Why is pointing rude?

Growing up, I have always been told that it is not good to point at people (animals or non living objects were fine). I had always accepted that as fact, never thinking to question it. 

However, I during a lesson recently, I had mentioned this to a student of mine, and he asked me “Why?” That is a very good question; why did I never stop to question it myself? Of course, I couldn’t give a proper answer then, so I gave myself some homework to look into it.

There were quite a few reasons that came up, spanning over several countries as well. In the West, most likely in Europe, finger-pointing is seen as a person cursing someone else. The word “curse” has a few definitions that are very similar to each other; in this case, it means “to wish evil, injury, or something really bad to happen (to a person). So in Europe, finger-pointing is like someone using magic in a bad way. In America, I read that pointing is not good because it looks like a “gun”. Given how much America seems to like guns, and all the recent issues, I can understand why someone might think this. However, I never experienced it in that way, so I can not vouch for its validity. 

The reason I think fits best is this one: it is a dominant to subordinate behavior mainly seen in the professional (business) world. It is an aggressive action that someone in a higher position would use towards a person in a lower position, whether to give orders, single out a person in a crowd, or for other similar reasons.

What this means is that the person doing the pointing sees the person they are pointing as “lower”, that they are not “equals”. And so, of done in a setting that has no semblance of rank or seniority, it can be seen as a rude gesture.

I thought it was very interesting, looking up this information. I hope I get more questions like this, so I can do more research!

-Captain