I do think that people back then were far more comfortable being affectionate with same-sex "bosom companions," without anything further being meant by it. It seems very cultural. I come from a touchy-freely family, and I remember when I was a young teenager in Wisconsin, walking with a same-sex friend, when she suddenly stopped dead and said in horror, "Look, we're holding hands!" I didn't think it was a big deal, but she wasn't comfortable with it. When I moved to California in my late teens, I was happy to find that my friends there saw nothing strange about hugging each other. Here in China, same-sex friends, male or female, can walk holding hands or with their arms slung across the other's shoulders, or pat the other's leg when sitting, and it just means they are friends. My little son and his best friend walk hand-in-hand all the time. I think it is healthy. Humans are meant to touch.