CHAPTER XIV.
Modesty, Normal and Abnormal
Modesty is not easy to define, for it varies with races, epochs and climes. As I said in the preceding chapter, in some parts of Japan and in one Arab tribe, it is almost shameful for a young woman to be married without having had sexual experience. A woman of the Western races on the other hand, regardless of her age and past, must in order to show a ladylike breeding, pretend a certain ignorance of things sexual when in the company of men, even in the company of her fifth or sixth husband.
In Turkey, a woman may show her eyes but must veil her mouth; in the Southern Sahara, men of the Tuareg tribes go about veiled like Turkish ladies. Certain African tribes cover their backs carefully while exposing the rest of their bodies. In other tribes, men, instead of concealing their genitals, wear sheaths which exaggerate the size of their organs. In most parts of the earth, women keep the fact of their menstruation a secret. In others, they wear a cloth of a special color proclaiming that condition when present.
On the Modern Stage, modesty seems satisfied if the nipples and the genitals are duly covered. In some parts of Europe entirely naked dancers have been seen in public. Until recently, an unwritten law made it more or less necessary for the male performers to wear more clothing than female ones did. The wave of homosexualism which has followed the war is probably responsible for the growing numbers of naked male actors and dancers who disport themselves nowadays on the French stage and elsewhere.
There is a normal form of modesty, however, and there are many abnormal aspects of that elusive feeling.
Many animals seek safety and seclusion when performing certain important functions of their life, nutrition, reproduction and defecation, which naturally place them at a disadvantage in emergencies requiring flight or fight. Even the boldest among the carnivorous animals, lions and tigers, drag their prey to a cave or into the depths of the bush before devouring it.
Naked and otherwise shameless and "indelicate" savages will often walk a considerable distance from their village to satisfy their natural needs, and then hide behind bushes or trees.
Many birds and animals pair off and isolate themselves at mating time.
Races and nations differ greatly in their degree of modesty in relation to nutrition, reproduction and defecation. European races dine in the open, are more or less "shameless" in their love making, they talk freely on sexual topics and erect urinals and comfort stations, designated by their exact name, in many public places. Anglo-Saxons hide themselves while eating, are very silent about the processes of reproduction, seldom indulge in public kissing and designate urinals and toilets, which are very scarce in their lands, by cover names such as lavatories, smoking rooms, etc.