# Do you close your eyes when kissing someone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 15, 2020, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075 "2020-12-15T05:14:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/1 "2020-12-15T05:14:47Z")
I am watching a Jeopardy episode and a line from a song comes up from “You’ve lost that loving feeling” about how she doesn’t close her eyes anymore when they kiss. Hell, I have never closed my eyes when kissing a woman. I want to see who I am kissing. I mean it’s a limited vision, so close. I was never taught how to kiss, I just did what came naturally the first time I had a chance.And now a memory flashes back, a girl I was kissing commented on how I wasn’t closing my eyes. Have I been doing it wrong all these years? I don’t think so, I have been complimented many times on how I kiss. And in the context of the song, if she closes her eyes, maybe she is thinking of someone else. The lyric is backwards ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/2 "2020-12-15T05:25:15Z")
Yes, I always close my eyes when kissing someone. I couldn’t tell you if it was a natural thing to do so, or a learned habit, but I do think that it’s a cultural norm, at least in the U.S. And, if your kissing partners do close their eyes, they wouldn’t generally know if you keep your eyes open when you kiss, would they? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/3 "2020-12-15T05:25:56Z")
I can’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/4 "2020-12-15T05:26:36Z")
Never. Otherwise, how would you ever see, reflected in her eyes, the guy coming up behind you with a sap? ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/5 "2020-12-15T06:33:40Z")
I mostly do, husband does not. Aging eyes makes it a bit more difficult to focus as close range. 🥰 ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/6 "2020-12-15T06:39:41Z")
I think I’ve done it _maybe_ once or twice for a couple seconds, then closed 'em again. I remember doing it once when being silly with the girlfriend - I mean, it just seems weird to be an inch from someone, staring them intensely the eye. Are you making out or trying to win a staring contest? For me, it’s more a laughable thing than hot. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/7 "2020-12-15T07:44:08Z")
I’m pretty far-sighted, so I close my eyes to avoid kissing a giant blur. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/8 "2020-12-15T11:41:14Z")
To me, closing my eyes when I kiss is such an integral part of the act that if I keep my eyes open, it feels like some kind of a semi-detached experiment instead of an intimate moment. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/9 "2020-12-15T12:47:13Z")
Kissing my gf? Eyes closed. Kissing grandma? Eyes open. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/10 "2020-12-15T15:03:33Z")
I close my eyes. It seems like an instinctual thing to me. It’s automatic. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/11 "2020-12-15T15:07:41Z")
Yes, because it’s distracting when anything is that close right in front of my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/12 "2020-12-15T17:33:09Z")
Depends on how hard I’m laughing. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/13 "2020-12-15T18:44:34Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yes, because it’s distracting when anything is that close right in front of my eyes. Right. Same for oral sex. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/14 "2020-12-15T19:58:28Z")
Now it’s been a while. A long while admittedly. But I always closed my eyes without even thinking about it. I remember once long ago, opening them to see if the girl was looking at me but her eyes were closed too. I shut mine right up again. As said up above by TRC, it’s just automatic. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/15 "2020-12-15T19:59:36Z")
Always eyes closed here. Never had to think about it, that’s just the way I do it. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/16 "2020-12-15T23:21:59Z")
It depends, casual greeting kisses on the cheek with friends/relatives (back when visiting was a thing) are mostly eyes open, partly because I really don’t want to accidentally poke their face with the corners of my glasses frame. But intimate kisses are almost always eyes closed, and usually my glasses are off by that point. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/17 "2020-12-16T01:30:16Z")
An ol’ sweetie of mine hated meeting gazes, because it created a “cyclops” illusion. She said it squicked her out. I _like_ gazing deeply into a sweetie’s eyes, but I’ll certainly respect other – um – viewpoints. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/18 "2020-12-16T01:46:36Z")
It seems like I heard or read somewhere that that the tactile sensation from kissing (or other intimate acts) can cause a sort of sensory overload in many people. And their instinctive reaction to this is to close their eyes, to eliminate the visual stimulus from the equation, and focus on the tactile stimulus. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/19 "2020-12-16T02:04:34Z")
I always close my eyes during a kiss on the lips. Keeping the eyes open has two big downsides: 1) What I can see of the guy’s face is distorted and 2) I can’t concentrate on the most important part, the way it feels. Kissing is not a visual sport. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075/20 "2020-12-16T15:30:32Z")
Depends on where I’m kissin em. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-close-your-eyes-when-kissing-someone/928075.md?page=2)