From mediæval times onwards there has been a tendency to treat the gluteal region with contempt, a tendency well marked in speech and custom among the lowest classes in Europe to-day, but not easily traceable in classic times. Dühren (Das Geschlechtsleben in England, bd. II, pp. 359 et seq.) brings forward quotations from æsthetic writers and others dealing with the beauty of this part of the body.
Sonnini, Voyage, etc., vol. i, p. 308.
Ploss and Bartels, Das Weib, bd. 1, Sec. III; Mantegazza, Fisiologia della Donna, Chapter III.