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Wikipedia

Kiss

A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, sexual activity, sexual arousal, affection, respect, greeting, peace, and good luck, among many others. In some situations, a kiss is a ritual, formal or symbolic gesture indicating devotion, respect, or a sacramental. The word came from Old English cyssan ("to kiss"), in turn from coss ("a kiss").

A man and a woman kissing

History

Anthropologists disagree on whether kissing is an instinctual or learned behaviour. Those that believe kissing to be an instinctual behaviour, cite similar behaviours in other animals such as bonobos, which are known to kiss after fighting - possibly to restore peace.[1] Others believe that it is a learned behaviour, having evolved from activities such as suckling or premastication in early human cultures passed on to modern humans. Another theory posits that the practice originated in males during the paleolithic era tasting the saliva of females to test their health in order to determine whether they would make a good partner for procreation. The fact that not all human cultures kiss is used as an argument against kissing being an instinctual behaviour in humans; only around 90% of the human population is believed to practice kissing.[2][3]

The earliest reference to kissing-like behavior comes from the Vedas, Sanskrit scriptures that informed Hinduism,[4] Buddhism, and Jainism, around 3,500 years ago, according to Vaughn Bryant, an anthropologist at Texas A&M University who specializes in the history of the kiss.[5]

Both lip and tongue kissing are mentioned in Sumerian poetry:[6]

My lips are too small, they know not to kiss.

My precious sweet, lying by my heart,
one by one "tonguemaking," one by one.

When my sweet precious, my heart, had lain down too,
each of them in turn kissing with the tongue, each in turn.[7]

Kissing is described in the surviving ancient Egyptian love poetry from the New Kingdom, found on papyri excavated at Deir el-Medina:

Finally I will drink life from your lips
and wake up from this ever lasting sleep.

The wisdom of the earth in a kiss
and everything else in your eyes.

I kiss her before everyone
that they all may see my love.[8]

And when her lips are pressed to mine
I am made drunk and need not wine.
When we kiss, and her warm lips half open,
I fly cloud-high without beer!

His kisses on my lips, my breast, my hair...
...Come! Come! Come! And kiss me when I die,
For life, compelling life, is in thy breath;
And at that kiss, though in the tomb I lie,
I will arise and break the bands of Death.[9]

The earliest reference to kissing in the Old Testament is in Genesis 27:26, when Jacob deceives his father to obtain his blessing:

And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.

Genesis 29:11 features the first man-woman kiss in the Bible, when Jacob flees from Esau and goes to the house of his uncle Laban:

And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

Much later, there is the oft-quoted verse from Song of Songs 1:2:

May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,
for your love is better than wine.[10][11]

In Cyropaedia (370 BC), Xenophon wrote about the Persian custom of kissing in the lips upon departure while narrating the departure of Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC) as a boy from his Median kinsmen.[12] According to Herodotus (5th century BC), when two Persians meet, the greeting formula expresses their equal or inequal status. They do not speak; rather, equals kiss each other on the mouth, and in the case where one is a little inferior to the other, the kiss is given on the cheek.[13][14]

During the later Classical period, affectionate mouth-to-mouth kissing was first described in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata.

Anthropologist Vaughn Bryant argues kissing spread from India to Europe after Alexander the Great conquered parts of Punjab in northern India in 326 BCE.[15]

The Romans were passionate about kissing and talked about several types of kissing. Kissing the hand or cheek was called an osculum. Kissing on the lips with mouth closed was called a basium, which was used between relatives. A kiss of passion was called a suavium.[16]

 
A fresco from Pompeii showing the kiss of a Roman couple.

Kissing was not always an indication of eros, or love, but also could show respect and rank as it was used in Medieval Europe.

The study of kissing started sometime in the nineteenth century and is called philematology, which has been studied by people including Cesare Lombroso, Ernest Crawley, Charles Darwin, Edward Burnett Tylor and modern scholars such as Elaine Hatfield.[17][18]

Types

Kristoffer Nyrop identified a number of types of kisses, including kisses of love, affection, peace, respect, and friendship. He notes, however, that the categories are somewhat contrived and overlapping, and some cultures have more kinds, including the French with twenty and the Germans with thirty.[19]

Expression of affection

Kissing another person's lips has become a common expression of affection or warm greeting in many cultures worldwide. Yet in certain cultures, kissing was introduced only through European settlement, before which it was not a routine occurrence. Such cultures include certain indigenous peoples of Australia, the Tahitians, and many tribes in Africa.[20]

A kiss can also be used to express feelings without an erotic element but can be nonetheless "far deeper and more lasting", writes Nyrop. He adds that such kisses can be expressive of love "in the widest and most comprehensive meaning of the word, bringing a message of loyal affection, gratitude, compassion, sympathy, intense joy, and profound sorrow."[19]: 79 

Nyrop writes that the most common example is the "intense feeling which knits parents to their offspring", but he adds that kisses of affection are not only common between parents and children, but also between other members of the same family, which can include those outside the immediate family circle, "everywhere where deep affection unites people."[19]: 82  The tradition is written of in the Bible, as when Esau met Jacob after a long separation, he ran towards him, fell on his neck, and kissed him (Genesis 33:4), Moses greeted his father-in-law and kissed him (Exodus 18:7), and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law before leaving her (Ruth 1:14). The family kiss was traditional with the Romans and kisses of affection are often mentioned by the early Greeks, as when Odysseus, on reaching his home, meets his faithful shepherds.[19]: 82–83 

Affection can be a cause of kissing "in all ages in grave and solemn moments," notes Nyrop, "not only among those who love each other, but also as an expression of profound gratitude. When the Apostle Paul took leave of the elders of the congregation at Ephesus, "they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him" (Acts 20:37)." Kisses can also be exchanged between total strangers, as when there is a profound sympathy with or the warmest interest in another person.[19]: 85 

Folk poetry has been the source of affectionate kisses where they sometimes played an important part, as when they had the power to cast off spells or to break bonds of witchcraft and sorcery, often restoring a man to his original shape. Nyrop notes the poetical stories of the "redeeming power of the kiss are to be found in the literature of many countries, especially, for example, in the Old French Arthurian romances (Lancelot, Guiglain, Tirant le blanc) in which the princess is changed by evil arts into a dreadful dragon, and can only resume her human shape in the case of a knight being brave enough to kiss her." In the reverse situation, in the tale of "Beauty and the Beast", a transformed prince then told the girl that he had been bewitched by a wicked fairy, and could not be recreated into a man unless a maid fell in love with him and kissed him, despite his ugliness.[19]: 95–96 

A kiss of affection can also take place after death. In Genesis 50:1, it is written that when Jacob was dead, "Joseph fell upon his father's face and wept upon him and kissed him." And it is told of Abu Bakr, Muhammad's first disciple, father-in-law, and successor, that, when the prophet was dead, he went into the latter's tent, uncovered his face, and kissed him. Nyrop writes that "the kiss is the last tender proof of love bestowed on one we have loved, and was believed, in ancient times, to follow mankind to the nether world."[19]: 97 

Kissing on the lips can be a physical expression of affection or love between two people in which the sensations of touch, taste, and smell are involved.[21] According to the psychologist Menachem Brayer, although many "mammals, birds, and insects exchange caresses" which appear to be kisses of affection, they are not kisses in the human sense.

Surveys indicate that kissing is the second most common form of physical intimacy among United States adolescents (after holding hands), and that about 85% of 15 to 16-year-old adolescents in the US have experienced it.[22]

Kiss on the lips

The kiss on the lips can be performed between two friends or family. This move aims to express affection for a friend. Unlike kissing for love, a friendly kiss has no sexual connotation. The kiss on the lips is a practice that can be found in the time of Patriarchs (Bible).[23] In Ancient Greece, the kiss on the mouth was used to express a concept of equality between people of the same rank.[24] In the Middle Ages, the kiss of peace was recommended by the Catholic Church.[25] The kiss on the lips was also common among knights.[24] The gesture has again become popular with young people, particularly in England.[26][27]

Romantic kiss

 
A heterosexual couple engaging in a romantic kiss

In many cultures, it is considered a harmless custom for teenagers to kiss on a date or to engage in kissing games with friends. These games serve as icebreakers at parties and may be some participants' first exposure to sexuality. There are many such games, including Truth or Dare?, Seven Minutes in Heaven (or the variation "Two Minutes in the Closet"), Spin the Bottle, Post Office, and Wink.

 
A homosexual couple kissing

The psychologist William Cane notes that kissing in Western society is often a romantic act and describes a few of its attributes:

It's not hard to tell when two people are in love. Maybe they're trying to hide it from the world, still they cannot conceal their inner excitement. Men will give themselves away by a certain excited trembling in the muscles of the lower jaw upon seeing their beloved. Women will often turn pale immediately of seeing their lover and then get slightly red in the face as their sweetheart draws near. This is the effect of physical closeness upon two people who are in love.[28]: 9 

Romantic kissing in Western cultures is a fairly recent development and is rarely mentioned even in ancient Greek literature. In the Middle Ages it became a social gesture and was considered a sign of refinement of the upper classes.[21]: 150–151  Other cultures have different definitions and uses of kissing, notes Brayer. In China, for example, a similar expression of affection consists of rubbing one's nose against the cheek of another person. In other Eastern cultures kissing is not common. In South East Asian countries the "sniff kiss" is the most common form of affection and Western mouth to mouth kissing is often reserved for sexual foreplay. In some tribal cultures the "equivalent to 'kiss me' is 'smell me.'"[29]

The kiss can be an important expression of love and erotic emotions. In his book The Kiss and its History, Kristoffer Nyrop describes the kiss of love as an "exultant message of the longing of love, love eternally young, the burning prayer of hot desire, which is born on the lovers' lips, and 'rises,' as Charles Fuster has said, 'up to the blue sky from the green plains,' like a tender, trembling thank-offering." Nyrop adds that the love kiss, "rich in promise, bestows an intoxicating feeling of infinite happiness, courage, and youth, and therefore surpasses all other earthly joys in sublimity."[19]: 30  He also compares it to achievements in life: "Thus even the highest work of art, yet, the loftiest reputation, is nothing in comparison with the passionate kiss of a woman one loves."[19]: 31 

The power of a kiss is not minimized when he writes that "we all yearn for kisses and we all seek them; it is idle to struggle against this passion. No one can evade the omnipotence of the kiss ..." Kissing, he implies, can lead one to maturity: "It is through kisses that a knowledge of life and happiness first comes to us. Runeberg says that the angels rejoice over the first kiss exchanged by lovers," and can keep one feeling young: "It carries life with it; it even bestows the gift of eternal youth." The importance of the lover's kiss can also be significant, he notes: "In the case of lovers a kiss is everything; that is the reason why a man stakes his all for a kiss," and "man craves for it as his noblest reward."[19]: 37 

As a result, kissing as an expression of love is contained in much of literature, old and new. Nyrop gives a vivid example in the classic love story of Daphnis and Chloe. As a reward "Chloe has bestowed a kiss on Daphnis—an innocent young-maid's kiss, but it has on him the effect of an electrical shock":[19]: 47 

Ye gods, what are my feelings. Her lips are softer than the rose's leaf, her mouth is sweet as honey, and her kiss inflicts on me more pain than a bee's sting. I have often kissed my kids, I have often kissed my lambs, but never have I known aught like this. My pulse is beating fast, my heart throbs, it is as if I were about to suffocate, yet, nevertheless, I want to have another kiss. Strange, never-suspected pain! Has Chloe, I wonder, drunk some poisonous draught ere she kissed me? How comes it that she herself has not died of it?

Romantic kissing "requires more than simple proximity," notes Cane. It also needs "some degree of intimacy or privacy, ... which is why you'll see lovers stepping to the side of a busy street or sidewalk."[28] Psychologist Wilhelm Reich "lashed out at society" for not giving young lovers enough privacy and making it difficult to be alone.[28] However, Cane describes how many lovers manage to attain romantic privacy despite being in a public setting, as they "lock their minds together" and thereby create an invisible sense of "psychological privacy." He adds, "In this way they can kiss in public even in a crowded plaza and keep it romantic."[28]: 10  Nonetheless, when Cane asked people to describe the most romantic places they ever kissed, "their answers almost always referred to this ends-of-the-earth isolation, ... they mentioned an apple orchard, a beach, out in a field looking at the stars, or at a pond in a secluded area ..."[28]: 10 

Kiss as ritual

 
Kiss on the crucifix in Catholicism
 
Denis Thatcher, husband of Margaret Thatcher, kissing the hand of Nancy Reagan, wife of Former US President Ronald Regan in 1988
 
Kissing the Blarney Stone

Throughout history, a kiss has been a ritual, formal, symbolic or social gesture indicating devotion, respect or greeting. It appears as a ritual or symbol of religious devotion. For example, in the case of kissing a temple floor, or a religious book or icon. Besides devotion, a kiss has also indicated subordination or, nowadays, respect.

In modern times the practice continues, as in the case of a bride and groom kissing at the conclusion of a wedding ceremony or national leaders kissing each other in greeting, and in many other situations.

Religion

A kiss in a religious context is common. In earlier periods of Christianity or Islam, kissing became a ritual gesture, and is still treated as such in certain customs, as when "kissing... relics, or a bishop's ring."[21] In Judaism, the kissing of the Torah scroll, a prayer book, and a prayer shawl is also common.[30] Crawley notes that it was "very significant of the affectionate element in religion" to give so important a part to the kiss as part of its ritual. In the early Church the baptized were kissed by the celebrant after the ceremony, and its use was even extended as a salute to saints and religious heroes, with Crawley adding, "Thus Joseph kissed Jacob, and his disciples kissed Paul. Joseph kissed his dead father, and the custom was retained in our civilization", as the farewell kiss on dead relatives, although certain sects prohibit this today.[31]: 126 

A distinctive element in the Christian liturgy was noted by Justin in the 2nd century, now referred to as the "kiss of peace," and once part of the rite in the primitive Mass. Conybeare has stated that this act originated within the ancient Hebrew synagogue, and Philo, the ancient Jewish philosopher called it a "kiss of harmony", where, as Crawley explains, "the Word of God brings hostile things together in concord and the kiss of love."[31]: 128  Saint Cyril also writes, "this kiss is the sign that our souls are united, and that we banish all remembrance of injury."[31]: 128 

Kiss of peace

Nyrop notes that the kiss of peace was used as an expression of deep, spiritual devotion in the early Christian Church. Christ said, for instance, "Peace be with you, my peace I give you," and the members of Christ's Church gave each other peace symbolically through a kiss. St Paul repeatedly speaks of the "holy kiss," and, in his Epistle to the Romans, writes: "Salute one another with an holy kiss" and his first Epistle to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 5:26), he says: "Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss."[19]: 101 

The kiss of peace was also used in secular festivities. During the Middle Ages, for example, Nyrop points out that it was the custom to "seal the reconciliation and pacification of enemies by a kiss." Even knights gave each other the kiss of peace before proceeding to the combat, and forgave one another all real or imaginary wrongs. The holy kiss was also found in the ritual of the Church on solemn occasions, such as baptism, marriage, confession, ordination, or obsequies. However, toward the end of the Middle Ages the kiss of peace disappears as the official token of reconciliation.[19]: 109 

Kiss of respect

 
Man kissing the ground after a long sea voyage (as part of a reenactment of the first landing of English settlers in Virginia in 1607)

The kiss of respect is of ancient origin, notes Nyrop. He writes that "from the remotest times we find it applied to all that is holy, noble, and worshipful—to the gods, their statues, temples, and altars, as well as to kings and emperors; out of reverence, people even kissed the ground, and both sun and moon were greeted with kisses."[19]: 114 

He notes some examples, as "when the prophet Hosea laments over the idolatry of the children of Israel, he says that they make molten images of calves and kiss them" (Hosea 13:2). In classical times similar homage was often paid to the gods, and people were known to kiss the hands, knees, feet, and the mouths, of their idols. Cicero writes that the lips and beard of the famous statue of Hercules at Agrigentum were worn away by the kisses of devotees.[19]: 115 

People kissed the cross with the image of Jesus, and such kissing of the cross is always considered a holy act. In many countries it is required, on taking an oath, as the highest assertion that the witness would be speaking the truth. Nyrop notes that "as a last act of charity, the image of the Redeemer is handed to the dying or death-condemned to be kissed." Kissing the cross brings blessing and happiness; people kiss the image of Mary and the pictures and statues of saints—not only their pictures, "but even their relics are kissed," notes Nyrop. "They make both soul and body whole." There are legends innumerable of sick people regaining their health by kissing relics, he points out.[19]: 121 

The kiss of respect has also represented a mark of fealty, humility and reverence. Its use in ancient times was widespread, and Nyrop gives examples: "people threw themselves down on the ground before their rulers, kissed their footprints, literally 'licked the dust,' as it is termed."[19]: 124  "Nearly everywhere, wheresoever an inferior meets a superior, we observe the kiss of respect. The Roman slaves kissed the hands of their masters; pupils and soldiers those of their teachers and captains respectively."[19]: 124  People also kissed the earth for joy on returning to their native land after a lengthened absence, as when Agamemnon returned from the Trojan War.

Kiss of friendship

The kiss is also commonly used in American and European culture as a salutation between friends or acquaintances. The friendly kiss until recent times usually occurred only between ladies, but today it is also common between men and women, especially if there is a great difference in age. According to Nyrop, up until the 20th century, "it seldom or never takes place between men, with the exception, however, of royal personages," although he notes that in former times the "friendly kiss was very common with us between man and man as well as between persons of opposite sexes." In guilds, for example, it was customary for the members to greet each other "with hearty handshakes and smacking kisses," and, on the conclusion of a meal, people thanked and kissed both their hosts and hostesses.[19]: 142 

Cultural significance

In approximately 10% of the world population, kissing does not take place, for a variety of reasons, including that they find it dirty or because of superstitious reasons. For example, in parts of Sudan it is believed that the mouth is the portal to the soul, so they do not want to invite death or have their spirit taken.[32] Psychology professor Elaine Hatfield noted that "kissing was far from universal and even seen as improper by many societies."[33] Despite kissing being widespread, in some parts of the world it is still taboo to kiss publicly and is often banned in films or in other media.

As a theme in art

South Asia

On-screen lip-kissing was not a regular occurrence in Bollywood until the 1990s, although it has been present from the time of the inception of Bollywood.[34] This can appear contradictory since the culture of kissing is believed to have originated and spread from India.[35]

Middle East

There are also taboos as to whom one can kiss in some Muslim-majority societies governed by religious law. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, a man who kisses or touches a woman who is not his wife or relative can be punished such as getting whipped up to 100 times or even go to jail.[36]

East Asia

Donald Richie comments that in Japan, as in China, although kissing took place in erotic situations, in public "the kiss was invisible", and the "touching of the lips never became the culturally encoded action it has for so long been in Europe and America." The early Edison film, The Widow Jones – the May Irwin-John Rice Kiss (1896), created a sensation when it was shown in Tokyo, and people crowded to view the enormity. Likewise, Rodin's sculpture The Kiss was not displayed in Japan until after the Pacific War.[37] Also, in the 1900s, Manchu tribes along the Amur River regarded public kissing between adults with revulsion.[38] In a similar situation in Chinese tradition, when Chinese men saw Western women kissing men in public, they thought the women were prostitutes.[39]

Contemporary practices

 
Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O'Neill kiss each other after their wedding, 2013

In modern Western culture, kissing on the lips is commonly an expression of affection[40] or a warm greeting. When lips are pressed together for an extended period, usually accompanied with an embrace, it is an expression of romantic and sexual desire. The practice of kissing with an open mouth, to allow the other to suck their lips or move their tongue into their mouth, is called French kissing. "Making out" is often an adolescent's first experience of their sexuality and games which involve kissing, such as Spin the Bottle, facilitate the experience. People may kiss children on the forehead to comfort them or the cheek or lips to show affection.

In modern Eastern culture, the etiquette vary depending on the region. In West Asia, kissing on the lips between both men and women is a common form of greeting. In South and Eastern Asia, it might often be a greeting between women, however, between men, it is unusual. Kissing a baby on the cheeks is a common form of affection. Most kisses between men and women are on the cheeks and not on the lips unless they are romantically involved. And sexual forms of kissing between lovers encompass the whole range of global practices.

Kissing in films

The first romantic kiss on screen was in American silent films in 1896, beginning with the film The Kiss. The kiss lasted 18 seconds and caused many to rail against decadence in the new medium of silent film. Writer Louis Black writes that "it was the United States that brought kissing out of the Dark Ages."[41] However, it met with severe disapproval by defenders of public morality, especially in New York. One critic proclaimed that "it is absolutely disgusting. Such things call for police interference."[41]

 
Rock Hudson and Julie Andrews kissing in film Darling Lili (1968)

Young moviegoers began emulating romantic stars on the screen, such as Ronald Colman and Rudolph Valentino, the latter known for ending his passionate scenes with a kiss. Valentino also began his romantic scenes with women by kissing her hand, traveling up her arm, and then kissing her on the back of her neck. Actresses were often turned into stars based on their screen portrayals of passion. Actresses like Nazimova, Pola Negri, Vilma Bánky and Greta Garbo, became screen idols as a result.

Eventually, the film industry began to adopt the dictates of the Production Code established in 1934, overseen by Will Hays and influenced by Christian religious leaders in America. [42] [43] According to the new code, "Excessive and lustful kissing, lustful embraces, suggestive postures and gestures, are not to be shown."[41] As a result, kissing scenes were shortened, with scenes cut away, leaving the imagination of the viewer to take over. Under the code, actors kissing had to keep their feet on the ground and had to be either standing or sitting.[44]

The heyday of romantic kissing on the screen took place in the early sound era, during the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s.[45]: watch  Body language began to be used to supplement romantic scenes, especially with the eyes, a talent that added to Greta Garbo's fame. Author Lana Citron writes that "men were perceived as the kissers and women the receivers. Should the roles ever be reversed, women were regarded as vamps . . ."[44] According to Citron, Mae West and Anna May Wong were the only Hollywood actresses never to have been kissed on screen.[44] Among the films rated for having the most romantic kisses are Gone with the Wind, From Here to Eternity, Casablanca, and To Have and Have Not.[44]

Sociologist Eva Illouz notes that surveys taken in 1935 showed that "love was the most important theme represented in movies. Similar surveys during the 1930s found the 95% of films had romance as one of their plot lines, what film critics called "the romantic formula."[46]

In early Japanese films, kissing and sexual expression were controversial. In 1931, a director slipped a kissing scene past the censor (who was a friend), but when the film opened in a downtown Tokyo theater, the screening was stopped and the film confiscated. During the American occupation of Japan, in 1946, an American censor required a film to include a kissing scene. One scholar says that the censor suggested "we believe that even Japanese do something like kissing when they love each other. Why don't you include that in your films?" Americans encouraged such scenes to force the Japanese to express publicly actions and feelings that had been considered strictly private. Since Pearl Harbor, Americans had felt that the Japanese were "sneaky", claiming that "if Japanese kissed in private, they should do it in public too."[47]

Non-sexual kisses

 
People kissing in this sketch by reporter and artist Marguerite Martyn of a New Year's Eve celebration in 1914

In some Western cultures it is considered good luck to kiss someone on Christmas or on New Year's Eve, especially beneath a sprig of mistletoe. Newlyweds usually kiss at the end of a wedding ceremony.

Female friends and relations and close acquaintances commonly offer reciprocal kisses on the cheek as a greeting or farewell.[48] Where cheek kissing is used, in some countries a single kiss is the custom, while in others a kiss on each cheek is the norm, or even three or four kisses on alternating cheeks. In the United States, an air kiss is becoming more common. This involves kissing in the air near the cheek, with the cheeks touching or not.[49] After a first date, it is common for the couple to give each other a quick kiss on the cheek (or lips where that is the norm) on parting, to indicate that a good time was had and perhaps to indicate an interest in another meeting.

A symbolic kiss is frequent in Western cultures. A kiss can be "blown" to another by kissing the fingertips and then blowing the fingertips, pointing them in the direction of the recipient. This is used to convey affection, usually when parting or when the partners are physically distant but can view each other. Blown kisses are also used when a person wishes to convey affection to a large crowd or audience. The term flying kiss is used in India to describe a blown kiss. In written correspondence a kiss has been represented by the letter "X" since at least 1763.[50] A stage or screen kiss may be performed by actually kissing, or faked by using the thumbs as a barrier for the lips and turning so the audience is unable to fully see the act.

Some literature suggests that a significant percentage of humanity does not kiss.[51] It has been claimed that in Sub-Saharan African, Asiatic, Polynesian and possibly in some Native American cultures, kissing was relatively unimportant until European colonization.[52][53] Historically however, the culture of kissing is thought to have begun and spread from the Eastern World, specifically India.[35]

With the Andamanese, kissing was only used as a sign of affection towards children and had no sexual undertones.[54]

In traditional Islamic cultures, kissing is not permitted between a man and woman who are not married or closely related by blood or marriage. A kiss on the cheek is a very common form of greeting among members of the same sex in most Islamic countries, much like the Southern European pattern.

Legality of public kissing

In 2007, two people were fined and jailed for a month after kissing and hugging in public in Dubai.[55]

In India, public display of affection is a criminal offense under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 with a punishment of imprisonment of up to three months, or a fine, or both. This law was used by police and lower courts to harass and prosecute couples engaging in intimate acts, such as kissing in public.[56][57] However, in a number of landmark cases, the higher courts dismissed assertions that kissing in public is obscene.[58][59]

In religion

 
The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio (c. 1602) depicts Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss as a signal to arrest Jesus.

Kissing was a custom during the Biblical period mentioned in the Genesis 27:26, when Isaac kissed his son Jacob.[60]: 585  The kiss is used in numerous other contexts in the Bible: the kiss of homage, in Esther 5:2; of subjection, in 1 Samuel 10:1; of reconciliation, in 2 Samuel 14:33; of valediction, in Ruth 1:14; of approbation, in Psalms 2:12; of humble gratitude, in Luke 7:38; of welcome, in Exodus 18:7; of love and joy, in Genesis 20:11. There are also spiritual kisses, as in Song of Songs 1:2; sensual kisses, as in Proverbs 7:13; and hypocritical kisses, as in 2 Samuel 15:5. It was customary to kiss the mouth in biblical times, and also the beard, which is still practiced in Arab culture. Kissing the hand is not biblical, according to Tabor.[60] The kiss of peace was an apostolic custom, and continues to be one of the rites in the Eucharistic services of Roman Catholics.[60]

In the Roman Catholic Order of Mass, the bishop or priest celebrant bows and kisses the altar, reverencing it, upon arriving at the altar during the entrance procession before Mass and upon leaving at the recessional at the closing of Mass; if a deacon is assisting, he bows low before the altar but does not kiss it.

Among primitive cultures it was usual to throw kisses to the sun and to the moon, as well as to the images of the gods. Kissing the hand is first heard of among the Persians.[60] According to Tabor, the kiss of homage—the character of which is not indicated in the Bible—was probably upon the forehead, and was expressive of high respect.[60]

 
This woodcut of the practice of kissing the Pope's toe is from Passionary of the Christ and Antichrist by Lucas Cranach the Elder.
  • In Ancient Rome and some modern Pagan beliefs, worshipers, when passing the statue or image of a god or goddess, will kiss their hand and wave it towards the deity (adoration).
  • The holy kiss or kiss of peace is a traditional part of most Christian liturgies, though often replaced with an embrace or handshake today in Western cultures.
  • In the gospels of Matthew and Mark (Luke and John omit this) Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss: an instance of a kiss tainted with betrayal. This is the basis of the term "the kiss of Judas".
  • Catholics will kiss rosary beads as a part of prayer, or kiss their hand after making the sign of the cross. It is also common to kiss the wounds on a crucifix, or any other image of Christ's Passion.
    • Pope John Paul II would kiss the ground on arrival in a new country.
    • Visitors to the Pope traditionally kiss his foot.
    • Catholics traditionally kiss the ring of a cardinal or bishop.
    • Catholics traditionally kiss the hand of a priest.
  • Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians often kiss the icons around the church on entering; they will also kiss the cross and/or the priest's hand in certain other customs in the Church, such as confession or receiving a blessing.
  • Local lore in Ireland suggests that kissing the Blarney Stone will bring the gift of the gab.
  • Jews will kiss the Western wall of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and other religious articles during prayer such as the Torah, usually by touching their hand, Tallis, or Siddur (prayerbook) to the Torah and then kissing it. Jewish law prohibits kissing members of the opposite sex, except for spouses and certain close relatives. See Negiah.
  • Muslims may kiss the Black Stone during Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Many Muslims also kiss Shrines of Ahlulbayt and Sufis.

Biology and evolution

 
Black-tailed prairie dogs "kissing." Prairie dogs use a nuzzle of this variety to greet their relatives.[61]

Within the natural world of other animals, there are numerous analogies to kissing, notes Crawley, such as "the billing of birds, the cataglottism of pigeons and the antennal play of some insects." Even among mammals such as the dog, cat and bear, similar behavior is noted.[31]: 114 

Anthropologists have not reached a conclusion as to whether kissing is learned or a behavior from instinct. It may be related to grooming behavior also seen between other animals, or arising as a result of mothers premasticating food for their children. Non-human primates also exhibit kissing behavior.[62][63] Dogs, cats, birds and other animals display licking, nuzzling, and grooming behavior among themselves, and also towards humans or other species. This is sometimes interpreted by observers as a type of kissing.

Kissing in humans is postulated to have evolved from the direct mouth-to-mouth regurgitation of food (kiss-feeding) from parent to offspring or male to female (courtship feeding) and has been observed in numerous mammals.[64] The similarity in the methods between kiss-feeding and deep human kisses (e.g. French kiss) are quite pronounced; in the former, the tongue is used to push food from the mouth of the mother to the child with the child receiving both the mother's food and tongue in sucking movements, and the latter is the same but forgoes the premasticated food. In fact, through observations across various species and cultures, it can be confirmed that the act of kissing and premastication has most likely evolved from the similar relationship-based feeding behaviours.[64][65]

Physiology

Kissing is a complex behavior that requires significant muscular coordination involving a total of 34 facial muscles and 112 postural muscles.[66][67] The most important muscle involved is the orbicularis oris muscle, which is used to pucker the lips and informally known as the kissing muscle.[68][69] In the case of the French kiss, the tongue is also an important component. Lips have many nerve endings which make them sensitive to touch and bite.[70]

Health benefits

Kissing stimulates the production of hormones responsible for a good mood: oxytocin, which releases the feeling of love and strengthens the bond with the partner, endorphins – hormones responsible for the feeling of happiness –, and dopamine, which stimulates the pleasure center in the brain. Regular kissing protects against depression.[71] Affection in general has stress-reducing effects. Kissing in particular has been studied in a controlled experiment and it was found that increasing the frequency of kissing in marital and cohabiting relationships results in a reduction of perceived stress, an increase in relationship satisfaction, and a lowering of cholesterol levels.[72]

Disease transmission

Kissing on the lips can result in the transmission of some diseases, including infectious mononucleosis (known as the "kissing disease") and herpes simplex when the infectious viruses are present in saliva. Research indicates that contraction of HIV via kissing is extremely unlikely, although there was a documented case in 1997 of an HIV infection by kissing. Both the woman and infected man had gum disease, so transmission was through the man's blood, not through saliva.[73]

See also

References

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  72. ^ Floyd, Kory; Boren, Justin P.; Hannawa, Annegret F.; Hesse, Colin; Breanna McEwan; Alice E. Veksler (2 April 2009). "Kissing in Marital and Cohabiting Relationships: Effects on Blood Lipids, Stress, and Relationship Satisfaction". Western Journal of Communication. Informaworld.com. 73 (2): 113–133. doi:10.1080/10570310902856071. hdl:11123/502. S2CID 73634219.
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Further reading

  • Kirshenbaum, Sheril (2011). The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-0-446-55990-4.
  • Beadnell,C. M. (1942) The Origin of the Kiss , Thinkers Library No.89, Watts & Co, London

External links

  • "Kiss" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). 1911.
  • Kissing in Strange Places 2012-01-05 at the Wayback Machine — slideshow by Life magazine
  • Put your sweet lips... (A history of the kiss), Keith Thomas, The Times, June 11, 2005
  • The Kiss of Life, Joshua Foer, The New York Times, February 14, 2006
  • Why do humans kiss each other when most animals don't?, Melissa Hogenboom, BBC Earth, July 2015
  • How Kissing Works, History and Anatomy of the Kiss, Tracy V. Wilson, HowStuffWorks

kiss, this, article, about, physically, affectionate, american, rock, band, band, other, uses, disambiguation, redirects, here, municipality, germany, bavaria, kiss, touch, pressing, lips, against, another, person, object, cultural, connotations, kissing, vary. This article is about the physically affectionate act For the American rock band see Kiss band For other uses see Kiss disambiguation Kissing redirects here For the municipality in Germany see Kissing Bavaria A kiss is the touch or pressing of one s lips against another person or an object Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely Depending on the culture and context a kiss can express sentiments of love passion romance sexual attraction sexual activity sexual arousal affection respect greeting peace and good luck among many others In some situations a kiss is a ritual formal or symbolic gesture indicating devotion respect or a sacramental The word came from Old English cyssan to kiss in turn from coss a kiss A man and a woman kissing Contents 1 History 2 Types 2 1 Expression of affection 2 2 Kiss on the lips 2 3 Romantic kiss 3 Kiss as ritual 3 1 Religion 3 2 Kiss of peace 3 3 Kiss of respect 3 4 Kiss of friendship 4 Cultural significance 4 1 As a theme in art 4 2 South Asia 4 3 Middle East 4 4 East Asia 5 Contemporary practices 5 1 Kissing in films 5 2 Non sexual kisses 6 Legality of public kissing 7 In religion 8 Biology and evolution 8 1 Physiology 8 2 Health benefits 8 3 Disease transmission 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External linksHistory EditAnthropologists disagree on whether kissing is an instinctual or learned behaviour Those that believe kissing to be an instinctual behaviour cite similar behaviours in other animals such as bonobos which are known to kiss after fighting possibly to restore peace 1 Others believe that it is a learned behaviour having evolved from activities such as suckling or premastication in early human cultures passed on to modern humans Another theory posits that the practice originated in males during the paleolithic era tasting the saliva of females to test their health in order to determine whether they would make a good partner for procreation The fact that not all human cultures kiss is used as an argument against kissing being an instinctual behaviour in humans only around 90 of the human population is believed to practice kissing 2 3 The earliest reference to kissing like behavior comes from the Vedas Sanskrit scriptures that informed Hinduism 4 Buddhism and Jainism around 3 500 years ago according to Vaughn Bryant an anthropologist at Texas A amp M University who specializes in the history of the kiss 5 Both lip and tongue kissing are mentioned in Sumerian poetry 6 My lips are too small they know not to kiss My precious sweet lying by my heart one by one tonguemaking one by one When my sweet precious my heart had lain down too each of them in turn kissing with the tongue each in turn 7 Kissing is described in the surviving ancient Egyptian love poetry from the New Kingdom found on papyri excavated at Deir el Medina Finally I will drink life from your lips and wake up from this ever lasting sleep The wisdom of the earth in a kiss and everything else in your eyes I kiss her before everyone that they all may see my love 8 And when her lips are pressed to mine I am made drunk and need not wine When we kiss and her warm lips half open I fly cloud high without beer His kisses on my lips my breast my hair Come Come Come And kiss me when I die For life compelling life is in thy breath And at that kiss though in the tomb I lie I will arise and break the bands of Death 9 The earliest reference to kissing in the Old Testament is in Genesis 27 26 when Jacob deceives his father to obtain his blessing And his father Isaac said unto him Come near now and kiss me my son Genesis 29 11 features the first man woman kiss in the Bible when Jacob flees from Esau and goes to the house of his uncle Laban And Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice and wept Much later there is the oft quoted verse from Song of Songs 1 2 May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth for your love is better than wine 10 11 In Cyropaedia 370 BC Xenophon wrote about the Persian custom of kissing in the lips upon departure while narrating the departure of Cyrus the Great c 600 BC as a boy from his Median kinsmen 12 According to Herodotus 5th century BC when two Persians meet the greeting formula expresses their equal or inequal status They do not speak rather equals kiss each other on the mouth and in the case where one is a little inferior to the other the kiss is given on the cheek 13 14 During the later Classical period affectionate mouth to mouth kissing was first described in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata Anthropologist Vaughn Bryant argues kissing spread from India to Europe after Alexander the Great conquered parts of Punjab in northern India in 326 BCE 15 The Romans were passionate about kissing and talked about several types of kissing Kissing the hand or cheek was called an osculum Kissing on the lips with mouth closed was called a basium which was used between relatives A kiss of passion was called a suavium 16 A fresco from Pompeii showing the kiss of a Roman couple Kissing was not always an indication of eros or love but also could show respect and rank as it was used in Medieval Europe The study of kissing started sometime in the nineteenth century and is called philematology which has been studied by people including Cesare Lombroso Ernest Crawley Charles Darwin Edward Burnett Tylor and modern scholars such as Elaine Hatfield 17 18 Types EditKristoffer Nyrop identified a number of types of kisses including kisses of love affection peace respect and friendship He notes however that the categories are somewhat contrived and overlapping and some cultures have more kinds including the French with twenty and the Germans with thirty 19 Expression of affection Edit Kissing another person s lips has become a common expression of affection or warm greeting in many cultures worldwide Yet in certain cultures kissing was introduced only through European settlement before which it was not a routine occurrence Such cultures include certain indigenous peoples of Australia the Tahitians and many tribes in Africa 20 A kiss can also be used to express feelings without an erotic element but can be nonetheless far deeper and more lasting writes Nyrop He adds that such kisses can be expressive of love in the widest and most comprehensive meaning of the word bringing a message of loyal affection gratitude compassion sympathy intense joy and profound sorrow 19 79 Nyrop writes that the most common example is the intense feeling which knits parents to their offspring but he adds that kisses of affection are not only common between parents and children but also between other members of the same family which can include those outside the immediate family circle everywhere where deep affection unites people 19 82 The tradition is written of in the Bible as when Esau met Jacob after a long separation he ran towards him fell on his neck and kissed him Genesis 33 4 Moses greeted his father in law and kissed him Exodus 18 7 and Orpah kissed her mother in law before leaving her Ruth 1 14 The family kiss was traditional with the Romans and kisses of affection are often mentioned by the early Greeks as when Odysseus on reaching his home meets his faithful shepherds 19 82 83 Affection can be a cause of kissing in all ages in grave and solemn moments notes Nyrop not only among those who love each other but also as an expression of profound gratitude When the Apostle Paul took leave of the elders of the congregation at Ephesus they all wept sore and fell on Paul s neck and kissed him Acts 20 37 Kisses can also be exchanged between total strangers as when there is a profound sympathy with or the warmest interest in another person 19 85 Folk poetry has been the source of affectionate kisses where they sometimes played an important part as when they had the power to cast off spells or to break bonds of witchcraft and sorcery often restoring a man to his original shape Nyrop notes the poetical stories of the redeeming power of the kiss are to be found in the literature of many countries especially for example in the Old French Arthurian romances Lancelot Guiglain Tirant le blanc in which the princess is changed by evil arts into a dreadful dragon and can only resume her human shape in the case of a knight being brave enough to kiss her In the reverse situation in the tale of Beauty and the Beast a transformed prince then told the girl that he had been bewitched by a wicked fairy and could not be recreated into a man unless a maid fell in love with him and kissed him despite his ugliness 19 95 96 A kiss of affection can also take place after death In Genesis 50 1 it is written that when Jacob was dead Joseph fell upon his father s face and wept upon him and kissed him And it is told of Abu Bakr Muhammad s first disciple father in law and successor that when the prophet was dead he went into the latter s tent uncovered his face and kissed him Nyrop writes that the kiss is the last tender proof of love bestowed on one we have loved and was believed in ancient times to follow mankind to the nether world 19 97 Kissing on the lips can be a physical expression of affection or love between two people in which the sensations of touch taste and smell are involved 21 According to the psychologist Menachem Brayer although many mammals birds and insects exchange caresses which appear to be kisses of affection they are not kisses in the human sense Surveys indicate that kissing is the second most common form of physical intimacy among United States adolescents after holding hands and that about 85 of 15 to 16 year old adolescents in the US have experienced it 22 Kiss on the lips Edit The kiss on the lips can be performed between two friends or family This move aims to express affection for a friend Unlike kissing for love a friendly kiss has no sexual connotation The kiss on the lips is a practice that can be found in the time of Patriarchs Bible 23 In Ancient Greece the kiss on the mouth was used to express a concept of equality between people of the same rank 24 In the Middle Ages the kiss of peace was recommended by the Catholic Church 25 The kiss on the lips was also common among knights 24 The gesture has again become popular with young people particularly in England 26 27 Romantic kiss Edit A heterosexual couple engaging in a romantic kiss In many cultures it is considered a harmless custom for teenagers to kiss on a date or to engage in kissing games with friends These games serve as icebreakers at parties and may be some participants first exposure to sexuality There are many such games including Truth or Dare Seven Minutes in Heaven or the variation Two Minutes in the Closet Spin the Bottle Post Office and Wink A homosexual couple kissing The psychologist William Cane notes that kissing in Western society is often a romantic act and describes a few of its attributes It s not hard to tell when two people are in love Maybe they re trying to hide it from the world still they cannot conceal their inner excitement Men will give themselves away by a certain excited trembling in the muscles of the lower jaw upon seeing their beloved Women will often turn pale immediately of seeing their lover and then get slightly red in the face as their sweetheart draws near This is the effect of physical closeness upon two people who are in love 28 9 Romantic kissing in Western cultures is a fairly recent development and is rarely mentioned even in ancient Greek literature In the Middle Ages it became a social gesture and was considered a sign of refinement of the upper classes 21 150 151 Other cultures have different definitions and uses of kissing notes Brayer In China for example a similar expression of affection consists of rubbing one s nose against the cheek of another person In other Eastern cultures kissing is not common In South East Asian countries the sniff kiss is the most common form of affection and Western mouth to mouth kissing is often reserved for sexual foreplay In some tribal cultures the equivalent to kiss me is smell me 29 The kiss can be an important expression of love and erotic emotions In his book The Kiss and its History Kristoffer Nyrop describes the kiss of love as an exultant message of the longing of love love eternally young the burning prayer of hot desire which is born on the lovers lips and rises as Charles Fuster has said up to the blue sky from the green plains like a tender trembling thank offering Nyrop adds that the love kiss rich in promise bestows an intoxicating feeling of infinite happiness courage and youth and therefore surpasses all other earthly joys in sublimity 19 30 He also compares it to achievements in life Thus even the highest work of art yet the loftiest reputation is nothing in comparison with the passionate kiss of a woman one loves 19 31 The power of a kiss is not minimized when he writes that we all yearn for kisses and we all seek them it is idle to struggle against this passion No one can evade the omnipotence of the kiss Kissing he implies can lead one to maturity It is through kisses that a knowledge of life and happiness first comes to us Runeberg says that the angels rejoice over the first kiss exchanged by lovers and can keep one feeling young It carries life with it it even bestows the gift of eternal youth The importance of the lover s kiss can also be significant he notes In the case of lovers a kiss is everything that is the reason why a man stakes his all for a kiss and man craves for it as his noblest reward 19 37 As a result kissing as an expression of love is contained in much of literature old and new Nyrop gives a vivid example in the classic love story of Daphnis and Chloe As a reward Chloe has bestowed a kiss on Daphnis an innocent young maid s kiss but it has on him the effect of an electrical shock 19 47 Ye gods what are my feelings Her lips are softer than the rose s leaf her mouth is sweet as honey and her kiss inflicts on me more pain than a bee s sting I have often kissed my kids I have often kissed my lambs but never have I known aught like this My pulse is beating fast my heart throbs it is as if I were about to suffocate yet nevertheless I want to have another kiss Strange never suspected pain Has Chloe I wonder drunk some poisonous draught ere she kissed me How comes it that she herself has not died of it Romantic kissing requires more than simple proximity notes Cane It also needs some degree of intimacy or privacy which is why you ll see lovers stepping to the side of a busy street or sidewalk 28 Psychologist Wilhelm Reich lashed out at society for not giving young lovers enough privacy and making it difficult to be alone 28 However Cane describes how many lovers manage to attain romantic privacy despite being in a public setting as they lock their minds together and thereby create an invisible sense of psychological privacy He adds In this way they can kiss in public even in a crowded plaza and keep it romantic 28 10 Nonetheless when Cane asked people to describe the most romantic places they ever kissed their answers almost always referred to this ends of the earth isolation they mentioned an apple orchard a beach out in a field looking at the stars or at a pond in a secluded area 28 10 Kiss as ritual Edit Kiss on the crucifix in Catholicism Denis Thatcher husband of Margaret Thatcher kissing the hand of Nancy Reagan wife of Former US President Ronald Regan in 1988 Kissing the Blarney Stone Throughout history a kiss has been a ritual formal symbolic or social gesture indicating devotion respect or greeting It appears as a ritual or symbol of religious devotion For example in the case of kissing a temple floor or a religious book or icon Besides devotion a kiss has also indicated subordination or nowadays respect In modern times the practice continues as in the case of a bride and groom kissing at the conclusion of a wedding ceremony or national leaders kissing each other in greeting and in many other situations Religion Edit A kiss in a religious context is common In earlier periods of Christianity or Islam kissing became a ritual gesture and is still treated as such in certain customs as when kissing relics or a bishop s ring 21 In Judaism the kissing of the Torah scroll a prayer book and a prayer shawl is also common 30 Crawley notes that it was very significant of the affectionate element in religion to give so important a part to the kiss as part of its ritual In the early Church the baptized were kissed by the celebrant after the ceremony and its use was even extended as a salute to saints and religious heroes with Crawley adding Thus Joseph kissed Jacob and his disciples kissed Paul Joseph kissed his dead father and the custom was retained in our civilization as the farewell kiss on dead relatives although certain sects prohibit this today 31 126 A distinctive element in the Christian liturgy was noted by Justin in the 2nd century now referred to as the kiss of peace and once part of the rite in the primitive Mass Conybeare has stated that this act originated within the ancient Hebrew synagogue and Philo the ancient Jewish philosopher called it a kiss of harmony where as Crawley explains the Word of God brings hostile things together in concord and the kiss of love 31 128 Saint Cyril also writes this kiss is the sign that our souls are united and that we banish all remembrance of injury 31 128 Kiss of peace Edit Nyrop notes that the kiss of peace was used as an expression of deep spiritual devotion in the early Christian Church Christ said for instance Peace be with you my peace I give you and the members of Christ s Church gave each other peace symbolically through a kiss St Paul repeatedly speaks of the holy kiss and in his Epistle to the Romans writes Salute one another with an holy kiss and his first Epistle to the Thessalonians 1 Thessalonians 5 26 he says Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss 19 101 The kiss of peace was also used in secular festivities During the Middle Ages for example Nyrop points out that it was the custom to seal the reconciliation and pacification of enemies by a kiss Even knights gave each other the kiss of peace before proceeding to the combat and forgave one another all real or imaginary wrongs The holy kiss was also found in the ritual of the Church on solemn occasions such as baptism marriage confession ordination or obsequies However toward the end of the Middle Ages the kiss of peace disappears as the official token of reconciliation 19 109 Kiss of respect Edit Man kissing the ground after a long sea voyage as part of a reenactment of the first landing of English settlers in Virginia in 1607 The kiss of respect is of ancient origin notes Nyrop He writes that from the remotest times we find it applied to all that is holy noble and worshipful to the gods their statues temples and altars as well as to kings and emperors out of reverence people even kissed the ground and both sun and moon were greeted with kisses 19 114 He notes some examples as when the prophet Hosea laments over the idolatry of the children of Israel he says that they make molten images of calves and kiss them Hosea 13 2 In classical times similar homage was often paid to the gods and people were known to kiss the hands knees feet and the mouths of their idols Cicero writes that the lips and beard of the famous statue of Hercules at Agrigentum were worn away by the kisses of devotees 19 115 People kissed the cross with the image of Jesus and such kissing of the cross is always considered a holy act In many countries it is required on taking an oath as the highest assertion that the witness would be speaking the truth Nyrop notes that as a last act of charity the image of the Redeemer is handed to the dying or death condemned to be kissed Kissing the cross brings blessing and happiness people kiss the image of Mary and the pictures and statues of saints not only their pictures but even their relics are kissed notes Nyrop They make both soul and body whole There are legends innumerable of sick people regaining their health by kissing relics he points out 19 121 The kiss of respect has also represented a mark of fealty humility and reverence Its use in ancient times was widespread and Nyrop gives examples people threw themselves down on the ground before their rulers kissed their footprints literally licked the dust as it is termed 19 124 Nearly everywhere wheresoever an inferior meets a superior we observe the kiss of respect The Roman slaves kissed the hands of their masters pupils and soldiers those of their teachers and captains respectively 19 124 People also kissed the earth for joy on returning to their native land after a lengthened absence as when Agamemnon returned from the Trojan War Kiss of friendship Edit The kiss is also commonly used in American and European culture as a salutation between friends or acquaintances The friendly kiss until recent times usually occurred only between ladies but today it is also common between men and women especially if there is a great difference in age According to Nyrop up until the 20th century it seldom or never takes place between men with the exception however of royal personages although he notes that in former times the friendly kiss was very common with us between man and man as well as between persons of opposite sexes In guilds for example it was customary for the members to greet each other with hearty handshakes and smacking kisses and on the conclusion of a meal people thanked and kissed both their hosts and hostesses 19 142 Cultural significance EditIn approximately 10 of the world population kissing does not take place for a variety of reasons including that they find it dirty or because of superstitious reasons For example in parts of Sudan it is believed that the mouth is the portal to the soul so they do not want to invite death or have their spirit taken 32 Psychology professor Elaine Hatfield noted that kissing was far from universal and even seen as improper by many societies 33 Despite kissing being widespread in some parts of the world it is still taboo to kiss publicly and is often banned in films or in other media As a theme in art Edit Romeo and Juliet by Sir Frank Dicksee 1884 Jean Honore Fragonard The Stolen Kiss 1786 The Kiss by Francesco Hayez 1859 Psyche Revived by Cupid s Kiss by Antonio Canova Le Baiser The Kiss by Auguste Rodin 1882 The Last Kiss 1931 film South Asia Edit On screen lip kissing was not a regular occurrence in Bollywood until the 1990s although it has been present from the time of the inception of Bollywood 34 This can appear contradictory since the culture of kissing is believed to have originated and spread from India 35 Middle East Edit There are also taboos as to whom one can kiss in some Muslim majority societies governed by religious law In the Islamic Republic of Iran a man who kisses or touches a woman who is not his wife or relative can be punished such as getting whipped up to 100 times or even go to jail 36 East Asia Edit Donald Richie comments that in Japan as in China although kissing took place in erotic situations in public the kiss was invisible and the touching of the lips never became the culturally encoded action it has for so long been in Europe and America The early Edison film The Widow Jones the May Irwin John Rice Kiss 1896 created a sensation when it was shown in Tokyo and people crowded to view the enormity Likewise Rodin s sculpture The Kiss was not displayed in Japan until after the Pacific War 37 Also in the 1900s Manchu tribes along the Amur River regarded public kissing between adults with revulsion 38 In a similar situation in Chinese tradition when Chinese men saw Western women kissing men in public they thought the women were prostitutes 39 Contemporary practices Edit Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O Neill kiss each other after their wedding 2013 In modern Western culture kissing on the lips is commonly an expression of affection 40 or a warm greeting When lips are pressed together for an extended period usually accompanied with an embrace it is an expression of romantic and sexual desire The practice of kissing with an open mouth to allow the other to suck their lips or move their tongue into their mouth is called French kissing Making out is often an adolescent s first experience of their sexuality and games which involve kissing such as Spin the Bottle facilitate the experience People may kiss children on the forehead to comfort them or the cheek or lips to show affection In modern Eastern culture the etiquette vary depending on the region In West Asia kissing on the lips between both men and women is a common form of greeting In South and Eastern Asia it might often be a greeting between women however between men it is unusual Kissing a baby on the cheeks is a common form of affection Most kisses between men and women are on the cheeks and not on the lips unless they are romantically involved And sexual forms of kissing between lovers encompass the whole range of global practices Kissing in films Edit The first romantic kiss on screen was in American silent films in 1896 beginning with the film The Kiss The kiss lasted 18 seconds and caused many to rail against decadence in the new medium of silent film Writer Louis Black writes that it was the United States that brought kissing out of the Dark Ages 41 However it met with severe disapproval by defenders of public morality especially in New York One critic proclaimed that it is absolutely disgusting Such things call for police interference 41 Rock Hudson and Julie Andrews kissing in film Darling Lili 1968 Young moviegoers began emulating romantic stars on the screen such as Ronald Colman and Rudolph Valentino the latter known for ending his passionate scenes with a kiss Valentino also began his romantic scenes with women by kissing her hand traveling up her arm and then kissing her on the back of her neck Actresses were often turned into stars based on their screen portrayals of passion Actresses like Nazimova Pola Negri Vilma Banky and Greta Garbo became screen idols as a result Eventually the film industry began to adopt the dictates of the Production Code established in 1934 overseen by Will Hays and influenced by Christian religious leaders in America 42 43 According to the new code Excessive and lustful kissing lustful embraces suggestive postures and gestures are not to be shown 41 As a result kissing scenes were shortened with scenes cut away leaving the imagination of the viewer to take over Under the code actors kissing had to keep their feet on the ground and had to be either standing or sitting 44 The heyday of romantic kissing on the screen took place in the early sound era during the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s 45 watch Body language began to be used to supplement romantic scenes especially with the eyes a talent that added to Greta Garbo s fame Author Lana Citron writes that men were perceived as the kissers and women the receivers Should the roles ever be reversed women were regarded as vamps 44 According to Citron Mae West and Anna May Wong were the only Hollywood actresses never to have been kissed on screen 44 Among the films rated for having the most romantic kisses are Gone with the Wind From Here to Eternity Casablanca and To Have and Have Not 44 Sociologist Eva Illouz notes that surveys taken in 1935 showed that love was the most important theme represented in movies Similar surveys during the 1930s found the 95 of films had romance as one of their plot lines what film critics called the romantic formula 46 In early Japanese films kissing and sexual expression were controversial In 1931 a director slipped a kissing scene past the censor who was a friend but when the film opened in a downtown Tokyo theater the screening was stopped and the film confiscated During the American occupation of Japan in 1946 an American censor required a film to include a kissing scene One scholar says that the censor suggested we believe that even Japanese do something like kissing when they love each other Why don t you include that in your films Americans encouraged such scenes to force the Japanese to express publicly actions and feelings that had been considered strictly private Since Pearl Harbor Americans had felt that the Japanese were sneaky claiming that if Japanese kissed in private they should do it in public too 47 Non sexual kisses Edit People kissing in this sketch by reporter and artist Marguerite Martyn of a New Year s Eve celebration in 1914 In some Western cultures it is considered good luck to kiss someone on Christmas or on New Year s Eve especially beneath a sprig of mistletoe Newlyweds usually kiss at the end of a wedding ceremony Female friends and relations and close acquaintances commonly offer reciprocal kisses on the cheek as a greeting or farewell 48 Where cheek kissing is used in some countries a single kiss is the custom while in others a kiss on each cheek is the norm or even three or four kisses on alternating cheeks In the United States an air kiss is becoming more common This involves kissing in the air near the cheek with the cheeks touching or not 49 After a first date it is common for the couple to give each other a quick kiss on the cheek or lips where that is the norm on parting to indicate that a good time was had and perhaps to indicate an interest in another meeting A symbolic kiss is frequent in Western cultures A kiss can be blown to another by kissing the fingertips and then blowing the fingertips pointing them in the direction of the recipient This is used to convey affection usually when parting or when the partners are physically distant but can view each other Blown kisses are also used when a person wishes to convey affection to a large crowd or audience The term flying kiss is used in India to describe a blown kiss In written correspondence a kiss has been represented by the letter X since at least 1763 50 A stage or screen kiss may be performed by actually kissing or faked by using the thumbs as a barrier for the lips and turning so the audience is unable to fully see the act Some literature suggests that a significant percentage of humanity does not kiss 51 It has been claimed that in Sub Saharan African Asiatic Polynesian and possibly in some Native American cultures kissing was relatively unimportant until European colonization 52 53 Historically however the culture of kissing is thought to have begun and spread from the Eastern World specifically India 35 With the Andamanese kissing was only used as a sign of affection towards children and had no sexual undertones 54 In traditional Islamic cultures kissing is not permitted between a man and woman who are not married or closely related by blood or marriage A kiss on the cheek is a very common form of greeting among members of the same sex in most Islamic countries much like the Southern European pattern Legality of public kissing EditThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it March 2017 In 2007 two people were fined and jailed for a month after kissing and hugging in public in Dubai 55 In India public display of affection is a criminal offense under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code 1860 with a punishment of imprisonment of up to three months or a fine or both This law was used by police and lower courts to harass and prosecute couples engaging in intimate acts such as kissing in public 56 57 However in a number of landmark cases the higher courts dismissed assertions that kissing in public is obscene 58 59 In religion Edit The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio c 1602 depicts Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss as a signal to arrest Jesus Kissing was a custom during the Biblical period mentioned in the Genesis 27 26 when Isaac kissed his son Jacob 60 585 The kiss is used in numerous other contexts in the Bible the kiss of homage in Esther 5 2 of subjection in 1 Samuel 10 1 of reconciliation in 2 Samuel 14 33 of valediction in Ruth 1 14 of approbation in Psalms 2 12 of humble gratitude in Luke 7 38 of welcome in Exodus 18 7 of love and joy in Genesis 20 11 There are also spiritual kisses as in Song of Songs 1 2 sensual kisses as in Proverbs 7 13 and hypocritical kisses as in 2 Samuel 15 5 It was customary to kiss the mouth in biblical times and also the beard which is still practiced in Arab culture Kissing the hand is not biblical according to Tabor 60 The kiss of peace was an apostolic custom and continues to be one of the rites in the Eucharistic services of Roman Catholics 60 In the Roman Catholic Order of Mass the bishop or priest celebrant bows and kisses the altar reverencing it upon arriving at the altar during the entrance procession before Mass and upon leaving at the recessional at the closing of Mass if a deacon is assisting he bows low before the altar but does not kiss it Among primitive cultures it was usual to throw kisses to the sun and to the moon as well as to the images of the gods Kissing the hand is first heard of among the Persians 60 According to Tabor the kiss of homage the character of which is not indicated in the Bible was probably upon the forehead and was expressive of high respect 60 This woodcut of the practice of kissing the Pope s toe is from Passionary of the Christ and Antichrist by Lucas Cranach the Elder In Ancient Rome and some modern Pagan beliefs worshipers when passing the statue or image of a god or goddess will kiss their hand and wave it towards the deity adoration The holy kiss or kiss of peace is a traditional part of most Christian liturgies though often replaced with an embrace or handshake today in Western cultures In the gospels of Matthew and Mark Luke and John omit this Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss an instance of a kiss tainted with betrayal This is the basis of the term the kiss of Judas Catholics will kiss rosary beads as a part of prayer or kiss their hand after making the sign of the cross It is also common to kiss the wounds on a crucifix or any other image of Christ s Passion Pope John Paul II would kiss the ground on arrival in a new country Visitors to the Pope traditionally kiss his foot Catholics traditionally kiss the ring of a cardinal or bishop Catholics traditionally kiss the hand of a priest Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians often kiss the icons around the church on entering they will also kiss the cross and or the priest s hand in certain other customs in the Church such as confession or receiving a blessing Local lore in Ireland suggests that kissing the Blarney Stone will bring the gift of the gab Jews will kiss the Western wall of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and other religious articles during prayer such as the Torah usually by touching their hand Tallis or Siddur prayerbook to the Torah and then kissing it Jewish law prohibits kissing members of the opposite sex except for spouses and certain close relatives See Negiah Muslims may kiss the Black Stone during Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca Many Muslims also kiss Shrines of Ahlulbayt and Sufis Biology and evolution Edit Black tailed prairie dogs kissing Prairie dogs use a nuzzle of this variety to greet their relatives 61 Within the natural world of other animals there are numerous analogies to kissing notes Crawley such as the billing of birds the cataglottism of pigeons and the antennal play of some insects Even among mammals such as the dog cat and bear similar behavior is noted 31 114 Anthropologists have not reached a conclusion as to whether kissing is learned or a behavior from instinct It may be related to grooming behavior also seen between other animals or arising as a result of mothers premasticating food for their children Non human primates also exhibit kissing behavior 62 63 Dogs cats birds and other animals display licking nuzzling and grooming behavior among themselves and also towards humans or other species This is sometimes interpreted by observers as a type of kissing Kissing in humans is postulated to have evolved from the direct mouth to mouth regurgitation of food kiss feeding from parent to offspring or male to female courtship feeding and has been observed in numerous mammals 64 The similarity in the methods between kiss feeding and deep human kisses e g French kiss are quite pronounced in the former the tongue is used to push food from the mouth of the mother to the child with the child receiving both the mother s food and tongue in sucking movements and the latter is the same but forgoes the premasticated food In fact through observations across various species and cultures it can be confirmed that the act of kissing and premastication has most likely evolved from the similar relationship based feeding behaviours 64 65 Physiology Edit Kissing is a complex behavior that requires significant muscular coordination involving a total of 34 facial muscles and 112 postural muscles 66 67 The most important muscle involved is the orbicularis oris muscle which is used to pucker the lips and informally known as the kissing muscle 68 69 In the case of the French kiss the tongue is also an important component Lips have many nerve endings which make them sensitive to touch and bite 70 Health benefits Edit Kissing stimulates the production of hormones responsible for a good mood oxytocin which releases the feeling of love and strengthens the bond with the partner endorphins hormones responsible for the feeling of happiness and dopamine which stimulates the pleasure center in the brain Regular kissing protects against depression 71 Affection in general has stress reducing effects Kissing in particular has been studied in a controlled experiment and it was found that increasing the frequency of kissing in marital and cohabiting relationships results in a reduction of perceived stress an increase in relationship satisfaction and a lowering of cholesterol levels 72 Disease transmission Edit Kissing on the lips can result in the transmission of some diseases including infectious mononucleosis known as the kissing disease and herpes simplex when the infectious viruses are present in saliva Research indicates that contraction of HIV via kissing is extremely unlikely although there was a documented case in 1997 of an HIV infection by kissing Both the woman and infected man had gum disease so transmission was through the man s blood not through saliva 73 See also Edit Human sexuality portalEskimo kissing Hand kissing Hugs and kisses Kissing games Kissing traditions Kissing boothReferences Edit Waal Frans B M De 1995 Bonobo Sex and Society Scientific American 272 3 82 88 Bibcode 1995SciAm 272c 82W doi 10 1038 scientificamerican0395 82 PMID 7871411 Retrieved 2022 05 02 The Mostly Blissful History of Kissing NPR org Retrieved 2022 05 02 Kristina Fiore 2013 02 02 Why Do People Kiss livescience com Retrieved 2022 05 02 Hogenboom Melissa Why do humans kiss each other when most animals don t www bbc com 1 Archived 2014 12 04 at archive today Kramer Samuel Noah 1981 History Begins at Sumer 3rd revised ed Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Press pp 72ff ISBN 978 0 8122 1276 1 The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature Archived 2014 06 09 at the Wayback Machine Faculty of Oriental Studies University of Oxford Ancient Poetry TheMagentaHornet com Egyptian Love Poetry from the New kingdom www love poetry of the world com Hess Richard S Song of Songs Baker Academic 2005 p 48 Song of Solomon 1 2 Archived 2013 08 28 at the Wayback Machine Bible Hub Biblos Xenophon Cyropaedia 1 4 27 Archived 2016 02 06 at the Wayback Machine electricpulp com HERODOTUS iii DEFINING THE PERSIANS Encyclopaedia Iranica www iranicaonline org Internet History Sourcebooks legacy fordham edu Archived from the original on 2015 11 29 Retrieved 2016 01 03 First kisses How we learned to lock lips College of Liberal Arts Archived from the original on 2014 12 08 Retrieved 2014 12 04 Jones Terry The Ancient World According to Terry Jones Love and Sex 1998 The science of kissing Archived 2013 02 14 at the Wayback Machine CNN Feb 14 2012 Chemical attraction The science of kissing Archived 2013 08 23 at the Wayback Machine Medill Reports Feb 14 2009 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Nyrop Kristoffer The Kiss and its History Sands amp Co London 1901 Read full text Dyer Tristeleton T F The History of Kissing The American Magazine vol 14 1882 pp 611 614 a b c Brayer Menachem M The Jewish Woman in Rabbinic Literature KTAV Publishing House 1986 Halpern Carolyn Tucker Joyner Kara Udry J Richard Suchindran Chirayath 2000 Smart teens don t have sex or kiss much either Journal of Adolescent Health 26 3 213 25 doi 10 1016 S1054 139X 99 00061 0 PMID 10706169 William Smith Smith s Bible Dictionary Kiss Archived 2017 01 23 at the Wayback Machine UK 1988 a b Marine Gasc racontemoilhistoire com Le bisou Archived 2017 07 08 at the Wayback Machine France January 20 2016 Yannick Carre Le baiser sur la bouche au Moyen Age rites symboles mentalites a travers les textes et les images XIe XVe siecles Le Leopard d Or 1992 page 357 Eric Anderson Adi Adams Ian Rivers Archives of Sexual Behavior I Kiss Them Because I Love Them The Emergence of Heterosexual Men Kissing in British Institutes of Education Archived 2016 09 11 at the Wayback Machine UK April 2012 Volume 41 2 pages 421 430 Journal 7sur7 be Nouvelle tendance des bisous sur la bouche entre amis Archived 2016 09 15 at the Wayback Machine Belgium October 29 2010 archived version a b c d e Cane William The Art of Kissing Macmillan 1991 Hopkins E Washbun 1907 The Sniff Kiss in Ancient India Journal of the American Oriental Society American Oriental Society 28 120 134 doi 10 2307 592764 JSTOR 592764 Retrieved 25 January 2021 Kuraweil Arthur The Torah for Dummies Wiley Publishing 2008 p 218 a b c d Crawley Ernest Studies of Savages and Sex Kessinger Publishing revised and reprinted 2006 The Mostly Blissful History of Kissing Archived 2020 11 29 at the Wayback Machine NPR February 11 2007 In India Kisses Are on Rise Even in Public Archived 2017 06 30 at the Wayback Machine New York Times Feb 13 2013 Bollywood most passionate kisses of all times a b Patel Atish 1 November 2014 A Short History of the Kiss in India Wall Street Journal When a Kiss Is More Than a Kiss Archived 2017 07 01 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times May 6 2007 Donald Richie The Japanese Kiss in Donald Richie ed Walkman Manga and Society Essays on Contemporary Japanese Culture Tokyo Kirihara shoten 1989 52 58 Shirokogorov Sergeĭ Mikhaĭlovich 1924 Social Organization of the Manchus A Study of the Manchu Clan Organization Royal Asiatic Society p i 1 6 122 Robert Hans van Gulik 1974 A Preliminary Survey of Chinese Sex and Society from Ca 1500 B C Till 1644 A D Brill Archive p 49 ISBN 9789004039179 James Larry 4 March 2008 The Romantic Kiss The Zambian Chronicle Archived from the original on 21 June 2008 Retrieved 29 August 2008 a b c Texas Monthly Feb 1980 p 143 Atheist Friendly Christian Author Pines For Days When Religious Leaders Got To Boss Hollywood Around Friendly Atheist Retrieved 2022 06 26 Couvares Francis G 1992 Hollywood Main Street and the Church Trying to Censor the Movies Before the Production Code American Quarterly 44 4 584 616 doi 10 2307 2713216 ISSN 0003 0678 JSTOR 2713216 a b c d Citron Lana A Compendium of Kisses Harlequin Publ 2010 p 177 video Kissing scenes in the classic movies Archived 2017 04 14 at the Wayback Machine Illouz Eva Consuming the Romantic Utopia Univ of Calif Press 1997 p 31 Kyoko Hirano Mr Smith Goes to Tokyo The Japanese Cinema under the American Occupation 1945 1952 Washington DC Smithsonian Institution 1992 pp 154 57 162 Olson Elizabeth 6 April 2006 Better Not Miss the Buss The New York Times Retrieved 29 August 2008 Hahnsson Marie Sophie Cheek Kissing University of Oslo Archived from the original on 27 May 2008 Retrieved 29 August 2008 Oxford English Dictionary X Oxford University press 1999 Retrieved 1 February 2007 Affairs of the Lips Why We Kiss Scientific American Sciam com 31 January 2008 doi 10 1038 scientificamericanmind0208 24 Retrieved 28 March 2010 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Thomas Keith 11 June 2005 Put your sweet lips The Times London Retrieved 25 May 2008 Marvin K Opler Cross cultural aspects of kissing Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality Vol 3 No 2 February 1969 pp 11 14 17 20 21 Chapter 9 A Traditional Society Andaman org Archived from the original on 15 March 2010 Retrieved 28 March 2010 McGreevey Ronan March 17 2007 Don t kiss the girlfriend in Dubai don t flush a Swiss loo after 10pm and whatever you do don t insult the Thai king Irish Independent Sengupta Somini January 4 2006 Is Public Romance a Right The Kama Sutra Doesn t Say The New York Times Retrieved October 16 2010 Israelis fined for wedding kiss BBC News September 21 2005 Retrieved October 16 2010 India Couple s kiss not obscene BBC News February 3 2009 Retrieved October 16 2010 Richard Gere cleared of obscenity BBC News March 14 2008 Retrieved October 16 2010 a b c d e Tabor Rev T H Manford s Magazine 1888 Prairie Dog cynomys ludovicianus 2014 Retrieved July 26 2014 How animals kiss and make up BBC News October 13 2003 Chimp Facts Jane Goodall Institute UK www janegoodall org uk Retrieved 2018 12 08 a b Eibl Eibesfeldt Irenaus 1971 Love and hate the natural history of behavior patterns Aldine Transaction a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Eibl Eibesfeldt Irenaus 1983 Chapter 3 A comparative approach to human ethology In Rajecki D W ed Comparing behavior studying man studying animals Routledge Blue Adrienne 1 June 1996 The kiss The Independent London Archived from the original on 23 December 2008 Retrieved 29 August 2008 Highfield Roger 17 October 2006 Seal with 146 muscles The Telegraph London Archived from the original on 26 October 2006 Retrieved 29 August 2008 orbicularis oris muscle TheFreeDictionary Mosby s Dental Dictionary 2nd edition 2008 Retrieved 3 October 2010 Muscles Facial BBC Science amp Nature Human Body amp Mind Retrieved 3 October 2010 Conis Elena 4 February 2008 The mystery of the kiss Los Angeles Times Retrieved 7 May 2010 jak sie calowac pense pl 2019 01 06 Floyd Kory Boren Justin P Hannawa Annegret F Hesse Colin Breanna McEwan Alice E Veksler 2 April 2009 Kissing in Marital and Cohabiting Relationships Effects on Blood Lipids Stress and Relationship Satisfaction Western Journal of Communication Informaworld com 73 2 113 133 doi 10 1080 10570310902856071 hdl 11123 502 S2CID 73634219 Altman Lawrence K 11 July 1997 Case of H I V Transmission Is First to Be Linked to Kiss New York Times Retrieved 28 March 2010 Further reading EditKirshenbaum Sheril 2011 The Science of Kissing What Our Lips Are Telling Us Grand Central Publishing ISBN 978 0 446 55990 4 Beadnell C M 1942 The Origin of the Kiss Thinkers Library No 89 Watts amp Co LondonExternal links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to Kissing Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kissing Kiss Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 15 11th ed 1911 Kissing in Strange Places Archived 2012 01 05 at the Wayback Machine slideshow by Life magazine Put your sweet lips A history of the kiss Keith Thomas The Times June 11 2005 The Kiss of Life Joshua Foer The New York Times February 14 2006 Why do humans kiss each other when most animals don t Melissa Hogenboom BBC Earth July 2015 How Kissing Works History and Anatomy of the Kiss Tracy V Wilson HowStuffWorks Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kiss amp oldid 1133060802, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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