Why regular women are now embracing Kylie Jenner’s sexy celebrity trend

Kylie Jenner recently put a wild hook up trend under the spotlight – and it’s not just celebrities who are busily embracing it.

Kylie Jenner shared this snap of her and BFF Anastasia “Stassie” Karanikolaou locking lips on Valentine's Day. Picture: Instagram/@kyliejenner

As I enjoyed the Season 3 finale of The Kardashians (my guilty pleasure of television viewing), Kylie Jenner and her best friend Anastasia “Stassie” Karanikolaou took part in a mini (even more contrived than usual) chat discussing important details like Kylie officially changing her son’s name from Wolf to Aire Webster, her plastic surgery regrets and the persistent rumours that the two friends are having more than just a platonic friendship and are in fact secretly having sex and in a relationship.

“Isn’t it so funny that everyone thinks that we’re dating these days?” Jenner asked her influencer pal Karanikolaou, 26.

Jenner’s comments came after she shared a snap of herself locking lips with Karanikolaou on Valentine’s Day in February and called her in the caption her “forever Valentine”.

While the sex rumour was rebuffed, the two did admit that they regularly hook up.

“When we get a little alcohol in our system, we just like to kiss each other and stuff.”

Kylie Jenner shared this snap of her and BFF Anastasia “Stassie” Karanikolaou locking lips on Valentine's Day. Picture: Instagram/@kyliejenner

Upon hearing this, I began to reflect on platonic, heterosexual and often same-sex friends who do regularly hook up.

Now call me sheltered (really, it’s fine), but over the past few months, I have noticed this happening – a lot – and not just on social media or on reality TV, but in person too.

There was a friend of mine who pashed her BFF at her own hen’s night multiple times (a part and parcel of all their nights out, I later learned), two friends (both married with kids of their own) who got it on, on the dancefloor of a 40th and who then reminisced about all the times they had done this in their university days. And then, when I was talking to another friend about my recent observations, her response to me was, “You don’t kiss your girlfriends?”

And this had me wondering – has this always been happening and I have been living under a rock? Is it common for best friends to hook up? Are Kylie and Stassie a public example of this friendship rite of passage? Or are they putting a public face to a new friendship trend?

Relationship counsellor and sexologist Lauren Bradley from Love Therapy Australia said that this trend is definitely not new, and in fact, platonic friends have kissed in a variety of forms for centuries.

“Kissing platonic friends has been around since ancient history, and perhaps (there is) a resurgence as cultures become more comfortable with divergent forms of sexual expression,” she told news.com.au.

Britney Spears and Madonna famously kissed on stage in 2003.

While all my observations have been women kissing other women, she said there was research showing it is commonplace among heterosexual men too.

“One paper from 2019 found that 40 per cent of the heterosexual male participants had cheek kissed a platonic friend, and 10 per cent had kissed a platonic friend on the lips. The participants had described the kisses as platonic rather than romantic,” she said.

So, why are we hooking up with our friends, even when we are already partnered up romantically with others?

Ms Bradley said there were a multitude of reasons.

Firstly, she said it can be a convenient and practical way to perfect your technique.

“Kissing your friends can be a form of practice for the real deal, where you learn what feels good, get the awkwardness out of the way, and learn how much tongue is too much tongue,” Bradley said.

“Kissing your friends on the lips can also be a big ‘f-you’ to toxic masculinity, traditional stereotypes or restrictions,” she added.

As did Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock on stage at the 15th Annual Critics Choice Movie Awards in 2010.

For 28-year-old *Hannah, kissing her best friend of over 10 years *Sarah is purely just about having fun, the effects of drinking and expressing their affection for each other.

“We kissed for the first time as a dare back in high school. Then as we started going out to nightclubs, we would just find ourselves dancing together, touching each other and then kissing just sort of naturally happened from there,” she said.

“Both of us are heterosexual and the physical act of kissing, for us, isn’t a sign of anything more.”

Ms Bradley said Hannah and Sarah’s experience was another common reason that friends find themselves locking lips and that it’s completely natural.

“Kissing is a demonstration of intimacy and connection, which doesn’t have to be reserved for the love of your life,” she said.

“It also allows us to express ourselves sexually without the full commitment of sex.

“It’s just the tip of the tongue into sexual exploration.”

*Names have been changed.

Shona Hendley is a freelance writer.