General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I want to know how you get permission to touch someone. [View all]nolabear
(41,963 posts)I know its for good reason. Its the rare woman who sexually assaults a man and all too many men are either genuinely assaultive, have poor abilities to read discomfort, or figure that since they feel comfortable with hugging, casual kissing, hands on arms, shoulders, waists, etc. women feel the same.
But being a Southerner I come from a hugging, hand-talking, far more intimate culture than most and being a woman I am virtually never thought of as skeevy. If we were in many parts of Europe and the Middle East wed kiss cheeks and same sex people would talk very close and hold hands without thinking about it.
People act as though we all mean the same things by the same acts, but its far more complicated than that. People are learning that they need to be more sensitive but I truly feel for those being permanently condemned for acts that have widely varied meanings.