Kissing
... is a pilgrimage for the young boy. The fact that this boy would travel five miles and risk getting caught by her parents so that he could kiss her show how powerful a kiss can be. A great deal of reference is used to support Akerman beliefs on kissing. She uses several Biblical references; the story of Isaac is one of the Biblical references used. Examples of kissing with in other cultures are given each with its own published reference. There is also reference to animals licking each other as a form of kissing. She quotes Charles Darwin’s description of the Malay nose-rubbing kiss which is similar to the way Inuit’s kiss. Akerman’s quotes paragraphs from books such as the customs of the Swahili People, edited by J.W.T. Allen. Have you ever wondered how mouth kissing began? Akerman talks about one of the possible origins of mouth kissing. Before commercial baby was available, mothers used to chew the food and then pass it to the infant’s mouth. This is why kissing may be comforting and erotic to us today. Akerman talks about all the other, not romantic, meanings for the word kiss. For example we kiss dice for good luck, we say “kiss my ass”, and we give the term kiss to the touching of two billiard balls. The use of the word kiss in these examples is not romantic. Rodin’s sculpture The Kiss is explained lengthily by Akerman. She calls it “the most famous kiss in the world” (6). She describes the statue in immense detail. Unlike her metaphors that created an image using minimal words, when describing the statue she does the opposite; she uses very descriptive words and paints a very vivid image. The anthropology lips’ becoming red and swell when aroused is touched upon. This explains why women wear lipstick. Throughout the essay repetition is to a great degree. Within paragraph 3 the work kiss is used nineteen times. This really implants the act of kissing in your mind. Also in the paragraph there is one long sentence which when you finish reading you are left gasping for breath mush as you would be after a long kiss. Repetition of word is not the only type of repetition used; in the same paragraph repetition of sentence structure is used, “we kissed delicately, in waves of sipping and puckering; we kissed torridly, with tongues like hot pokers, we kissed timelessly, because lovers throughout the ages knew our longing” (3). Many similes and metaphor are used in the essay. Akerman compares tongues to hot pokers. This sen...