Cultural Post #4

[Justin Chew]

I thought Pooja’s focus on the Hindi tradition of touching feet as a sign of respect was particularly interesting for two reasons. First, in the Chinese/Laotian/Malaysian cultural household I’ve grown up in, the feet are considered dirty. Setting one’s foot on an eating surface or at an individual’s head level is considered extraordinarily rude. The foot has a connection with the dirty ground, bacteria, and overall poor sanitary conditions. To touch or kiss another’s feet would be considered not as a sign of respect, but one that signifies either humiliation or the imposition of power over another. So when heard Pooja’s presentation of touching feet as one of the highest signs of respect and exaltation, I was intrigued. Second, this drastically different cultural practiced led me to think about greetings in Bosnia. I recently learned that Bosnians engage in 2-3 cheek touches/kisses to greet one another. In contrast to a comparatively conservative Asian culture, I found this very interesting. While Bosnians are considered social, they are also considered sexually and socially conservative. They tend to trust only close friends and family and have a very conservative attitude towards sexual practices, especially foreplay and the romance involved. But they kiss! Interestingly, mainstream Americans seem to possess opposite traits: socially and sexually liberal. Perhaps this is why Americans find kissing or cheek touching inappropriate or uncomfortable? Precisely because kissing is sexually or romantically connected whereas in Bosnian culture sex is quite literally and exclusively, sex (I’ve yet to see BCS movie sex scenes, but this is the impression given to me by my language partner)?