Don't
Touch
Me.
Personal space gets ignored at work, at family gatherings, and around children who are still figuring out where the lines are, or whose lines have been crossed by the adults around them.
Read MoreIf you have spent time in offices where boundaries were an afterthought, or attended holiday dinners where "just give your uncle a hug" was prescriptive, this is for you. If you don't like other people's germs or simply aren't a hugger, this is for you. Personal space is for everyone and for all to respect.
What this covers
At work
The shoulder pat, the too-close hover, the hug hello that wasn't offered. Workplace situations where personal space gets rationalized away, and what it looks like to push back without making it a thing.
Family & gatherings
The aunt who insists. The cousin who doesn't read cues. The general assumption that family closeness is owed rather than earned. These dynamics are real and they repeat, often across generations.
Children
Kids who haven't learned to respect others' space, and kids whose own space isn't being respected by adults. What happens when adults model consent as discretionary rather than mandatory, and how they can do better.
Recent articles
All articles →Growing up doesn't automatically end the family patterns around touch that started when you were small. Here's what it takes to actually change them.
The person who grabs your arm or wrist mid-conversation for emphasis. A specific form of unwanted contact that often happens too fast to address in the moment.
Non-verbal signals are clear if you're looking for them. What to do when the person you're dealing with isn't, and words become necessary.
Cultural norms around physical contact are real and worth understanding. They don't override what the person in front of you has said they want.
Not a relative, not a stranger. The family friend who's around often enough to matter and still doesn't get it. What to do when the situation requires more than hope.
When one person in a long friendship is naturally tactile and the other isn't, the conversation either happens at some point or it gets managed around indefinitely.