the same time communicate to Earthlings that “we are aliens from a different planet.”

This line of reasoning will however make sense, if not for the evolution of symbol from a vertical ‘V’ to a horizontal one ‘>’ or ‘<’. Perhaps the variant symbols are used for categorical purposes, such as if I hold up a ‘>’, it means my right brain is stronger than my left one, or ‘<’ means my left brain works better, or ‘V, V’ means I have about enough intelligence to uncap a plastic bottle.

I was caught in utter frustration as my initial deduction appeared to have led me towards a conceptual dead end. But alas, I overlooked the most important consideration in any from of ethnographic study, the consequences of context! Yes indeed, it dawned upon me that teens and wannabe-teens wield the ‘V’ sign only in front of the camera. It all makes sense now. As we learn from theories of self-image and alter personas, the ‘V’ sign is used as a temporal denial of one’s real self, to transport the user in that moment before the camera to a parallel reality where the personified self is positively reinforced with essence of marshmallows and pink cotton candy.

This curious behaviour appears to be mild symptoms of a psychological disorder in what is more commonly known as ‘acting cute’. It defies all logic that by hiding the face behind the index and middle finger, the subject actually believes that he/she can accentuate the photograph. It would perhaps be more logical to place the palm in front of the face to conceal the facial features if a more perfect photograph is the desired outcome.

Or just use a brown paper bag, it is probably cuter that way.