Will Americans Ever Lose Their Grip on the Handshake?

In February 1896, when germ theory was new, a question was raised about whether the traditional handshake would become obsolete. The handshake remained the default greeting in America, even during the coronavirus pandemic, when experts urged people to stop. Some people kept distance temporarily, but after vaccines and mask-wearing declined, handshakes returned. One perspective on avoiding handshakes is less about infection risk and more about how some men use the gesture to assert dominance. These grips can be extremely forceful, described as vice-like. A 1977 account labeled such a person a “knuckle-cruncher” and recommended responding quickly and firmly to prevent being overpowered.

"“Will it some time be as obsolete as the curtsy with which our grandmothers greeted the beaux of their day, or the kiss that the gallant impressed on the fragile hand that he raised so respectfully to his lips?”"

"“Yet all these years later, the handshake remains the default form of greeting in America. We continue to reach out-thumbs up, fingers relaxed, palms turned to the side-whenever we make someone's acquaintance or seal a deal. Even the coronavirus pandemic couldn't kill the handshake, though it seemed for a moment like it might.”"

"“In 2020, Anthony Fauci, then the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, encouraged Americans to discard the unhygienic practice for the sake of our collective health (another infectious-disease expert went as far as deeming the handshake a 'bioweapon'). And, for a time, some strangers did keep their distance.”"

"“Their handshakes aren't merely firm; they're vice-like. This character was dubbed the ' knuckle-cruncher ' in these pages by the writer David Hammarstrom Jr. in 1977. Hammarstrom insisted that the secret to defending against aggression masquerading as civility was to 'get your hand into his as quickly and snugly as you could, before he had the chance to turn you into a lefty.'”"

Read at The Atlantic