Spaces that Confine Our Relationships

Growing up, I accepted the space bubble of men. I never questioned the issue of why us men had to sit with one seat between them at the movie theater -- I just accepted it. As you would guess, it blew my mind when I saw President Bush holding hands with that Saudia Arabian prince many years ago:

Being the mature individual that I am, my initial reaction was, of course, a mild chuckle. Following this, time was spent questioning the male space bubble -- the issue obviously must be a cultural-social issue and not a naturally-occurring rule if men in different parts of the world can acceptably lock hands.

I guess I am learning more as I grow older and meet different peoples. My male students have been a great teacher of this: their randomly telling me, "I love you" and their "touchy-feely" attitude has really led me to seeing male relationships in a different light. Because they are not gay at all, but they are just building relationships with other men in the way they see fit.

They are not gay, but sometimes, I really have to wonder:

(Background: We were watching Mulan and this one student wanted to get a better view, so thus, the human booster seat was concocted. Some of the other students thought it was funny too, but it wasn't at all a taboo thing like it would be in America... *mild chuckle*).