A phenomenon between genders that has been around for a while and still exists today is the way that genders greet each other. These greetings further enforce the gender roles and stereotypes that our society is based on. When men greet one another they typically pound fists, firmly shake hands, or give aggressive hugs that seem to affirm their masculinity. When women greet each other they kiss on the cheek or lightly hug to keep in line with their girly appearance. If two men were to kiss each other on the cheek when they greeted each other, some may think that was "gay" or if two women hugged each other accompanied by a firm pat on the back they may be stereotyped as acting "butch".
When men and women greet each other there are different rules for different situations. If it is a business situation or they are meeting for the first time, only a handshake is appropriate. If they have met before or are old friends then a hug and/or kiss can be appropriate. These seem like simple guidelines to follow but if a situation arises that is out of the norm it can seem very odd. For example, if while meeting for someone for the first time they give you a big hug and kiss it would be impolite and maybe even construed as rude. These guidelines differ across different societies and if unknown problems could arise. Pop culture tends to enforce these guidelines and ways of behaving and keeps them in our society.
3 comments:
This was an interesting post. I had never considered the gendered ways in which we greet one another. I think it would be interesting to view greeting behavior in other cultures to see how they differ from Western society. I remember reading that in other cultures, it is the norm for good male friends to greet one another with kisses on the cheek, and to even walk around hand-in-hand. It is interesting how some cultures reinforce gestures of affection, while others condone it, based on gender.
I've noticed recently that greetings have gotten a lot more exaggerated within the last few years. Is it to create yet another divide between the sexes?
Brenda
I thought about this too, mostly because I tend to be confused about these rules -- "girly" hugging feels ingenuine to me, and my handshake tends to be stronger than people expect because I'm a short woman. To top it off, the cheek-kiss on either one or both sides (where you're not actually kissing their cheek, but kind of faking it) is very natural to me, because that's how my family and close family friends greet one another. It's a lot to decode!
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