Context is everything, especially when it comes to cuddling. Refinery29’s Venus Wong, 31, is a fan of cuddling with friends if they are just chilling around one of their houses. Wong went to an all girls’ school and cuddling like this feels normal to her; she wouldn’t behave in the same way with guy friends or friends who simply weren’t as comfortable with physical contact. “I have so many memories of falling asleep while watching a movie with my friends, and this is always kick-started by some spooning,” she recalls. “The most recent time this happened was on my hen do last year. I stayed in a beach house in Montauk, New York with my best friends and we kept joking that I was Diane Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give (her character is a writer and lives in a beach house in The Hamptons). They later surprised me with matching white jumpers, which was Keaton’s signature look in the movie. I have the best memory of us all cuddling together and watching the film in our fluffy matching knitwear.” Wong also cuddles with a group of her childhood friends who have a tradition of taking a road trip every two years. On those trips, one night will involve them all staying up gossiping until sunrise — while snuggling. “It’s nice to feel like we’re carefree children in primary school again,” she adds. “Physical touch with another person of the same sex just doesn’t feel like a big deal to me.”
