"What Are Sasha and Malia Doing in that Picture?" the Question Old People Are Asking Young People Right Now

Photo by: JOE KLAMAR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
"What's that all about?" Your mom asked after seeing this photo of Sasha and Malia Obama chunking up the inauguration. Where do you begin: Instragram, the origin of the peace sign, a brief history of hip-hop or the psychological need to have a purpose when posing for photos?

Today I discovered an awesome question on a parenting forum: "The sideways peace sign and puckered lips: what is the meaning of this hand signal? My daughter and her friends all do this on Facebook. I asked her and even she doesn't what it means." Turns out no one really could provide this confused mom with an answer--not even her daughter. Do people even know why they do it or when they're doing it? It never really mattered until Monday night, when Sasha and Malia Obama, the nation's first kids flashed the symbol. Now everyone under 30, even those who've never made that sideways peace sign for photos, are going to have to field questions about it. Here's a handy explainer to refer to if someone won't take "I don't know" for an answer. --Piper Weiss, Shine Staff