Hugs

[MrJammin]

Does every culture have the concept of a 'hug', or giving hugs as a form of love or affection.

 

[Hero999]

It's pretty normal in the UK, US and Australia but I don't know about other countries.

 

[Omar.M]

It's pretty normal in the UK, US and Australia but I don't know about other countries.

Pft. Way to forget Canada; the land of the free, the land of the polar bears and people living in igloos.
It is accepted over here and is treated pretty casually. But going back to Asia (areas such as Pakistan) it is not taken very lightly. Usually adults hug when meeting other people of same gender, but really isn't a "hug to show affection / love" thing unless they're in their own homes.

-Omar

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I can't say I've ever noticed a 'hugging culture' in the UK before, but certainly my daughter and her friends in the local music scene are always hugging each other!.

 

[Hank Fletcher]

Does every culture have the concept of a 'hug', or giving hugs as a form of love or affection.

Depends on what you define as culture, and what you define as love or affection. And what you define as a hug - do these otters love each other?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno

As far as culture goes, consider the sub-culture of professional soccer (or pretty much any team sport) players. A victory might literally result in hugs and kisses all around, but in a conventionally heterosexist activity this is acknowledged as acceptable and tacitly recognized as platonic and fraternal. Is that love? Is that affection?

My understanding is that what is acceptable in terms of physical expression is different from place to place, although this is changing towards becoming more consistent as the world becomes smaller. You're right to pick up on culture, because each culture will have its own rules and interpretations of what various forms of physical expression mean, and whether or not any given expression is appropriate in a public or private context (or like the soccer victory, a special context). These physical expressions are broad in type but include hugging, kissing, holding hands, proximity while speaking, smiling, hand shakes, etc.

 

[dknguyen]

My caucassian friends and their families hug a lot. It stills throws me off when they go to hug me. I always react like "Huh? Oh." For me it's more like a comforting gesture than a show of affection or friendliness. In my mind, a hug is for times of sadness, not joy.

I've never had to initiate such a gesture yet, so I'm not sure what'd I do. Hmmm...what would I do?

 

[Sceadwian]

I was just married this past weekend and I've never hugged so much in my life! To me a hugs basic message is closeness (kind of obvious) but there are many different kinds of hugs; It's definitely a very personal interaction, they can range from simple acknowledgment to intimate exchanges, and everywhere in between. There is very little that is universal among different cultures but a hug is pretty close, even a hand shake can be considered a hug of sorts.

 

[Optikon]

I was just married this past weekend and I've never hugged so much in my life! To me a hugs basic message is closeness (kind of obvious) but there are many different kinds of hugs; It's definitely a very personal interaction, they can range from simple acknowledgment to intimate exchanges, and everywhere in between. There is very little that is universal among different cultures but a hug is pretty close, even a hand shake can be considered a hug of sorts.

Congrats on the marriage! You need some serious de-huggification.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Congrats on the marriage! You need some serious de-huggification.

I still can't believe how active he is on here, having just got married!

 

[Andy1845c]

I was just married this past weekend and I've never hugged so much in my life!

haha, I said the same thing on my wedding day. I think I hugged more people in one day then the rest of my life combined.

 

[Sceadwian]

Nigel, neither me nor my wife are big dancers, but we were both on the floor for two or three hours that night, and I even managed to get a few good Russian style leg kicks in there for one of the dances. I got out of bed the next day and almost fell over after a couple of steps, we're both more than just a little worn out =) Even my time online is with her though <G> Our PC's are on opposite sides of the room so when I read a funny post on here and laugh I try to explain it to her, and we talk back and forth even while I'm posting on here and she's playing games on her machine =) She's a big click'a'lot and puzzle game player. Works out pretty good.

 

[Phasor]

Since I started dancing 2 years ago, I have found that the dance community forms strong personal bonds, and dancers (including myself) will often randomly and spontaneously hug, just about anywhere, anytime, for no reason particularly, on or off the dance floor.

I think it also has something to do with the idea that dancers are used to communicating through touch and feel.

 

[HiTech]

Usually adults hug when meeting other people of same gender, but really isn't a "hug to show affection / love" thing unless they're in their own homes.
-Omar

Here in the states men do not hug each other unless they are "good buddies", if you know what I mean! Also, there are plenty of nasty looking women that I don't want hugs from as well.

 

[dknguyen]

Here in the states men do not hug each other unless they are "good buddies", if you know what I mean! Also, there are plenty of nasty looking women that I don't want hugs from as well.

However, when I am my oldest friend's parent's house for a party and someone there hugs me when I get there, it always gives me an opening to hug his hot sister. Case-in-point, I never hug a friend that comes to my house for the same reason.

 

[bananasiong]

No, not over here. Everyone thinks that hugging is for the couples only. I may got killed hugging someone's girl friend
This country is not that open minded. I've read the news about people got sued because of holding the hands of different gender in public. Many people are not happy with that. I didn't know much about that issue, maybe they have closed the case.
I hug my friend whom we've never been meeting for years or months during new year in our hometown.

 

[dknguyen]

No, not over here. Everyone thinks that hugging is for the couples only. I may got killed hugging someone's girl friend
This country is not that open minded. I've read the news about people got sued because of holding the hands of different gender in public. Many people are not happy with that. I didn't know much about that issue, maybe they have closed the case.
I hug my friend whom we've never been meeting for years or months during new year in our hometown.

Yeh, I'm guess I'm kind of on your side about the couples and hugging. The holding hands thing is a bit ridiculous though.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

No, not over here. Everyone thinks that hugging is for the couples only. I may got killed hugging someone's girl friend

My daughter has hugging a coat or something?, and her boyfriend (who's a semi-professional wrestler) said "now you're even cheating on me with a coat" - in fun!.

So Melissa said "is hugging cheating then?", he said "yes", so Melissa said "I'd like to confess to cheating then" - and reeled off 30 or 40 names, of various sexes, whom she had hugged in the last week!

 

[dknguyen]

Forty? Wow. Do I even see that many different people in a week?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Forty? Wow. Do I even see that many different people in a week?

You're probably not a 16 year old musician and lead singer?

 

[bananasiong]

Wow.. 16 yeas old musician
people whom she hugs should be aware of this semi-professional wrestler, haha