What to Do With Your Hands in Photos

Last night’s Academy Awards were the culmination of a red carpet season that has taught us a lot: what constitutes a harness versus a bib, several other ways to use a harness that isn’t as a bib, and the secret to making your feet more chill. The most valuable lesson of all, however, came from one Lady Gaga, who gave us the answer to the perennial problem that transcends space and time: what to do with your hands in pictures.

Gaga knows exactly what to do with them: Put them on your face. Put them on the other side of your face. Put them on your chest. Put them around your chin. But what’s the motive for such a public act of bravery masked as pageantry? Is it simply to show off the looks nail artist Miho Okawara has been creating for her? Is it to confuse and fake out people who were on engagement-ring watch? Is it to allow her hands to relive a semblance of their Bad Romance–era claw-dancing past? Is she tired of scrolling through Instagram posts where hands limply hang by the subjects’ sides? Is it to make pre-show red carpet viewing more bearable for those of us who must watch? Is it a selfless act of service for the public’s own good? Is she just having a grand ol’ time?!

There isn’t a definitive answer, but one thing is certain: There have been at least 100 celebrities on a number of red carpets recently, and 99 have posed with the expected hand-on-hip stance during the step-and-repeat, but all it took was 1 to not do that and change our whole lives. From the Supported Chin Grab to the Charming Fake Laugh, here are 27 Gaga-approved things to do with your hands in photos, whether you’re trying to show off that sweet manicure or not.