There's Apparently a Reason Why Girls Hug Guys Around the Neck, and This Is News to Us

When the Twitter account Everything Out of Context posted a screenshot of a girl with text reading "Wait until guys find out why girls hug them over the shoulders," the internet started racking its noggin. What does this mean? Are girls hugging guys over the shoulder for a particular reason?

Many brave users admitted that they simply didn't know why women do that. "As a woman, I want to know," wrote one user. Another female said, "Because anything under the shoulders is sweaty, I guess."

Even men tried to take a stab at the answer: "To avoid staining his shirt with makeup/foundation?"

But sadly, none of these answers were correct. After going down a rabbit hole and watching lots of TikToks, we've finally learned the reason why many females intentionally hug like that, and it's pretty bold.

It's worth noting that all of the TikToks regarding this type of hug do have one thing in common: They belong to Gen Z creators.

While I can't speak for all millennials and the generations before, this definitely seems to be an inside joke exclusive to Gen Z. However, I'm sure we've all hugged someone like this not even realizing our body language.

Let's talk about it.

Many people in the comments of the above Instagram video were confused as to what the type of hug means and instead opted to give joke explanations.

@kevihyn said, "Ahh I know this one, girls like to hug you over the shoulders so they can get as close to your brain as possible to telepathically learn all of your weaknesses and use them against you! Hope this helps."

@applefair09 had a more strategic answer. They said, "I hug my husband over the shoulders to make him bend over twelve inches and meet me at my level. It’s a show of dominance."

@the.latina.addams.family joked, "It's so we are optimal level to bite the jugular."

Some people guessed that girls hug guys around their necks so they can smell their cologne. Others claim that it's because girls like the feeling of a guy being taller than them, and hugging them around the neck accentuates that. But what is the real reason girls hug guys over their shoulders?

Believe it or not, girls like to hug boys that way because it brings their bodies together in an intimate way. As one Twitter user wrote: "Genitalia Alignment."

And while that may sound like a bogus answer, it's true that when you hug someone like that, your bodies are touching in some pretty vulnerable places. When a girl wraps her arms around a guy's neck, this allows her to stand on her tippy toes to make her private parts potentially line up with a guy's private parts (assuming he is taller).

One Instagram user, @thats.vane_, said, "If I hug under it’s a friendly hug, if I hug over, I'm literally in love with u 😂." Another person, @be_fromthewoods said, "Right, under the shoulder is to protect boobs, over is to press them titties up their chest 😁😏." Instagram user @bana.na1798 added, "Supposedly if u give a side hug or under the arm hugs means friends but if u hug over the shoulders means u want a kiss and be more than friends."

As TikToker Leighton Whyte (@leightonwhyte) further explains in the video below, "If she goes in for one of these hugs that go around your neck like this" — he demonstrates the embrace with a female counterpart — "everything is exposed. That means she likes you, bro."

He also demonstrates how if a girl hugs a guy from the side, she only thinks of him as a friend. And if she puts her arms under his armpits and rocks him back and forth, she either thinks of the guy as a brother or low-key likes him.

However, it seems the spiciest hug a girl can give is when she puts her arms around a guy's neck.