Slap - Cultural Aspects

Cultural Aspects

Slapping is viewed differently by different cultures. In Iceland, slapping of children is viewed as an extreme form of physical abuse, whereas in the United Kingdom it is seen by only some parents as abusive, and only moderately so. An Indian study found a high rate of approval for husbands slapping their wives, particularly among husbands and middle-class Indians.

When Jewish girls menstruate for the first time, their mothers often slap them across the face, a cultural tradition thought by some to signify the difficulties of life as a woman.

Studies have shown that although Americans frown upon domestic violence regardless of whether the perpetrator is male or female, generally they are more accepting of minor violence, such as slapping, when it's perpetrated by a woman against a man rather than the opposite. This is probably because women are considered less likely than men to cause physical harm. However, women who inflict minor acts of violence on their male partners have a higher-than-normal probability of being severely assaulted by those partners, and domestic violence experts therefore advise at-risk women to refrain from even minor acts of physical aggression against their partners. Also, both men and women who are violent with their spouses are more likely to slap or spank their children as well.

United States intelligence agencies use insult slaps as a form of an enhanced interrogation technique.

In India, the insult slap is a political maneuver used to express disapproval of ideas of a particular public figure or politician.