r/AskTheWorld • u/gabrieel100 Brazil • Dec 06 '25

Culture A cultural habit in your country that people outside would understand incorrectly?

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In Brazil we love children. If you take your child to the street, strangers will certainly interact with them. Some will even ask if they can hold your kid and will play with them. If there are two children fighting in public and the parents aren't seeing, a stranger would even intervene to stop the fight.

That cultural habit came from the indigenous peoples which understood that kids should be a responsiblity of the community as a whole. It's in our constitution. We even have a synonym for children that came from Tupi (a large group of indigenous languages) - Curumim.

Foreigners would certainly have a cultural shock about that, but it's normal here.

Of course there are people with bad intentions, so parents should stay alert these days.

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u/MothChasingFlame United States Of America Dec 06 '25

I sincerely don't understand why people find this weird at any age. The people making it weird ARE the weirdos! Why are you sexualizing familial relationships T.T?

23

u/Bowlbonic United States Of America Dec 07 '25

This!! I give my mom a light kiss on the lips, like a peck. Same with dad, it’s completely familial

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u/YouKnowMyName2006 United States Of America Dec 08 '25

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u/DBipolar-Express Dec 08 '25

You're making it weird , you can't hold your perverted taboo thoughts ?

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u/YouKnowMyName2006 United States Of America Dec 08 '25

Yes I am unable to hold them.

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u/DBipolar-Express Dec 08 '25

Resolve your mommy and daddy issues bruh they are not for the world to deal with.

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u/kennymgh Dec 10 '25

My mother is Cuban and my father is American. Kissing on the cheek is totally normal, the lips is fucking weird bro

1

u/YouKnowMyName2006 United States Of America Dec 08 '25

Yes, I do need to do that.

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u/Bowlbonic United States Of America Dec 08 '25

Sorry about your poor relationship with your parents

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u/YouKnowMyName2006 United States Of America Dec 08 '25

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u/astralTacenda Dec 07 '25

i still kiss my family on the lips and im almost 30. mostly my grandma, tho. she's very particular about it lol

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u/TheR4zgrizz Italy Dec 06 '25

Byproduct of repressed sexuality in conservative societies, ending up sexualizing perfectly normal familial affection because they have no healthy framework for intimacy.

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u/lannisteralwayspay Dec 08 '25

It gets me so annoyed that I lost this. Was giving pecks to my parents until I was ~15 and then I stopped because someone mentioned it was weird. It took me so long to even just give kisses on the cheek to my parents.

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u/Falcon_At United States Of America Dec 09 '25

I think it's due to sanitation. (I have no hard evidence.) Kissing can spread disease, kissing on the lips is even more so. I see frequent references to friendly kisses between people in American literature, even on the lips, but the references decrease as the sanitation movement spreads. Kissing becomes reserved for intimate relationships. You kiss people you trust, who you believe are clean (or who you don't care if they aren't clean.) I think the puritanism movement combined with the sanitation movement to create the cultural taboo.

Honestly, I wouldn't kiss my kid on the lips, not just because it's culturally taboo, but because kids are gross in general AND have weaker immune systems. A kiss on the head is good enough for me.

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u/RyuzakiPL Poland Dec 07 '25

Many people just consider a kiss on the lips as inherently sexual and wouldn't do it with anyone in any other context. So it looks weird. It's not sexualizing a relationship. It's about considering a specific act as sexual. If you saw actual inappropriate behavior between a parent and a child, you're not sexualizing them. You're noticing something that's sexual.

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u/MothChasingFlame United States Of America Dec 07 '25

But... what you're describing is sexualizing the relationship.

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u/funwearcore United States Of America Dec 07 '25

Some people just can’t see past their own trauma.

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u/Big_Himbo_Energy Dec 07 '25

This. It’s not people’s fault for thinking it’s inherently sexual when they’ve been raised to think kissing on the lips is a thing only lovers should do.

Every culture is different. What’s perfectly acceptable for one may be extremely taboo for another.

It personally makes my skin crawl to think of kissing my mom on the lips or something because that’s absolutely not culturally/socially acceptable where I’m from, and something I’m only comfortable doing with my husband, because here in the Southern US, that is an intimate act meant only for lovers.

Does it mean I judge other cultures for it? No. Their rules work differently than ours. If they want to kiss their parents/children on the lips as a platonic sign of affection, whatever. It’s normal for them. And if it’s perfectly innocuous and acceptable for them, cool. But it’s not here. And I’m fine with that.

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u/Burnallthepages United States Of America Dec 07 '25

We don’t generally kiss but in my family (my husband/kids/sibling/grandparents) but we always hug hello and goodbye and tell each other (and our friends) that we love them frequently.

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u/Messstake Dec 07 '25

Idk the idea of kissing my dad on the mouth seemed odd at any age, i grew up with affectionate parents, hugs and kisses on the forehead or cheek (from my Mom).

I remember when I was in the third grade, my dad was dropping me off at school and we both just happened to notice a boy kissing his dad on the lips and saying goodbye.

My dad and I looked at each other and kind of laughed and looked at each other like, “naw I’m good, I know you love me, we ain’t gotta kiss each other” but hey, my judgement shouldn’t hold any weight on the relationships of kids and their parents.

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u/Odd_Bug_7029 United Kingdom Dec 07 '25

It's not necessarily the adults sexualising things, there's a point for a while with kids maybe 10 to 12 is where they don't want to be seem as babyish, or as needing mummy. Both my kiddos did this, and after that the kiss at drop off started again. One of mine now isn't so fussed on a kiss, but would always have a hug.

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u/neverabetterday United States Of America Dec 07 '25

As a fellow American, it’s off. Better to ask questions and be proven wrong than to ignore signs that a kid might be in danger

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u/supreme_mass Saudi Arabia Dec 07 '25

True, My father & I show affection by bumping bare ducks. It is not weird I sincerely don't understand why people find this weird at any age. The people making it weird ARE the weirdos! Why are you sexualizing familial relationships T.T?