[sunairco]

Do people displaying affection in public such as holding hands or kissing bother you or do you think it shouldn't be done in public?

How about touching? If I'm around my wife or daughters, my arm is either around them or I'm caressing thier backs. I hold hands with them if we go anywhere. That's normal in the hispanic world I live in (I'm not hispanic, but grew up here). Sisters, female best friends hold hands in public and that's considered normal.

Personal space is also different here. For most Americans, interpersonal space is much farther. Being touched during a conversation isn't appreciated. It's something I don't do, but don't mind if someone does.

Then the one that really gets me. Sleeping. The common trope on television is if a man tries to touch his wife in bed, it's a signal for sex. I figured it was a trope at least until searching the net. It really seems that American women really don't like a husband up close to them or touching them while sleeping. Many times I've read that and the demand for sex is the reason so many opt to sleep in separate beds or rooms.

I don't get that. I generally fall asleep with my arm under my wife's neck and other arm around her. I guess it's called spooning. It's the way we sleep and usually wake up with one or the other's arms around each other.

I've only lived in Tennessee for 2 years in '99-00 and they seemed very uncomfortable with much of this.

Just wondering what some of you take on this?

[Xfactor]

If it bothers someone there just lonely.

[William May]

I don't think it is a Hispanic thing, necessarily. (Although it seems to be true that Hispanics have closer physical relationships with their friends and families)
I am of German extraction, and my wife also was German, and we grew up in the Midwest of America. We were always extremely affectionate. Not necessarily necking in public, but we always had physical contact such as holding hands or cuddling. We never slept in separate beds the whole time we were married, and we usually were snuggled up to each other all the time. We wrassled a lot, just for fun and play.
I once read a magazine article about evolution, and it theorized that since we are descended from reptiles originally, that there are 2 sides to the brain, one being the mammalian side, and the other being the reptilian side. The mammalian side is responsible for our desire for physical contact and affection. The reptilian side does not need this input. Therefore, some people are more reptilian in that they really don't need a lot of physical contact. The ones who are more mammalian, are the ones who are gregarious, friendly, like to have contact such as hugs and kisses, etc.
This seems reasonable to me.