In cold and temperate climates, it is necessary to clothe the body as a protection against cold. In hot parts of the world, the need for protection against the effects of the weather by means of clothing disappears, and therefore in those regions primitive people go about naked. It is only when they come under the influence of foreign civilisation that they put on clothing. It is erroneous to assume that clothing came into use because of an inborn sexual modesty. In Australia, in the Indonesian and Melanesian islands, in tropical Africa, and in South America, there are still many peoples that go about naked. It is true that many of them cover their sex organs; but the contrivances used for this purpose are not in reality intended to hide the sex region, though to our mind they seem to do so.
Primitive people do not cover their bodies out of modesty; "the sinfulness of nakedness" is unknown to them. Karl von den Steinen (pp. 190, 191) says that the naked Indian tribes of the Xingu region of Brazil know no secret parts of the body. "They joke about these parts in words and pictures quite unabashed, so that it would be foolish to call them indecent. They are envious of our clothing, as of some precious finery; they put it on and wear it in our presence with a complete disregard of the simplest rules of our own society, and in complete ignorance of its purpose. This proves that they still possess the pristine guilelessness of Adam and Eve in Eden. Some of them celebrate the advent of puberty in members of both sexes by noisy festivals, when the 'private parts' come in for a good deal of general attention. If a man wishes to inform a stranger that he is a father, or a woman that she is a mother, they gravely denote the fact by touching the organs from which life springs, in a most spontaneous and natural manner. It is, therefore, not possible to understand these people properly unless we put aside our conception of 'clothing,' and take them and their manners in their own natural way."
The absence of sexual modesty in our sense also struck von Steinen when questions about words arose. If he asked about a word which to our minds might give cause for shame, the reply was given without hesitation or any semblance of shame. Nevertheless, conversations about sexual subjects gave the Indians, men and women, decided pleasure; but their merry laughter was "neither impudent, nor did it give the impression of hiding an inward embarrassment. It had, however, a slightly erotic tone, and resembled the laughter aroused by the jokes in our own spinning-rooms, by games of forfeits, and by other harmless jokes exchanged in intercourse between the sexes, although the occasions and accompanying circumstances must be so very different among truly primitive people."
Naked savages are, however, not devoid of sexual modesty. It shows itself immediately when any remark addressed to them can be construed as an invitation to sexual intercourse, or when coarse jokes are made about sexual subjects. This is clearly shown in an account by Koch-GrÜnberg (I., p. 307). His European companion wanted to perform a kind of stomach dance before some savage Indians of the Upper Rio Negro, such as is danced in places of ill repute in Brazilian towns. The very indecent movements of the dancer caused the women and girls to retire shyly. The European in his attempt to "entertain" the company failed completely. Yet one can converse quietly with these Indians on all sexual subjects so long as they are natural; it is only obscenity that shocks them.
According to Eylmann, the Australians, at least the men, show no modesty in sex matters, though they are by no means devoid of it in other respects. Thus, e.g., they are ashamed of any mutilation of their bodies. Young men do not cover their sex organs, but the old ones do so, because they seem to be aware that this part of the body, of which they were once so proud, bears signs of old age. The women also rarely make use of an apron, yet they show clearly marked sexual modesty. A woman is always very careful not to expose the external sex organs when she sits or lies down in the presence of men. The greatest decency is observed during the time of menstruation.
In Indonesia the feeling of modesty among those tribes that are in constant contact with Europeans is essentially different from that of the tribes less under foreign influence. Thus Nieuwenhuis (I., pp. 133, 134) mentions, for instance, the Bahaus and Kenyas of Central Borneo. Of these the latter are only slightly influenced by the Mohammedan Malays, the former, however, relatively much more so. Although members of both tribes bathe completely naked, yet the Bahaus dress immediately after the bath, whilst the Kenyas go naked to and from the bath. The Kenya women also go naked to the spring to bring water and to bathe their children. Whilst getting the boats through the rapids the Kenya men take off their loin-cloths, but the Bahau men never do this. When Nieuwenhuis' expedition stayed some time among the Kenyas, it was noticed that the people got out of the habit of going about naked at times. This was only because the Malays and Bahaus belonging to the expedition had told the Kenyas that the white people objected to the naked appearance of the natives (which was not correct). Nieuwenhuis adds: "It can thus be seen what a great rÔle acquired modesty plays in the evolution of clothes." The clothing of the present-day Dyaks serves as a protection against the heat of the sun, and in the mountains against cold, and as a prevention of the darkening of the skin (which, particularly in women, is considered ugly); it is also used as an ornament and to scare enemies, but never for the concealment of the body. The Dyaks show shame when made embarrassed before other people; on such occasions they blush right down to the breast. Nieuwenhuis made use of this circumstance in the case of the Bahaus in order to make them keep their promises and do their duties (II., p. 296).
The Eskimos in the far north of America are, as a rule, thickly clothed; but it is quite usual for them to go about naked in their snow huts without any thought of offending against decency.
Whoever lives for a time among naked savages becomes accustomed to their nakedness, and does not feel anything objectionable in it. Æsthetically there is this disadvantage, that the sick and the aged look very repulsive in their decline; but then again youth and strength show off to great advantage in nakedness.
If the origin of clothing is not due to sexual modesty, it would at first appear strange that so many naked savages cover their sexual organs either completely or partly, wearing a pubic apron or some similar arrangement. The contrivances used are sometimes so small that they can hardly have been intended as coverings. Thus the women of the Karaib, Aruak, and Tupi tribes in the Xingui region all wear a triangular piece of bark bast not more than 7 centimetres wide and 3 centimetres high. The lower end of the triangle runs into a perineal strip of hard bark about 4 millimetres wide. Two narrow cords coming from the two upper ends pass along the groins, and meet the narrow perineal strip coming from the lower end of the triangle. These uluri only just cover the beginning of the pubic cleft, pressing tightly on it. The triangle does not reach the introitus vaginÆ, which is, however, closed, or at least kept inwards, by the pressure exerted by the tightened strip of bast running from front to back. Similar binders are used by the Indian women of Central Brazil. The binder used by the Trumai women is twisted into a cord, serving still less as a cover. In fact, none of these binders serve as covers, but they are intended to close up and to protect the mucous membrane. This also applies to the binders used by the various peoples living on the islands of the Pacific Ocean, as, e.g., by the Mafulus of Papua.
Various contrivances are also to be met with among many primitive men which seem to have the purpose of protecting the penis, and which really achieve that end. Among certain tribes of Brazil penis wraps made from palm straw are worn; other tribes use a T-shaped bandage, which is also very common in Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. The penis is pulled up by means of the T-bandage, the testicles remaining free. Sometimes old men use a broad band, under which they can also push the testicles. In the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and other places, the penis is tightly bandaged, and is drawn up and fastened to the girdle by means of a cord or band, the testicles hanging free. Calabashes are also used to protect the penis. In Melanesia the penis pin goes with the calabash. Georg Friederici (p. 155) says about its use: "The penis pin, which is the shape of a wooden knitting needle, is stuck into the hair near the comb, and is often brought into use. The calabash, which serves the purpose of protecting the penis against injury in the bush and attacks from insects, has the disadvantage of easily becoming loose and filling quickly with water during swimming and wading. After every passage of a river reaching above the pubic region a halt had to be made, during which my men took off their calabashes and emptied them; then they put a new layer of green leaves into the round opening, stuck the penis in, and, with the help of the penis pin, pushed it in until it had completely disappeared and the calabash lay close to the abdomen." When sitting round the camp fire, and at other times, the men can be seen drawing the pins from their hair and making their toilet. The covering of the penis is undoubtedly intended as a protection of the sensitive glans. Thus in the Brazilian forest the penis becomes endangered by spines of leaves being brushed off the branches and boring themselves deeply into the flesh; the spines get torn when pulled out, and cause painful inflammations. For warding off insects the women of many Indian tribes have tassels hanging in front of the sex organs. In the Northern Territory of Australia both men and women wear such tassels. There are still greater dangers in the wilderness. In Brazil there exists a small fish (Cetopsis candiru) which has a tendency towards boring itself into any of the exposed orifices of the body. It slips into the urethra, and is prevented by its fins from getting out again, and thus may easily bring about the death of the victim, to whom nothing remains but to attempt an impromptu operation by slitting open the urethra with his knife. Friederici remarks that it is just in those regions of tropical America where the protection of the penis is most prevalent that fish with sharp teeth (Pygocentrus species) are to be found which have a tendency towards attacking protruding unprotected parts of the body, thus often causing castration in men.
There is no foundation for the assumption of Adolf Gerson that men invented the apron or resorted to binding up of the penis in order to hide its erection, which would make them appear ridiculous, for sex matters do not appear ridiculous to primitive people. In fact, such contrivances cannot hide sexual excitement. Many peoples who use them do not even have the wish to keep their excitement secret. Habituation to nakedness ultimately lessens the stimulus to excitement. The following fact, stated by Friederici, is worthy of notice: "During the many months in which I lived exclusively among the natives I never saw even the slightest sign of an erection in sleeping men, nor have I ever heard or read that any one else has noticed such a thing among naked primitive peoples, untouched by civilisation." Clothing has nothing to do with sexual feelings or modesty among primitive people. To the people living in the tropics clothes are essentially ornamental; they are worn for reasons of vanity, not out of modesty. This can be well observed in those cases where loin-cloths which actually cover up the pubic region are raised without any consideration for people present, if there is any danger of their becoming soiled or injured. The Malay women in the central part of Luzon (Philippines), when working in the fields, discard their wrappings without worrying in the least if observed by the men. It is the same in other places.
As has been said before, among some naked peoples it is the custom for the men to fasten up the penis without any covering under a hip band. In other places they tie up the foreskin with a thread. By this means protection is also given to the glans, but it is questionable whether this was always the origin of this custom. In fact, it is doubtful whether the need for protection was always the only reason for the wearing of sheaths, binders, etc., for at least among some of the people it is connected with some ceremonial which implies its sexual significance. In the case of women, another factor may have played a rÔle, viz., the fact that menstruation is considered an illness, as may be seen in the widespread custom of treating girls medically during menstruation. The binder may have been intended to counteract the loss of blood. The stretching of the foreskin which results from the use of penis wraps, penis binders, etc., may be looked upon as a precaution against phimosis, serving the same purpose as circumcision does among numerous peoples.
Sexual modesty with regard to the naked body cannot be considered innate in mankind, for it is unknown among many naked peoples. On the other hand, there is an instinctive tendency in man to hide from his fellows the effluvia of the sexual and digestive organs. Thus H. Ellis (p. 40) gives a good explanation of the impulse towards concealment during the sex act: "Both male and female need to guard themselves during the exercise of their sexual activities from jealous rivals, as well as from enemies who might take advantage of their position to attack them. It is highly probable that this is one important factor in the constitution of modesty, and it helps to explain how the male, not less than the female, cultivates modesty and shuns publicity in the exercise of sexual functions." The idea, begotten from fear, that sexual intercourse must be kept secret, became easily extended to the feeling that such intercourse was in itself wrong. The mystery surrounding sexual intercourse has certainly been one of the factors leading to its concealment. Primitive man has a tendency towards endowing with supernatural powers all processes that he cannot understand; they become sacred, and hence have to be carried out in privacy. The feeling of disgust may perhaps be an additional reason for the concealment of the sex act. The objects arousing disgust vary among different peoples according to the conditions of their lives; but almost everywhere dangerous things are classed under this category, to which belong, according to the notion of primitive people, the discharges from the sexual and digestive organs. It thus comes about that primitive man is ashamed of urinating and defÆcating even before persons of his own sex. Even the lowest savage will seek out a very secluded spot for the fulfilment of these functions. Thus Koch-GrÜnberg, for instance, says: "The Indian goes deep into the wood for a certain business, comparing favourably in this respect with our own peasants." Friederici writes of the Melanesians that they are not at all ashamed to show the sexual parts, but are extremely shy of exposing the anus, and will always avoid letting themselves be seen during defÆcation. In the central districts the people betake themselves for this purpose early in the morning to some outlying place, while those living near the sea go to the beach, each person keeping as far away as possible from his neighbour. The Africans that have not yet become spoiled by contact with strangers also seek remote places (Weule and Schweinfurth). The negroes, however, who are under Mohammedan influence, approach in this respect the beasts of the field.
The tales of licentiousness among primitive people that are to be found in old works of travel are mostly invented or grossly exaggerated. Looseness and laxity do not exist anywhere, though the unwritten laws which regulate the behaviour of the sexes are different from ours. Unbridled indulgence is nowhere to be found; the public performance of the sex act takes place only exceptionally among some peoples, and then for ceremonial purposes. Even where, on festival occasions, marital intercourse takes place as a matter of course, the couples disappear into the darkness. So far as can be judged from ethnological literature, Europeans have rarely had the opportunity of observing the sex act, and then nearly exclusively among the African negroes, who must be reckoned the most sensual of all existing peoples. (See the works of Leo Frobenius and Georg Schweinfurth.)