Hugs and Shakes

I’m having an interesting etiquette issue. I’m a woman working in a male-dominated environment, and basically I don’t think like a girl. I wear flat shoes and greet people with a firm handshake and drink pints; that’s who I am and I don’t believe my gender should get in the way of how I want to live.

Other people have different ideas though, and although my boyfriend is the same age as me and works in the same industry, now we’re in our mid-twenties I’m starting to notice that social expectations of us are diverging.

A good illustration of this is the minefield of greetings – hugs or handshakes? Personally I think that people who know us both should probably treat us the same but its not really working that way. Close friends of either gender hug me in greeting; in contrast they mostly shake my partner by the hand. It does feel strange that we get treated so differently.

3 thoughts on “Hugs and Shakes

  1. I hug close friends I haven’t seen in a long time, doesn’t matter about gender really. But a guy will be sure to make it known if he doesn’t want to be hugged by you again… ever. :)

  2. Simon – a protocol seems like a good idea though? Like the rules about who you introduce first when two people meet for the first time.

    dotjay – good to see your comment, I haven’t had that reaction when I hug a guy but I’ll look out for it another time :)

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