They have a positive effect on mental and physical health, strengthen the relationship between partners and, if we put a lot of commitment into it, we can burn a lot of calories. Today, December 28, we celebrate World Kissing Day, one of the sweetest occasions you can find on the pages of the Quirky Holiday Calendar.
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Those who follow the Calendar of Unusual Parties have certainly noticed that the kissing party appears several times on its pages. If you want to join in the celebrations, here are four dates to remember:
- June 6 – World Kissing Day
- July 6 – International Kissing Day
- November 28 – Kissing Day
- December 28 – Kissing Day
A holiday meant to advertise dental services
The quirky holiday calendar indicates that the genesis of World Kissing Day isn’t nearly as romantic as the way it’s celebrated. The author of this unusual party is most likely one of the English companies that sold popular dental subscriptions in Britain.
The idea was to be so appreciated by the United Nations that in the early 1990s, the organization brought this most enjoyable holiday to life.
The recommended way to celebrate this occasion was immediately approved. To celebrate it properly, all you have to do is kiss the other person. Of course, with his consent. Kisses should be sincere – only then the idea of the party should be preserved.
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A kiss is not only a matter of health
A kiss is, by definition, an act of lips touching another person’s body (eg, lips, cheek, hand) or an object. Different cultures have attributed different symbolism to it.
It is sometimes treated as a human gesture of respect – then it applies to all people, for example children kissing their parents and vice versa, old people and family members being kissed. Young love kisses inflame the senses, fiancée kisses are an expression and confirmation of love, and marital kisses show tenderness, love and respect for the spouse.
Sometimes the urge to kiss someone is so great that you want to do it in public. It’s not well received everywhere. While in the European cultural circle public kissing is the most commonly accepted behavior, in India or Japan it is treated more as an element of foreplay and is restricted to the private sphere.
Kiss, but only with the other person’s consent and where appropriate
A kiss is a form of intimate contact and demonstrates proximityThat’s why we rarely kiss strangers. If we decide to kiss someone, they are very close people, friends and those with whom we have a good relationship.
In other cases, the kiss is reinforced by a number of cultural norms – only certain areas of the body can be kissed and only in the right way. This is why, for example, a man kisses a newly met woman on the hand, and not on the neck (although this gesture is less and less tolerated), and kissing men in public on the cheek, for example during of a greeting, is an obvious and popular custom in the East, for example in Russia or in Arab countries, but little practiced in our culture.
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Kissing with the cheeks and “nose, nose, Eskimos”
A kiss is a symbol and is not always “measured” with the mouth – it can be delivered symbolically by touching the cheeks or “thrown up” (a very popular form of greeting high society ladies in Hollywood productions from the first half of the 20th century.
You can also kiss the nose, as the Eskimos do in greeting. Although it is common for it to be nose rubbing, in fact the Eskimo kunik presses the tip of its own nose with the tip of another person’s nose.
Nose kissing is not just the domain of Eskimos, as there are peoples who use similar greetings. This group includes, among others: the Maoris of New Zealand, the Hawaiians with their honi-hongi, the Mongol nomads of the Gobi desert, as well as certain cultures of Southeast Asia (Bengalis, Cambodians, Laotians, Thais, Vietnamese, Timorese, Sabu, Sumba, Ibans.)
From the tenderness of Brezhnev and Honecker to the kiss of Judas
As mentioned, in some cultures a bitter kiss between two men, especially for greetings, is not surprising in Eastern Europe (the photo of the greeting kiss of communist leaders Brezhnev and Honecker was especially often cited in this context).
It also happens that not only women, but also men are kissed on the hand. We may encounter such a kiss, for example, in a church, where a kiss on the hand or a ring worn by religious dignitaries signifies respect or subordination. And speaking of religion, we cannot miss one of the most famous kisses in history, which Judas placed on the cheek of Jesus, until now a symbol of betrayal. So: a kiss is not equal to a kiss…
