Hi guys, I have a question about dealing with other peoples body language.

Some background info, for my second job I am trainee salsa dance teacher. So far its been pretty easy to pull with the poor game that I have, simply because I am a salsa teacher.

The problem is I have this issue with my boss, you see, she is one of those older "strong woman" self righteous chain of divorces types. She will often come over and talk to me in front of the class using pet names like sweetie and put her hand on my shoulder.
I don't know if the pet names are particularly bad, it does feel like it undermines my authority a little.

As for the touching, Ive read about body language enough to know that touching someone on the shoulder is a dominance thing.
But my question is what is the best way to counter it, from a man or from a woman? Just do the same back and be the last person to let go?

This is an interesting post because something similar just happened to me at work today with the head of the company. I was sitting in a conference room before a meeting and there were no chairs left. So the head comes in, notices there were no chairs left and asked me, "You're still a temp right?" I told him yes, and he proceeded to say, "Temps don't belong here. Get up, I need to sit down." He said this with a serious face so I replied by looking him in the eyes and sternly said, "Excuse me?" He immediately laughed and said it was just a joke but I knew I made my point when he walked out of the room and grabbed his own chair. Lazy prick.

If I were you, next time she calls you sweetie in front of everyone, I would wait until she finishes, then say, "Well for starters, my name is XXXX, not sweetie." Say it with a smile while looking at everyone and putting your hand on HER shoulder. Then add on to that with something instructive so it doesn't look like you're just trying to get a one up on your boss. I think the best way to get your point across is to be simple yet assertive. If it continues, then you may have to sit down with your boss for a one on one and let her understand she needs to respect you. Just because her title is higher than yours doesn't mean she can treat people with disrespect.