[solipsism]

Why would I need more information?

A guy was putting his hand on his co-workers' knees! Often enough that people scurried from him! It's clear the implication is made that this is just a "Hindu" thing.

That's wrong. It's not a Hindu thing. It's offensive to say it is. And the idea that my comments saying so are being flagged is also offensive.

Comments like Eh... Can't we just bomb them as usual? ;-) are the ones that violate HN guidelines and should be flagged.

[baldfat]

Imagine the horror of seeing two men walking holding hands because they are just friends. Many cultures have it where adult male friends hold hands and it just means that.

[solipsism]

You're setting up a straw man. In this situation no one is talking about two close friends walking holding hands.

We are talking about a man inappropriately touching his coworkers. Not coworkers who also happen to be good friends. Coworkers who are actively avoiding him because of it.

The LIE being told, and being upheld by you, is that this is part of "Hindu" culture. Anyone saying that is extremely ignorant about India.

[malshe]

I am also really surprised that you are being downvoted for this. This is not a cultural thing at all and assuming it away is terrible.

[FabHK]

It is very much a cultural thing. What makes you think that it isn't?

In some cultures, men (non-romantically) holding hands is perfectly normal. In some cultures, a woman and a man shaking hands would be scandalous. In some cultures, touching somebody else's head would be considered extremely rude. The rules as to what constitutes acceptable behaviour, what constitutes sexual behaviour, etc. are clearly different in different cultures.

"Touch has a high degree of cultural relativity. Thus, the meaning of touch can only be understood in its cultural context (Guindon et al., 2017; Halbrook & Duplechin, 1994; Phelan, 2009)."

"Sexualization Of Touch: Americans, in general, have difficulty conceptualizing physical contact as nothing more than emotional nurturance and tend to avoid touch for fear of being misunderstood (Hunter & Struve, 1998; Zur, 2007a, 2007b)."

https://www.zurinstitute.com/touch-in-therapy/

[solipsism]

You are talking about things you know nothing about. How familiar are you with various Indian cultures? This thing about putting his hand on coworker's knees, to the point that they avoid him, is very much not a part of Indian culture.

Yes, men holding hands is commonly seen.... when those men are close friends. There would be no people trying to avoid each other.

[FabHK]

I am not talking about Indian culture at all, and don’t know whether this specific encounter in this specific environment by this specific person was sexual or appropriate or whatever. I am specifically objecting to "This is not a cultural thing at all" by the GP.

[solipsism]

So.... by your definition literally everything is a cultural thing? If you aren't talking about this specific situation, wtf are you talking about?

[asymmetric]

> A guy was putting his hand on his co-workers' knees!

Oh my god!

[fsloth]

I perceive "hand on knees" gesture either as an intimate sensual caress, or unwanted groping and borderline sexual harassment.

Is "hand on knee" just a friendly way to position yourself when talking to someone in some cultures (so I know what to expect)?