Friends Or Lesbians

When girls are young they can wander around, arms around each other or just holding hands but as they get older such physical contact can take on other connotations.

That’s not to say of course that they cannot indulge in public displays of affection that guys simply wouldn’t indulge in. For example, hugging, kissing, complimenting each other about their appearance. But there are certain things that as women get older are more attributable to being partners than being simply friends.

Personally I think this is wrong, but then again I think that guys being over-macho just to prove how not gay they are is pretty daft behaviour. We should all be able to express our affection for each other without it being misconstrued, yet I understand how difficult that can be; And it’s all down to context.

Part of that context is age of course and in the same way that innocence evaporates from us as we get older our awareness of what others perceive of us from our behaviour becomes more acute. Holding hands with a girl as you walk down the street with another woman is in most societies something that young girls do and adult women tend not to. The implication being that if you are an adult and holding hands with anyone then they are your partner.

Wishing for a utopian world where everyone is that accepting and does not make assumptions about people is of course naïve. Everyone’s upbringing and cultural background is different meaning that preconceptions not only influence the way that we interpret behaviour but can often outweigh hard facts about others.

This leads to an interesting side effect of such human fallibility we use stereotypes as shorthand, in the everyday world and in the adult world.

Guys holding hands – must be gay

Girls holding hands – must be gay

Guy and girl holding hand – must be new couple!

And so it goes on. Daft really but handy for tabloid journalists. LOL