Where, as in the English-speaking world,
there is a taboo upon the expression of tenderness
in men, young men do not kiss their
fathers or embrace them-and the truth is,
on the whole, that they do not know how to
kiss or embrace anyone else, for the peck that
they give their mothers will not be very different
from the peck they give their wives.
Among the Romance-language speaking peoples
the case is very different-demonstrative
affection is uninhibited toward everyone,
and this seems to be highly correlated with
the amount and quality of the tactile experiences
which children enjoy from the earliest
age, not only at the hands of their mothers,
but virtually everyone.