Talk:Cheek kissing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ok... it doesn't talk about Afghan kissing customs... so why is there a picture of the Taliban kissing each other?
Contents |
[edit] western europe
For visitors, European kissing habits are very difficult to catch since they vary considerably from region to region.
Some regions/countries are not mentioned in the main article:
France: custom greeting is a kiss on each cheek: male-female, female-female and male-male
Belgium: one kiss on the right cheek: for everyone, male-male kiss becoming more and more common, especially amoung young people
the Netherlands: much less kissing than in Belgium! reserved to family and close friends - usually two or tree kisses then - male-male kiss rare
Germany: even less kissing than in the Netherlands
Sweden / Denmark: people tend to take more distance than in the rest of Europe, so a kiss is certainly not the standard greeting but also reserved to close family and friends.
As a general rule, visitors can get away with a polite handshake if they find the kissing habits in Europe to difficult. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.201.41.98 (talk • contribs).
[edit] Accuracy
"Although cheek kissing is not as widely practised as in other parts of Europe, it is still extremely commonplace. "
This is highly disputed. Are there any sources for "extremely commonplace" ? - FrancisTyers · 19:47, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] How is it done?
When giving a cheek-kissing, one should start from the left (right cheek of the other person) or the right? Different country does it differently?--202.22.246.26 03:27, 10 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] O RLY?
Depending on the local culture, cheek kissing may be considered appropriate between a man and a woman, a parent and a child, two women, or two men. The last is socially accepted in Russia and the Middle East but may bring up associations with homosexuality in Western Europe, Latin America and the US.
Take my advice, stick to your Lonely Planet. That's about as socially accepted as a headshot for a greeting. Which is not.
[edit] Made changes to USA/Canada section...
I significantly reworded the USA/Canada section to reflect how rare cheek kisses are in these countries. I am a resident of California, USA for all my life and from my experience cheek kisses are rare to nonexistent. I feel comfortable making these changes unilaterally because of how exceptionally rare they are; however, if somebody from a different region of the US feels that they are more commonplace than I make them out to be, feel free to reword the section to make it more neutral and to add additional detail of how cheek kisses are done in your region. —Lantoka ( talk | contrib) 01:43, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
I think that in the USA/Canada the practices are affected not only by ethnic background and region, but also by culture and circle of friends. I see people who are involved in the arts kiss each other on the cheek upon greeting. This goes for men kissing men, as well as women kissing women and women kissing men. If the people are into the arts, it does not seem to matter what their sexual orientation happens to be. I don't see this every day, but I do notice that people who are involved with the arts are more physically demonstrative. Perhaps it comes from their largely progressive mindset, or perhaps simply because there are many gay people in the arts, and those who are not gay are usually comfortable around the gay people. I know there are exceptions to this, but I have observed this many times.
--Choirboy622 16:31, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
My suspicion is that, taking ethnic and cultural variations into account, most cheek kissing in the U.S. would be between relatives. Cheek kissing non-relatives, such as friends, isn't exactly unheard of, but seems much more likely to cause confusion even when it is obviously intended as a non-romantic gesture.
On the other hand, regional elements do play a major role. What I know best would be mostly New England and the other states in the Northeast... not exactly the most "demonstrative" places in the U.S. The Midwest doesn't seem to be too different in this respect, but the South and the Southwest contrast so much as to seem like a different country altogether. --72.224.72.24 09:41, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Possible POV
"If the relationship between any two people is close enough for a full-body hug then it is almost certainly close enough for a cheek kiss"
Don't agree with that. I hug all my friends but I'd never kiss them.Buc 16:16, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
I'd partially agree with it, but it depends from person to person whether they'd kiss or not. The one issue is that it's accepted for men to hug other men (if close friends) but not to kiss. Other than that it's usually acceptable to kiss someone on the cheek if you'd hug them, but not everyone kisses on the cheek.
Can someone either identify what, exactly, the "bias" is in that section to warrant a neutrality tag? If there isnt a specific bias then it doesnt deserve a tag. Disagreement over personal preference of hugging over kissing is not enough to warrant a tag. FYI I know people who are more comfortable with a cheek kiss than a hug, and vice versa. Fig 12:51, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
I was confused about the neutrality tag also. FerralMoonrender 23:46, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Odd Info
I'm not sure this statement actually adds anything to this article: "Accounting for it is a plot element in Frederick Forsyth's thriller The Day of the Jackal." FerralMoonrender 23:50, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
