This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Is a kiss just a kiss? Or is it a sign of love, affection, a biological urge, a contract or even an assault?
Law, history, evolution and anthropology show that it can be all those things. A University of Kansas law professor has published an analysis examining the legal history of the kiss, tracing how views of one of the seemingly most basic human behaviors are not universal, especially through a legal lens. Wilson Distinguished Professor of Law at KU, is a member of the Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research.
The organization brings together scholars from law, biology, economics, behavior and other disciplines and chooses what Torrance described as "avant-garde" topics for its conferences. Most recently, the society chose to explore the kiss. For his part, Torrance wrote an examination of laws regarding the kiss, or "osculation regulation," published in a special edition of the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
"Lawyers like me often come at it from an angle of 'somebody performed a kiss and somebody didn't want that, so what does the law say,'" Torrance said. "It turns out the law of the kiss has a long, varied history." He began his research by examining evolutionary insights about kissing, pointing out various theories on why humans developed the behavior—including how it proved love was strong enough that participants were willing to risk sharing disease. Meanwhile, anthropological evidence showed wide cultural views on the value of a kiss, including how many cultures eschew the practice.
From this investigation, Torrance found that kissing is not a universal practice. Legal regulations have not been universal, either. The KU author then examined how, throughout various legal histories, a kiss has been viewed as belonging in the realm of property, contract, tort and criminal law.
First, as property, legal history shows that kisses were often viewed as something that belonged to a person and could either be given or wrongfully taken, Torrance said. In some societies, a young woman's kisses taken without the consent of the patriarch could result in punishment of the aggressor or be seen as a sign of lost virtue. Various legal traditions proceeded to view the kiss as part of contract law.
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