# Is kissing universal to all cultures?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal-to-all-cultures/213728>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 17, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal-to-all-cultures/213728 "2003-11-17T17:32:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TheJungOnes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@TheJungOnes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheJungOnes)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal-to-all-cultures/213728/1 "2003-11-17T17:32:48Z")

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Have anthropologists ever found a culture that does not kiss?

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**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal-to-all-cultures/213728/2 "2003-11-17T20:31:43Z")

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The Japanese did not kiss before Admiral Perry opened up the islands.

Today, they do.

That must have been one Hell of a shore leave! 😃

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**Author:** ![Thinks2Much](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Thinks2Much](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinks2Much)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal-to-all-cultures/213728/3 "2003-11-17T21:37:35Z")

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Here is a small article - you can research the cultures mentioned individually if you care enough (personally, think I will be looking into some of the other subjects on the left.)[link](http://www.world-sex-records.com/sex-067.htm)

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**Author:** ![TheJungOnes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@TheJungOnes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheJungOnes)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal-to-all-cultures/213728/4 "2003-11-17T22:06:47Z")

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Thanks chrisk72  
That is a great link! I can’t wait to check out the info on this site!

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**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal-to-all-cultures/213728/5 "2003-11-18T00:30:19Z")

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I don’t know if there are any human cultures that don’t kiss today. However, bonobo chimpanzees kiss mouth-to-mouth, which is one of the many similarities of their sexual practices to humans’. Since we share the practice of kissing with our close evolutionary cousins, I would suspect that if there are any human cultures that don’t kiss, it had to have been actively suppressed at some point in that culture’s past.

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**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal-to-all-cultures/213728/6 "2003-11-18T21:37:05Z")

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I don’t know if so-called “Eskimo kissing” is a myth or a reality, but it would seem to be an exception.

Also, the author of the book _Papillon_ (Henri Charriere) claimed to have lived among some South American natives who did not kiss one another. He talked about taking two wives during his year or so in the village, and that the closest they came was a gentle bite. He said he had to teach them how to kiss “Western” style. I’ve recently heard, though, that the guy might have made up his entire story. A program the History Channel showed about Devil’s Island states that there is no evidence that Henri Charriere was ever a prisoner there, let alone escaped.