Читать книгу Sex For Dummies - Pierre Lehu A., Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer - Страница 116

On the one hand, the question “Is holding hands sex?” seems silly, but there are many people today who don’t consider oral or anal sex as being sex, reserving that term for intercourse only, so the first point I’d like to make is that all physical contact falls on the continuum known as sex. And the continuum is different depending on who you are.

If you’re an Orthodox Jew, shaking hands with someone of the opposite sex is forbidden, even though most people would never think of this gesture as being at all sexual. On the other hand, for many Europeans, kissing both cheeks as a way of greeting is perfectly acceptable, even mandatory, and there is no sexual connotation whatsoever.

If two people meet, sense an attraction, and hold hands, that gesture falls on the continuum of sexuality. How long before it leads to actual intercourse is unknown, but the possibility that it’s heading that way becomes real at that first touch. And that’s why how you handle this simple gesture, having someone try to take your hand, has consequences. For example, if a man tries to hold the hand of a woman and she just pulls her hand away gently, that sends a different signal than if she pulls it away and quickly sticks it in her coat pocket.