“It’s the faces touching - like really really in there. “No guys that are perfectly straight would do this,” one participant said of the photo below. There were a couple hugs that crossed a line, though. They noted similar interactions with women, but only when meeting them for the first time. One participant explained that he “wanted to go in for a hug all the time.” Another recounted a guy saying “nah” when he reached for a handshake, opting to hug him instead.

Nearly all of the hugging photos were considered “okay” without objection, Ralph says. Or at least how the participants in their study sorted images of straight men embracing in different ways - classifying the embraces as either “okay,” “it depends” or “not okay.” Handshakes, Hugging and ‘Chin Sex’ To get a better understanding of all this totally not gay platonic touch (and penis fondling), I asked Ralph and Roberts to take me through the myriad ways straight guys show affection for each other (totally behind closed doors, of course).