The Finger

(The photo is of my friend's cat, The Piker, who is much missed.  He had a good run.  This picture was taken when I cat-sat him and I blogged about the incident at the time).
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What's with "the finger" these days?  I'm not talking about the one digit one; no, I'm speaking of its usage by (mostly) women who are trying to make a point.  When and how did this become a thing?  Imagine if you will, Audrey Hepburn emoting a scene in Sabrina when suddenly, she raises her hand and sticks out the finger towards Bogie.  It just wouldn't be the same.  It especially would lack any level of finesse if that index finger had a nail on it that was decorated with more do-dads then my Christmas tree.  A finger nail should not resemble anything that you spot at The Pride Parade.
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You don't have to go too far back to realize that people could make a point without waving their hands all over.  Why the need to emulate a pair of banty roosters scrapping over corn or a hen?  Did people watch one too many episodes of Maury and think that Emily Post had to go?  I guess a lot of it comes from reality television.  The so called classy housewives use the finger more then a spastic street mime.  I think I made it through the entire run of  "The Miracle Worker" and didn't see that many hand signals.
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I've taken workshops on "How to Deal with Difficult People" and it stresses that one does not step forward to settle a disagreement.   Other workshops I've attended have taught me well that you need to maintain a specific distance between your opponent in order to watch their feet and hands, thereby being able to defend yourself or wallop them, should the need arise.
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The finger really irks me...it's a pet peeve.  When I see anybody flicking it out I keep hoping that the other party snaps it back.  Wouldn't that make for superb television?
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I remember some course I took in university wherein the professor told us of his experiences in The East.  He said that business people had to learn to curtail using their hands and being loud as it was off putting to the clients.  I wonder what he'd say now, given the finger?  I guess it's just another sign of the decline of Western Civilization as we know it.