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Origin Of Obscene Gestures

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Origin Of Obscene Gestures
Every culture has obscene gestures; in America the middle finger is one of the most obscene. The middle finger was most likely derived from Ancient Greece, ‘the finger’ is one of the most widespread obscene gestures throughout the Western world. In a handful of Mediterranean and Arab countries the index finger is preferred to the middle, but the meaning remains crystal clear. There are tons of different stories for the origin of the finger; going back as far as 2,500 years. Some make mention to Greek tragedies, phallic representation, perverse Roman emperors, English long bowmen, and annoyed deaf people but, we just don’t know the actual origin. Nonetheless, the middle finger is probably the most universally-understood hand gesture in the world. …show more content…
Basically saying "You take it up the ass." France likes large gestures but Pakistanis are very simple. A single raised closed fist in Pakistan means that you take an erect penis up into your rectum. The Philippines are also very simplistic. In America we might signal someone to "come here" by curling an index finger toward ourselves repeatedly. Don't do that in the Philippines, where it's a gesture fit only for dogs and can get you arrested.Over in Japan they have the Animal. This is because Japanese don't like Koreans so they call them "animals" by extending four fingers of one hand in another person's face. I thought it was really interesting how each gesture was linked to a sexual organ or sexual act. Obscene gestures are a part of society no one really thinks about but I realized how much it relates to that cultures way of thinking. Also, how one society can be ‘ok’ with something and another will cringe; like the ok symbol. The moral of the story is if your traveling google that country and read a bit because you don’t want to ruin your vacation because your feeling a little punk

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