Cheek kissing
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Cheek kissing is a ritual or social gesture to indicate friendship, perform a greeting, to confer congratulations, to comfort someone, or to show respect. It does not necessarily indicate sexual or romantic interest.
Cheek kissing is very common in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Latin America. It is not as common in English-speaking Canada and the United States, Asia and Northern Europe. However, there are some exceptions in North America, including ethnic neighborhoods, such as Italian, French, or Hispanic neighborhoods, as well as Quebec, Louisiana and Miami.
Soviet and other eastern European communist leaders often used to greeted each other in this fashion on public and state occasions. Nowadays in Eastern Europe male-female and female-female cheek kissing is a very common greeting between friends, especially younger than 35 years old. Male-male cheek kissing is less common.
Depending on the local culture, cheek kissing may be considered appropriate between a man and a woman, a parent and a child, two women, or two men. The latter is socially accepted in South Eastern Europe and in some countries of the South Western Europe, Latin AmericaTemplate:Citation needed and the Middle East, and in Europe generally it is becoming increasingly common especially among the young. It may, however, bring up associations with homosexuality in Asia, some places in Latin America, US and the northern part of Europe.
In a cheek kiss, both persons lean forward and either lightly touch cheek with cheek or lip with cheek. Generally the gesture is repeated with the other cheek, or more, alternating cheeks. Depending on country and situation, the number of kisses is usually one, two, three or four. Hand-shaking or hugging may also take place.
Cheek-kissing is used in many cultures with slightly varying meaning and gesture. For example, cheek-kissing may or may not be associated with a hug. The appropriate social context for use can vary greatly from one country to the other, though the gesture might look similar.
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