Traditional Chinese custom: men and women don’t touch. We bowed to each other. Hand shaking was considered modern. How did it come to be that touching was prohibited between the sexes? We could not have derived this custom from watching other animals when they copulate in the open.
Divide and conquer. To suppress the natural response of a body when touched is to submit to bondage. Was it a means for the governing authority to control the mass? And marriage was the license to touch. Who invented marriage?
With my upbringing, it took a long while for me to feel comfortable with the “western” greeting. My college roommate Mayra, who was Cuban, used to make fun of me.
“Don’t be half-hearted, girl. Give me a full-body hug!”
Image taken from en.showchina.org
