dianavan's got the point I was making.

Not just North America, though the impression I get is that this appetite to read sexuality into just about any kind of contact between human beings has probably gone even further there than in most part of Europe.

It's as if extending freedom in one direction has to be balanced by diminishing it in other directions.

Some of the published guidelines I've seen about how teachers should act in relation to young children, when it comes to any kind of contact are frightening. I can envisage a time down the line when patting a dog or stroking a cat will be seen as clear evidence of a tendency towards bestiality.