
The Etiquette of the Victorian Handshake: Advice on Opposite Sex Greetings - Avawelles
https://www.mimimatthews.com/2017/09/05/the-etiquette-of-the-victorian-handshake-advice-on-opposite-sex-greetings/
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Tangurena2
The author of this article writes Victorian romance fiction. It is not to be
taken as advice for the modern reader. Unless you are a Steampunk cosplayer,
or some sort of Neo-Victorian as appearing in _The Diamond Age_

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heheocoenev
Hugs are more hygenic than handshakes. Hug greeting for the 21C!

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raghava
Simpler one with _zero_ contact!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namaste](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namaste)

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eeZah7Ux
A visible nod, like a little bowing, would be enough.

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_pmf_
"Sweaty Palms, the startup that disrupts the personal greeting space by
replacing the handshake with a block-chain based trust system that guarantees
mutual agreeability in an safe and consistent manner."

(ICO starting now, invest unless you want to risk being isolated for the rest
of your life. In fact, also invest to safely opt out.)

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jandrese
Name is too long for a modern startup, it needs to be something memorable like
Palmr, Handi, or Shakr.

If it doesn't look like your keyboard is missing some keys you are doing it
wrong.

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PMan74
> In general, handshakes between men and women could only be initiated by the
> lady.

Still the custom in the certain Muslim counties, you'll never get it wrong if
you wait for the woman to offer.

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roceasta
Isn't one of the reasons for handshakes thought to be to show that one isn't
carrying a weapon? Since women aren't expected under most circumstances to go
about armed, they have less reason to shake.

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drcross
I think, as modern humans, we try to retrofit these reasons on to old customs
but I have a sense that a handshake is simply the most convenient expression
to signify to a person that you have an inherent respect for them or recognise
their value.

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imartin2k
The handshake is definitely one of the strangest social customs that exist.
Like a stupid word which reveals its strangeness once you start thinking about
it conciously, the handshake seems ridiculous in the moment one questions it.

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tjoff
How is it strange? (I don't find it odd at all)

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TurboHaskal
I'm used to handshakes for non blood related males (friends, business
contacts) and kisses in the cheeks for relatives and females.

In Anglo-Saxon and Germanic countries women default to the handshake even
outside of business settings. I find it odd and still have difficulties
adjusting to that.

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imartin2k
Hehe as someone from Germany living in Sweden, I find this constant cheek
kissing with quasi strangers in Southern or Western Europe or the Spanish
speaking world pretty akward. But I understand that it's feels normal to most
who grew up with it.

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norikki
Don't people think this is sexist? If men and women are equal shouldn't they
be treated the same in all situations?

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cchurch
Why does equality require a loss of chivalry? Equality does not mean we
pretend people are completely uniform.

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kelnos
No, but doesn't equality mean that we treat everyone in the same way,
regardless of gender, for one thing?

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sattoshi
People aren't equal though. Coming from Russia, the West is really confused
about what it wants.

It seems to want chivalry plus equality minus morality. This desire is
represented by factions who seem to work together on some level. The end
result is a mess.

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Nomentatus
A mess the end result of which is that people here touch far more rarely than
they did in Victorian times. Yet we know that rarely being touched in
childhood is a strong risk factor for promiscuity later on.

As for equality, women are far more at risk from sexual predation and assault;
I don't think it's rude to let social customs reflect this by having them
initiate touch, largely.

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KSteffensen
Risk factor for promiscuity. Is promiscuity a bad thing?

As long as you take proper precautions, it seems like sex is a good thing.

I like it, anyway

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Nomentatus
At a young age, yeah, it correlates with quite bad outcomes.

