Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1: The Evolution of Modesty; The Phenomena of Sexual Periodicity; Auto-ErotismEllis, Havelock
Science
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1: The Evolution of Modesty; The Phenomena of Sexual Periodicity; Auto-Erotism
Ellis, Havelock
Sex; Sex (Psychology)
when he came to himself, the maiden hid herself. On the whole,
however, the ladies were not so delicate; they had no hesitation
in bathing with gentlemen, and on these occasions would put their
finest ornaments on their heads. I know no pictures of the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries representing such a scene, but
such baths in common are clearly represented in miniatures of the
fifteenth century." (A. Schultz, _Das Höfische Leben zur Zeit der
Minnesänger_, vol. i, p. 225.)
"In the years 1450-70, the use of the cod-piece was introduced,
whereby the attributes of manhood were accentuated in the most
shameless manner. It was, in fact, the avowed aim at that period
to attract attention to these parts. The cod-piece was sometimes
colored differently from the rest of the garments, often stuffed
out to enlarge it artificially, and decorated with ribbons."
(Rudeck, _Geschichte der öffentlichen Sittlichkeit in
Deutschland_, pp. 45-48; Dufour, _Histoire de la Prostitution_,
vol. vi, pp. 21-23. Groos refers to the significance of this
fashion, _Spiele der Menschen_, p. 337.)
"The first shirt began to be worn [in Germany] in the sixteenth
century. From this fact, as well as from the custom of public
bathing, we reach the remarkable result, that for the German
people, the sight of complete nakedness was the daily rule up to
the sixteenth century. Everyone undressed completely before going
to bed, and, in the vapor-baths, no covering was used. Again, the
dances, both of the peasants and the townspeople, were
characterized by very high leaps into the air. It was the chief
delight of the dancers for the male to raise his partner as high
as possible in the air, so that her dress flew up. That feminine
modesty was in this respect very indifferent, we know from
countless references made in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. It must not be forgotten that throughout the middle
ages women wore no underclothes, and even in the seventeenth
century, the wearing of drawers by Italian women was regarded as
singular. That with the disappearance of the baths, and the use
of body-linen, a powerful influence was exerted on the creation
of modesty, there can be little doubt." (Rudeck, op. cit., pp.
57, 399, etc.)
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