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Mef, on holiday in Europe, you get a big hug – should you kiss him? how many times – keep the idea of the Dutch theologian Desiderius Erasmus. When he arrived in England in 1499, he found a race of happy kissers. “Wherever you go, you are welcomed with open arms and kisses; when you leave, they kiss you,” he wrote in surprise, or perhaps alarm. On the continent, the fashion of greeting with a peck on the lips had already fallen by the wayside (perhaps because of the right sex), but the English stuck. It didn’t matter that the other was female, everyone was tired.
Whether you like to breathe, massage, suck your face or faint (scientific term), kissing seems so natural and natural, it’s hard to imagine that it has history. But like kissing is not seen in all culturestherefore, the historian of thought Katie Barclay writes, its meanings have changed over time. From professional foot-kissers to baby-kissing politicians, to the “closet kiss” of Hollywood romcoms, this rich and fascinating history reminds us that kissing is, and always has been, both public criticism and private pleasure.
Barclay, a professor at Macquarie University, Sydney, begins in ancient Europe, and a kiss of peaceor a kiss of peace. A kiss on the lips, usually shared between two powerful men, is the end of any legal or diplomatic negotiations (the clincher, if you will). This tradition was based on medical beliefs that held, since the breath carried the soul, a kiss on the lips made two souls mingle and match. For this reason, ministers and their masters also kissed lips in a religious ceremony, just like worshipers in a church. When the wealthy began to complain about locking lips with their servants however, the churches introduced the pax, a ritual object that could be given with a kiss instead.
Not all symbolic kisses were created equal. Foot-kissing, which is used to show respect, can also be used to humiliate and insult. In 911, when the Viking bandit leader Rollo concluded a peace treaty with the Frankish king, he was instructed to kneel down and kiss the king’s foot in loyalty. The distraught warrior, who would bow down to no man, finally offered a proxy to kiss him instead. The standing Viking is said to have grabbed the king’s foot so hard that he was pushed backwards.
The daily kiss observed by Erasmus in 1499 seems to have disappeared from English culture by the 18th century. At that time, men were shaking hands (although most women were expected to kiss). The male best friends, however, continued to greet and kiss on the lips, during which a The friendship between the men was very loving.
As Barclay writes, by the end of the 19th century, with the kiss of peace and peace a distant memory, and the growing emphasis on romantic marriage, kissing on the lips became almost synonymous with the secret world of love and especially sex. But this did not mean that kissing disappeared completely from society and politics. In 1908, an outbreak of diphtheria prompted the London County Council to ban kissing games in schools. A new era of parental advice in the 1920s led to further debates—whether it was appropriate to kiss children, or, as the American behaviorist John Watson pushed, whether it led to “sucking” (beware of the “hidden dangers in mother’s kisses” he warned, in 1928). I wouldn’t dare kiss a stranger’s baby, but apparently this was such a common occurrence that by the 1930s, healthy mothers were advised to wear a warning on their babies’ pacifiers: “Don’t kiss me”.
Most of all, sexual concerns continued to kiss each other. In the middle of the war, people flocked to the castles, researchers were shocked by the clear displays of passion that were displayed. In 1934, the infamous Hays Code banned “passionate” kissing, as well as interracial and same-sex kissing. In the 1970s, he argued gay civil rights activists embraced the “kiss”, based on the vision of the poor life which was as much about love and compassion as sex.” Later, in the midst of the AIDS epidemic and the flood of fake news about its spread, the possibility of kissing became even more widespread.
Today, the public debate revolves around consent. In 2023, Luis Rubiales, former president of Spain’s youth football federation, angered the world when he kissed captain Jenni Hermoso on the lips following Spain’s World Cup victory (was found guilty of rape). Even a casual kiss can be blown away by power and politics. As Barclay’s timely book reminds us, it was.
Kissing is best illustrated with interesting examples. Readers looking for a quick history may find his style a little academic in places, but Barclay’s main point remains persuasive: “when we kiss, we kiss history”.
