# Is kissing universal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2000, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal/42120 "2000-11-21T13:37:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aglarond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@Aglarond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aglarond)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal/42120/1 "2000-11-21T13:37:43Z")
Here in the U.S. and in other countries I’ve visited, I’ve seen people kissing. Is this common in all or most cultures, and if so, then how did it come to be? It doesn’t seem like something instinctful. Most of the other countries I’ve visited were in Europe, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![poohpah\_chalupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@poohpah\_chalupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poohpah_chalupa)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal/42120/2 "2000-11-21T14:15:13Z")
In Japan, in past times, it was generally considered disgusting to kiss on the mouth. Thank God it was acceptable to kiss _other_ areas… “instinctful?” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Needs2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5e925/32.png) [@Needs2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Needs2know)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal/42120/3 "2000-11-21T14:46:45Z")
Great question…!!! I’ve wondered the same thing myself. You see these silly made for TV movies about the white woman captured by the indians and she falls for the chief’s son. They kiss, did Native Americans kiss? Is it universal? I’ve wondered that myself. Perhaps it might be now, but was it always? Good question. Needs2know ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal/42120/4 "2000-11-21T16:43:47Z")
I have first-hand knowledge that kissing is A-OK in Sweden. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal/42120/5 "2000-11-21T16:47:21Z")
Eddie Jackson: "Ya know, Jimmy, up in Alaska the Eskimos kiss by rubbin’ noses together . . . " Jimmy Durante: “I’d be da Clark Gable o’ DAT jernt!” [exit to the tune of “I Ups to Him”] ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kissing-universal/42120/6 "2000-11-21T16:57:24Z")
The [Britannica article on kissing](http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/9/0,5716,46729+1+45662,00.html?query=kiss) notes that “Kissing in public for purposes of salutation thus has a long history in the West. It was rarely practiced in East Asia, however, where bowing was the all-purpose form of greeting, and kissing was restricted to moments of private intimacy between the sexes.” (Note that this implies that kissing as a sexual or romantic act apparently _has_ been practiced for a long time in East Asia.) The acts described as “kissing” in non-Western cultures may not be all that recognizable to Westerners, though: “Among the Eskimos (in Canada called Inuit) and traditional Polynesian societies, a kiss involved rubbing noses with each other, while in southeastern India and among the Sami of Europe, the nose is pressed against the other person’s cheek while the active partner inhales.”