Physical intimacy
Encyclopedia
Physical intimacy is sensual proximity
or touching. It can be enjoyed by itself or be an expression of feeling
s (such as close friendship
, love
, or sexual attraction) which people have for one another. Examples of physical intimacy include being inside someone's personal space
, holding hands
, hug
ging, kiss
ing, caressing, and sexual activity
.
The forms of physical intimacy include physical closeness
, touching
(especially tenderly), touching intimate part
s (including outercourse), and sexual penetration
.
It is possible to be physically intimate with someone without actually touching them; however, a certain proximity is necessary. For instance, a sustained eye contact
is considered a form of physical intimacy, analogous to touching. When a person enters someone else's personal space
for the purpose of being intimate, it is physical intimacy, regardless of the lack of actual physical contact.
Most people desire occasional physical intimacy, which is a natural part of human sexuality
, and research has shown it has health benefits. A hug or touch can result in the release of oxytocin
, dopamine
, and serotonin
, and in a reduction in stress hormones. A lack of physical intimacy can lead to increased feelings of loneliness.
_-_the_proposal_(1872).jpg)
Most people value their personal space
and feel discomfort, anger, or anxiety when their personal space is encroached. Entering somebody's personal space is normally an indication of familiarity and intimacy. However, in modern society, especially in crowded urban communities, it is at times difficult to maintain personal space, for example, in a crowded train
, elevator
or street. Many people find such physical proximity to be psychologically disturbing and uncomfortable, though it is accepted as a fact of modern life. In an impersonal crowded situation, eye contact tends to be avoided. Even in a crowded place, preserving personal space is important, and intimate and sexual contact, such as frotteurism
and groping
, are normally unacceptable physical contact.
On the other hand, most people occasionally desire physical proximity to others, and will at times welcome a familiar and trusted person into their personal space. When a partner or friend is not available at such a time, some people satisfy this need anonymously in a crowded venue, such as a bar
, disco
, pop concert
, street festival
, etc.
is generally very constrained by social norms and can range from a gesture such as a kiss
or hug
in greeting, to an embrace
or holding hands
. Maintaining eye contact
can be regarded socially and psychologically as analogous to touching.
In private, people in an intimate relationship
or who are familiar with each other are more at ease with physical intimacy and display of affection, which can involve:
An interpersonal relationship
that does not involve sexual activity, such as friendship, may involve display of affection. Friends may avoid physical intimacy to avoid emotions commonly associated with sexuality or emotional intimacy. The definition of "sexual" physical intimacy varies greatly.
) used to describe the intimacy, or closeness, between a mother and a child. Today, the word is generally used for bonding through physical contact, such as holding hands, hugging, or parents washing their child at a bath. The earliest citation of this word appears in Nihon Kokugo Daijiten
in 1971.
According to Scott Clark, the word is a portmanteau derived from "skin", plus the last syllable of "friendship", though the apparent similarity with the English word 'kinship
' raises the question whether this word was also originally coined as a play on words. Use of the word "skinship" in English publications seems to focus on the notion of sharing a bath naked, an idea known in Japanese as . It is not clear why the meaning has shifted in being borrowed back into English
.
This word was later spread to South Korea
and pronounced as (skinship).
Proxemics
Proxemics is the study of measurable distances between people as they interact. The term was introduced by anthropologist Edward T. Hall in 1966...
or touching. It can be enjoyed by itself or be an expression of feeling
Feeling
Feeling is the nominalization of the verb to feel. The word was first used in the English language to describe the physical sensation of touch through either experience or perception. The word is also used to describe experiences, other than the physical sensation of touch, such as "a feeling of...
s (such as close friendship
Friendship
Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association are often thought of as spanning across the same continuum...
, love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
, or sexual attraction) which people have for one another. Examples of physical intimacy include being inside someone's personal space
Personal space
Personal space is the region surrounding a person which they regard as psychologically theirs. Most people value their personal space and feel discomfort, anger, or anxiety when their personal space is encroached. Permitting a person to enter personal space and entering somebody else's personal...
, holding hands
Holding hands
Holding hands is a form of physical intimacy involving two or more people. It may or may not be sexual.Whether friends hold hands depends on culture and gender: in the Western culture this is mainly done by women and small children , spouses and romantic couples...
, hug
Hug
A hug is a form of physical intimacy, that usually involves closing or holding the arms around the neck, back, or waist of another person; if more than two persons are involved, this is referred to as a group hug. A hug, sometimes in association with a kiss, eye contact or other gestures, is a...
ging, kiss
Kiss
A kiss is the act of pressing one's lips against the lips or other body parts of another person or of an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, affection, respect, greeting, friendship, and good...
ing, caressing, and sexual activity
Human sexual behavior
Human sexual activities or human sexual practices or human sexual behavior refers to the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts from time to time, and for a wide variety of reasons...
.
The forms of physical intimacy include physical closeness
Proxemics
Proxemics is the study of measurable distances between people as they interact. The term was introduced by anthropologist Edward T. Hall in 1966...
, touching
Haptic communication
Haptic communication is the means by which people and other animals communicate via touching. Touch, or the haptic sense, is extremely important for humans; as well as providing information about surfaces and textures it is a component of nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships, and...
(especially tenderly), touching intimate part
Intimate part
An intimate, personal, or private part is a place on the human body which is customarily kept covered by clothing in public venues and conventional settings, as a matter of decency, decorum, and respectfulness...
s (including outercourse), and sexual penetration
Sexual penetration
Sexual penetration is a sexual activity that involves the entry into a bodily orifice, such as the vagina, anus or mouth, with a body part or an object....
.
It is possible to be physically intimate with someone without actually touching them; however, a certain proximity is necessary. For instance, a sustained eye contact
Eye contact
Eye contact is a meeting of the eyes between two individuals.In human beings, eye contact is a form of nonverbal communication and is thought to have a large influence on social behavior. Coined in the early to mid-1960s, the term has come in the West to often define the act as a meaningful and...
is considered a form of physical intimacy, analogous to touching. When a person enters someone else's personal space
Personal space
Personal space is the region surrounding a person which they regard as psychologically theirs. Most people value their personal space and feel discomfort, anger, or anxiety when their personal space is encroached. Permitting a person to enter personal space and entering somebody else's personal...
for the purpose of being intimate, it is physical intimacy, regardless of the lack of actual physical contact.
Most people desire occasional physical intimacy, which is a natural part of human sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
, and research has shown it has health benefits. A hug or touch can result in the release of oxytocin
Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a mammalian hormone that acts primarily as a neuromodulator in the brain.Oxytocin is best known for its roles in sexual reproduction, in particular during and after childbirth...
, dopamine
Dopamine
Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter present in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this substituted phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five known types of dopamine receptors—D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5—and their...
, and serotonin
Serotonin
Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Biochemically derived from tryptophan, serotonin is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract, platelets, and in the central nervous system of animals including humans...
, and in a reduction in stress hormones. A lack of physical intimacy can lead to increased feelings of loneliness.
Personal space
Personal space
Personal space is the region surrounding a person which they regard as psychologically theirs. Most people value their personal space and feel discomfort, anger, or anxiety when their personal space is encroached. Permitting a person to enter personal space and entering somebody else's personal...
and feel discomfort, anger, or anxiety when their personal space is encroached. Entering somebody's personal space is normally an indication of familiarity and intimacy. However, in modern society, especially in crowded urban communities, it is at times difficult to maintain personal space, for example, in a crowded train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
, elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
or street. Many people find such physical proximity to be psychologically disturbing and uncomfortable, though it is accepted as a fact of modern life. In an impersonal crowded situation, eye contact tends to be avoided. Even in a crowded place, preserving personal space is important, and intimate and sexual contact, such as frotteurism
Frotteurism
Frotteurism refers to a paraphilic interest in rubbing, usually one's pelvis or erect penis, against a non-consenting person for sexual gratification. It may involve touching any part of the body including the genital area. A person who practices frotteurism is known as a frotteur...
and groping
Groping
When used in a sexual context, groping is touching or fondling another person in a sexual way using the hands; it generally has a negative connotation, and is considered molestation in most societies. The term 'frotteurism' may be applied when a person rubs up against another person, typically...
, are normally unacceptable physical contact.
On the other hand, most people occasionally desire physical proximity to others, and will at times welcome a familiar and trusted person into their personal space. When a partner or friend is not available at such a time, some people satisfy this need anonymously in a crowded venue, such as a bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, pop concert
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
, street festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
, etc.
Display of affection
People who are on a familiar basis may like to enter into each other's personal space, such as to make a physical contact. These can be indicators of affection. The manner in which people display affection is generally different in a public context to a private one. Depending on the nature of the relationship between the people, a public display of affectionPublic display of affection
Public displays of affection are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others. What are acceptable displays of affection vary between cultures as well as to time and context. Which acts are acceptable have also varied over time...
is generally very constrained by social norms and can range from a gesture such as a kiss
Kiss
A kiss is the act of pressing one's lips against the lips or other body parts of another person or of an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, affection, respect, greeting, friendship, and good...
or hug
Hug
A hug is a form of physical intimacy, that usually involves closing or holding the arms around the neck, back, or waist of another person; if more than two persons are involved, this is referred to as a group hug. A hug, sometimes in association with a kiss, eye contact or other gestures, is a...
in greeting, to an embrace
Embrace
Embrace may refer to:*A hug, a form of physical intimacy*Embrace , an English band*Embrace , a United States band*Embraze, a Finnish band originally called Embrace...
or holding hands
Holding hands
Holding hands is a form of physical intimacy involving two or more people. It may or may not be sexual.Whether friends hold hands depends on culture and gender: in the Western culture this is mainly done by women and small children , spouses and romantic couples...
. Maintaining eye contact
Eye contact
Eye contact is a meeting of the eyes between two individuals.In human beings, eye contact is a form of nonverbal communication and is thought to have a large influence on social behavior. Coined in the early to mid-1960s, the term has come in the West to often define the act as a meaningful and...
can be regarded socially and psychologically as analogous to touching.
In private, people in an intimate relationship
Intimate relationship
An intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy is characterized by romantic or passionate love and attachment, or sexual activity. The term is also sometimes used euphemistically for a sexual...
or who are familiar with each other are more at ease with physical intimacy and display of affection, which can involve:
- Sitting on or lying against the other person or resting their head on the other's shoulder, lap, breast, chest, etc.
- Caressing (petting) or gently stroking body parts or hairHairHair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
with a handHandA hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered extremity located at the end of an arm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs... - TicklingTicklingTickling is the act of touching a part of the body so as to cause involuntary twitching movements and/or laughter. The word evolved from the Middle English tikelen, perhaps frequentative of ticken, to touch lightly. The idiom tickled pink means to be pleased or delighted.In 1897, psychologists G...
- MassagingMassageMassage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
someone's back, legs or feet or other part. - Sexual intercourseSexual intercourseSexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
- Rubbing or patting someone's belly, mostly for babiesInfantA newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
- Patting the buttocksButtocksThe buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
or swatting the back or upper arm - Tapping the legs
An interpersonal relationship
Interpersonal relationship
An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on limerence, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment. Interpersonal relationships are formed in the...
that does not involve sexual activity, such as friendship, may involve display of affection. Friends may avoid physical intimacy to avoid emotions commonly associated with sexuality or emotional intimacy. The definition of "sexual" physical intimacy varies greatly.
Skinship
The term is a Japanese-English term (Wasei-eigoWasei-eigo
are Japanese pseudo-Anglicisms: English constructions not used in the English-speaking world or by native English speakers, but that appear in Japanese. This should not be confused for foreign words gairaigo, which generally refer to words from European languages, especially American English...
) used to describe the intimacy, or closeness, between a mother and a child. Today, the word is generally used for bonding through physical contact, such as holding hands, hugging, or parents washing their child at a bath. The earliest citation of this word appears in Nihon Kokugo Daijiten
Nihon Kokugo Daijiten
The , often abbreviated as the and sometimes known in English as Shogakukan's Japanese Dictionary, is the largest Japanese language dictionary published. In the period from 1972 to 1976, Shogakukan published the 20-volume first edition. The 14-volume second edition was published in the period...
in 1971.
According to Scott Clark, the word is a portmanteau derived from "skin", plus the last syllable of "friendship", though the apparent similarity with the English word 'kinship
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
' raises the question whether this word was also originally coined as a play on words. Use of the word "skinship" in English publications seems to focus on the notion of sharing a bath naked, an idea known in Japanese as . It is not clear why the meaning has shifted in being borrowed back into English
Reborrowing
Reborrowing is the process where a word travels from one language to another and then back to the originating language in a different form or with a different meaning.This is indicated by A→B→A, where A is the originating language....
.
This word was later spread to South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
and pronounced as (skinship).
See also
- Emotional intimacyEmotional intimacyEmotional intimacy is an aspect of interpersonal relationships that varies in intensity from one relationship to another and varies from one time to another, much like physical intimacy. Affect, emotion and feeling may refer to different phenomena...
- Public display of affectionPublic display of affectionPublic displays of affection are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others. What are acceptable displays of affection vary between cultures as well as to time and context. Which acts are acceptable have also varied over time...
- Sexual intimacySexual intercourseSexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
External links
- "American guys embrace the hug" - article at The Arizona RepublicThe Arizona RepublicThe Arizona Republic is a daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. It was ranked tenth in US daily newspapers by circulation in 2007.-Early years:The newspaper was founded...
- NPR: Poet on Call, By Andrei Codrescu commentary on hugs on NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...