This is an interesting perspective. I always thought smartphones emasculated the other parties in the conversation, as in "I'm playing with my phone because I don't think you're as important as what's on this screen."

Probably because "emasculate" is overloaded with gender meaning.

Possibly. But "emasculation" doesn't mean "feminization". And I felt like the people most likely to be pick up on gender meaning would also be the most likely to understand that.

This thought is an overestimation most people's relationship with gender issues. The level above "ignorant apathy" is "battle of the sexes", which is where most gender-activistish people are. Thoughtful reflection is rarified air.

This is also a serious downside with FaceTime or Skype on a mobile. You are always looking down at the device and that is seldom a flattering look, double chins etc. I have heard this from numerous people as a reason they don't like video calls.

Seriously, I hate video calls generally... frankly, even if you're not looking down, they're rarely flattering, and in many cases people look downright dreadful. I don't want to stare at someone's ugly mug for 30 minutes when I could just be having a nice conversation (and it's not like I can really look away, because they'll notice).

Not to mention the reverse: with video, all of a sudden, I have to care how I look, what I'm wearing, what's visible in the background, etc. Gah, what a pain.

So while there are definitely positive aspects to video calls, and it's great that they're an option, no way should they be the default, either technically (the default state of the app) or "societally" (i.e., what people expect, with audio-only being taken as a sign of something suspicious).

One reason I don't use Google hangouts more often is simply that: it defaults to video, and requires specific action to turn that off. Don't do that shit.

If that's all it takes to put someone in a subservient or submissive position, there is not a posture in the universe that will fix it.

I'm not saying definitively that it's pseudo-science, but it does quack a lot like it.

It's hard (not impossible, but hard) to feel superior to the person you're talking to while you're bowed over. That's why bowing is universally a sign of submission.

I think "position" was meant more literally.