Greetings and Gender

I found it very old that when doing the last SAM activity, it asked, if you touch people when you first meet them or keep your distance from them. Growing up in America, we are taught to respect peoples "bubble" and not to violate their space, even when we do know them. So I was very confused as to why the book would ask if we touched people when we first met them, since we do not get close to many people we know well.
After studying traditional Spanish greetings, it makes sense as to why the book would ask that question. In Spanish nations, it is the social norm for men to hug each other and kiss women on the cheeks. It is also normal for woman to kiss other women on the cheeks. Therefore, we can tell Spanish countries are much more personal when it comes to greetings.
I also find it very interesting how Spanish speakers put such an emphasis on gender when speaking and writing. In the United States, we have things that we would say are femine and some that are masculine, but we really do not have any formal rules within the English language for gender. Therefore, I find this very interesting! After doing some research, the information about gender and the evolution of the Spanish language is all over the board with no real answers as to how these rules originated.