Thursday, October 27, 2011

Awe, Come On!

3 Comments:

Blogger Dave in Pa. said...

interesting topic! :-) I suppose it's the wannabe historian in me but I've always wondered what was the x-rated terminology of ancient cultures.

Along those lines, they've been showing a number of great programs on the History Channel lately about ancient Egypt. One of the things I learned about on one of the programs was the Turin Erotic Papyrus, from ancient Egypt, the New Kingdom era. This is probably the world's oldest erotic art, or porn, depending on your viewpoint.

Very different folks from their, um, inhibited Egyptian descendents of today! They dressed in natural accordance with their extremely hot climate. Like the peasant women, the ladies of the nobility and the royal family considered topless dresses very ordinary attire. From a logical standpoint that has to be a lot more comfortable summerwear than what their female descendants wear today, or even the blouses and bras that Western ladies wear in the summertime.

Here, incredibly, is the Pharaoh Tutenkamen and his wife Anuksenamen, her showing the Egyptian noble ladies' idea of cleavage...below the waist, not above! I've seen a couple of other images of ceramic representations that are very similar. The ladies shaved their pubis (their whole bodies, as did the men, for cleanliness; the hairstyles we see were wigs) and apparently often wore extremely thin, cool linen, parted at the front, to show off their feminine glory. From the viewpoint of a completely logical, dispassionate comparative anthropologist, this fashion is unremarkable in this environment and social ethos. Our being shocked about this fashion today says as much about us as the style says about it's ancient wearers.

(Well, you're the one who brought up beavers! ;-)

Perception is everything!

October 27, 2011 7:48 pm  
Blogger Louise said...

Speaking of ancient Egypt, my ex and I spent a week there way back in 1973 and yes, all the ancient structures had carvings of men with massive hard-ons. Seems fitting for things carved in stone. Absolutely fascinating, too. It's a wonder the bitter old Islamists haven't had them blown up like the Budha statues in Iran.

October 28, 2011 7:32 am  
Blogger Louise said...

BTW, your second link doesn't work.

October 28, 2011 8:34 am  

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