They were holding hands on tonight's episode. There's not reason for adults siblings to walk down a street hand in hand. In the jungle or a mall at Christmas time, maybe, but on a city street, no.

I don't know how African they are in their roots (heard somewhere their origin is Nigeria), but holding hands is a sign of affection/friendship here in West Africa. Guys hold hands with guys, girls with girls, and family members also.

Or, it could be a Blake/Paige thing!

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In much of the world, hand holding is a non-sexual sign of affection and is quite common outside of dating relationships.

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It's all a bit much. You are not imagining things They are too touchy feely. We are all waiting and watching to see what happens!

Not that I have an opinion one way or another ;)
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Hmmm. I haven't gotten that vibe at all. I never saw Blake/Paige, but if it's a similar vibe, then I think all the talk about them is hot air, too.

Maybe it is a different culture but if so, it's been bred out of me because my African American family isn't very touchy feely at all.

They didn't show that as much tonight so maybe it's partly editing.

It sounds to me like someone could use a bit of sensitivity training. Their names are culturally appropriate and just because their names aren't what you would find in your area doesn't make it "weird." Your name would probably be "weird" (to use your word) to people in Africa.

And as sittem mentioned (he's an American living in western Africa), it's a common cultural thing for Africans to hold hands or stay real close to each other. If you've watched TAR all along, you'd have noticed the people in the background watching the racers - you might find that they typically are close to each other, holding hands or cuddled up together in a familial way.

Pepe,

I have actually watched every season of TAR. That's how I knew about Blake and Paige. I don't know if it's a cultural thing but Blake and Paige were not from another culture. They just simply found each other attractive. I can see how either one of them (especially Paige) would be considered attractive by the opposite sex but when it's your sibling, put that under wraps. I say the same about the African siblings this year. She's hot and anyone might find her attractive (including her brother) but they've been in the States long enough to know that's a no-no here. As for their names being "weird" I did mean weird as in not from any culture that we as Americans would recognize or even be able to pronounce upon first sight.

Even in the US the amount of physical affection between people varies between subcultures, regions, and ethnicities.

I don't expect everyone to act the exact same way I do or name their kids like I would. *shrug*

I don't assume incest if a pair of siblings hug or put an arm around each other because I know people who are much more physically affectionate with their families than mine was. I also know families that were much more standoffish with each other than mine was.

I must have not gotten the what behaviors are acceptable if you live here manual.

I totally get that vibe too donracefan.

I felt it right from the start, when they showed the teams driving up to the beginning of the race, and he put his arm around her. My brother would never put his arm around me like that. It was weird. And then the next episode I swear I heard him call her "babe" a few times. That's odd.

And for those that say it's an "African" thing - they're not African. They're Americans that have visited Africa a few times. It's not like they were raised in Africa.

LAST EDITED ON 11-26-07 AT 10:59 PM (EST)

How many generations have they been here? That they know their ancestry is Ethiopian (and I know other recent African immigrants) I assumed their parents came to the US to study and stayed.

ETA, and yes some of that bias comes from the careers they have, which may be totally wrong, but it seems that level of education is more important to recent African immigrants than some of our home grown for many generations. It may not be right to have that prejudice, but it is what I tend to see in academic circles.

I haven't noticed the hand holding and physical closeness in the last two episodes so it could either be editing or nervousness.

I'm starting to like these two.