View source for Cultural history of the buttocks

{{Short description|Human sexual psychology relating to the anatomical posterior}}
[[File:AN00056627 001 l Caraglio Juno in niche.jpg|thumb|The [[Mannerist]] movement was not afraid to exaggerate body proportions for an effect considered attractive; [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] in a niche, [[engraving]] by [[Jacopo Caraglio]], probably of a drawing by [[Rosso Fiorentino]], 1526]]
[[File:Woman naked Buttocks.jpg|thumb|An example of [[erotic photography]] that emphasizes the buttocks]]
'''Cultural history of the buttocks''' has included various art forms as well as a [[sexualization]] of the [[buttocks]] which has occurred throughout history.<ref name="cultural">{{cite book |last=Singleton |first=Alena J. |url=https://archive.org/details/culturalencyclop0000unse |title=Cultural Encyclopedia of the Body |publisher=ABC-CLIO/Greenwood |year=2008 |isbn=978-0313341458 |editor=Pitts-Taylor, Victoria |chapter=Cultural History of the Buttocks |url-access=registration}}</ref>
==Evolutionary significance==
In humans, females generally have more round and voluptuous buttocks, caused by [[estrogen]] that encourages the body to store fat in the buttocks, hips, and thighs. [[Testosterone]] discourages fat storage in these areas. The buttocks in human females thus contain more [[adipose tissue]] than in males, especially after [[puberty]]. [[Evolutionary psychologists]] suggest that rounded buttocks may have evolved as a desirable trait because they provide a visual indication of the woman's youth and fertility. They signal the presence of estrogen and the presence of sufficient fat stores for [[pregnancy]] and [[lactation]]. Additionally, the buttocks give an indication of the shape and size of the [[pelvis]], which impacts reproductive capability. Since development and pronunciation of the buttocks begins at [[menarche]] and declines with age, full buttocks are also a symbol of youth.<ref name=cultural/>
Biological anthropologist [[Helen Fisher (anthropologist)|Helen B. Fisher]] said that "perhaps, the fleshy, rounded buttocks attracted males during [[Rear entry|rear-entry intercourse]]".<ref>{{cite book|last=Fisher|first=Helen E.|year=1982|title=The Sex Contract: The Evolution of Human Behavior|url=https://archive.org/details/sexcontract00hele|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=William Morrow & Company, Inc.|isbn=978-0688006402}}</ref> In a 2017 study, using 3D models and eye-tracking technology, Fisher's claim was tested and was shown that the slight thrusting out of a woman's back influences how attractive others perceive her to be and captures the gaze of both men and women.<ref>{{cite web |author=Hawkins |first=Elizabeth |date=Oct 25, 2017 |title=Why arched backs are attractive |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/about-springer/media/research-news/all-english-research-news/why-arched-backs-are-attractive/15163220 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419114317/https://www.springer.com/gp/about-springer/media/research-news/all-english-research-news/why-arched-backs-are-attractive/15163220 |archive-date=April 19, 2022 |access-date=April 16, 2018 |publisher=Springer}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s40806-017-0123-7 |title=Arching the Back (Lumbar Curvature) as a Female Sexual Proceptivity Signal: an Eye-Tracking Study |year=2017 |last1=Pazhoohi |first1=F. |last2=Doyle |first2=J.F. |last3=Macedo |first3=A.F. |last4=Arantes |first4=J. |journal= Evolutionary Psychological Science |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=1–8|s2cid=149046079 }}</ref> Bobbi S. Low et al. said that the female buttocks "evolved in the context of females competing for the attention and parental commitment of powerful resource-controlling males" as an "honest display of fat reserves" that could not be confused with another type of tissue, although [[Tim Caro|Tim M. Caro]] rejected that as being a necessary conclusion, stating that female fatty deposits on the hips improve individual [[Fitness (biology)|fitness]] of the female, regardless of [[sexual selection]].<ref name="Caro">{{cite journal|last1=Caro|first1=T.M.|last2=Sellen|first2=D. W.|year=1990|title=The Reproductive Advantages of Fat in Women|journal=Ethology and Sociobiology|volume=11|issue=5|pages=1–66|doi=10.1016/0162-3095(90)90005-q|hdl=2027.42/28785|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28785/1/0000619.pdf|hdl-access=free|access-date=2018-11-04|archive-date=2022-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608191301/https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/28785/0000619.pdf?sequence=1|url-status=live}}</ref>
==History==
[[File:Dolly Morton Illustration 2.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Victorian-era [[Erotic spanking|spanking erotica]] from ''[[The Memoirs of Dolly Morton]]'']]
[[File:Venus kallipygos03.jpg|thumb|200px|''[[Venus Callipyge]]'', a Roman sculpture (thought to be based on a Greek original) that emphasizes the buttocks]]
The female buttocks have been a symbol of fertility and beauty since early human history. Statues created as early as 24,000 BC, such as the [[Venus of Willendorf]], have exaggerated buttocks, hips, and thighs.<ref name=cultural/>
The erotic beauty of the female buttocks was important to the [[ancient Greeks]], thought to have built such statues as ''[[Venus Callipyge]]'' (although only a possible Roman copy survives), that emphasize the buttocks.<ref name="Bodywatching">{{cite book|last=Morris|first=Desmond|author-link=Desmond Morris|title=Bodywatching: A Field Guide to the Human Species|url=https://archive.org/details/bodywatchingfiel00morr|url-access=registration|year=1985|page=[https://archive.org/details/bodywatchingfiel00morr/page/n191 198]|isbn=978-0517558140}}</ref> Bare buttocks were also considered erotic in [[Ming dynasty]] China, where they were often compared to the bright [[full moon]].<ref>{{cite book|last=van Gulik|first=Robert Hans|title=Erotic colour prints of the Ming period: with an essay on Chinese sex life from the Han to the Chʼing Dynasty, B.C. 206–A.D. 1644|year=2004|page=223|publisher=BRILL |isbn=9004136649|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DO1MQBNCTqIC&pg=PA223|access-date=2016-02-21|archive-date=2023-01-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123103724/https://books.google.com/books?id=DO1MQBNCTqIC&pg=PA223|url-status=live}}</ref>  Many artists pose models to emphasize the buttocks.<ref name="Bodywatching"/>
The buttocks have been considered an [[erogenous zone]] in Western thought for centuries; the eroticization of the female buttocks was due to their association and closeness to the female reproductive organs. The buttocks are often [[taboo]] due to their proximity to the anus and association with the [[excretory system]]. The psychoanalyst [[Sigmund Freud]] theorized that [[psychosexual development]] occurred in three stages{{snd}}oral, anal, and genital{{snd}}and that fixation in the anal stage caused [[anal retentiveness]] and a lasting focus on eroticization of the anus.<ref name=cultural />
In ''Studies in the Psychology of Sex'', published in 1927 and written by British physician and sexual psychologist [[Havelock Ellis]], he describes cultural sexual characteristics of the buttocks.<ref name=cultural/> He says:
{{quote|Thus we find, among most of the peoples of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the chief continents of the world, that the large hips and buttocks of women are commonly regarded as an important feature of beauty. This secondary sexual character represents the most decided structural deviation of the feminine type from the masculine, a deviation demanded by the reproductive function of women, and in the admiration it arouses sexual selection is thus working in a line with natural selection.}}
He adds that
{{quote|The European artist frequently seeks to attenuate rather than accentuate the protuberant lines of the feminine hips, and it is noteworthy that the Japanese also regard small hips as beautiful. Nearly everywhere else large hips and buttocks are regarded as a mark of beauty, and the average man is of this opinion even in the most æsthetic countries.}}
Ellis also claims that [[corset]]s and [[bustle]]s are meant to emphasize the buttocks.<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Studies in the Psychology of Sex |wslink=Studies in the Psychology of Sex (buttocks) |last=Ellis |first=Havelock |authorlink=Havelock Ellis |year=1927}}</ref>
Emphasis on the female buttocks as a sexual characteristic has increased in recent times according to [[Ray B. Browne]], who attributes the change to the popularization of denim [[jeans]]:
{{quote|[E]mphasis on the upper female torso has recently given way to the lower area of the body, specifically the buttocks. Such a change happened quite recently when denim jeans became fashionable. In order to emphasize fit, jeans manufacturers accentuated hips. And after brand name jeans became so popular with the designer's name on the hip pocket, even more accentuation was given to the posterior. The more jeans sales increased, the more ads were used which emphasized the derriere, to such an extent, in fact, that this particular area may eventually surpass breasts as the number one sexual image of the female body.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite book|last=Browne|first=Ray B.|title=Objects of Special Devotion: Fetishes and Fetishism in Popular Culture|year=1982|page=111|publisher=Popular Press |isbn=978-0879721916|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NO5DkzptBeoC&pg=PA111}}</ref>}}
==Males==
[[File:'David' by Michelangelo Fir JBU029.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Rear of [[David (Michelangelo)|Michelangelo's David]]]]
==Fetishism==
A buttock [[sexual fetishism|fetish]] or buttock [[partialism]] is a condition wherein the buttocks become a primary focus of sexual attention.<ref name=fetish>{{cite book|last=Browne|first=Ray B.|title=Objects of Special Devotion: Fetishes and Fetishism in Popular Culture|year=1982|pages=35–36|publisher=Popular Press |isbn=978-0879721916|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NO5DkzptBeoC&pg=PA35|access-date=2016-02-21|archive-date=2023-01-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123103724/https://books.google.com/books?id=NO5DkzptBeoC&pg=PA35|url-status=live}}</ref> It may be associated with [[coprophilia]], [[panty fetishism]], [[eproctophilia]], and [[impact play|sadomasochistic corporal punishment]] involving the buttocks.<ref>{{cite book|last=Steele|first=Valerie|title=Fetish: Fashion, Sex and Power|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=124}}</ref> Pygophilia is sexual arousal caused by seeing, playing with or touching a person's [[buttocks]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hickey |first=Eric W. |url=https://archive.org/details/sexcrimesparaphi0000unse |title=Sex crimes and paraphilia |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2006 |isbn=978-0131703506 |page=84 |access-date=2016-02-21 |url-access=registration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123103725/https://books.google.com/books?id=xBUEAQAAIAAJ&q=pygophilia |archive-date=2023-01-23 |url-status=live}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Anal eroticism]]
* {{Lang|bci|[[Awoulaba]]}}
* [[Body worship]]
* [[Dimples of Venus]]
* [[History of erotic depictions]]
* [[History of human sexuality]]
* {{section link|Miss Bumbum|Cultural context}}
* [[Partialism]]
* [[Steatopygia]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Commons category inline|Human buttocks in art}}
{{Sex fetish}}
{{Portal bar|Human sexuality}}
[[Category:Sexual fetishism]]
[[Category:History of human sexuality]]
[[Category:Sexuality and society]]
[[Category:Buttocks]]