Holding hands

A man and a woman holding hands

Two or more people voluntarily hold hands for one of the following reasons and purposes:

in various rituals:
- handshake
- in certain religious services, to pray
- in various occult rituals
to express friendship or love
to enjoy physical intimacy (not necessarily of erotic character)
for emotional support
to guide (a child, a blind person, in darkness, etc.)
to urge to follow
to keep together (in a crowd or in darkness)
to help the other walk, stand or climb up
to dance
to arm wrestle

Whether friends hold hands depends on culture and gender: in the Western culture this is mainly done by women and small children. In Arab countries, Africa and some parts of Asia it is done also by men. It is also fairly common to see teenage girls holding hands as a sign of friendship. On Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's 2007 visit of Iran he was publicly holding hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. [1]

See also