There is no true emergence of an ancestrally inherited
instinct, but by the paralysis or inhibition of the finer and higher
feelings current in civilization, the exhibitionist is placed on the same
mental level as the man of a more primitive age, and he thus presents the
basis on which the impulses belonging to a higher culture may naturally
take root and develop.
Reference may here be made to a form of primitive exhibitionism,
almost confined to women, which, although certainly symbolic, is
absolutely non-sexual, and must not, therefore, be confused with
the phenomena we are here occupied with. I refer to the
exhibition of the buttocks as a mark of contempt. In its most
primitive form, no doubt, this exhibitionism is a kind of
exorcism, a method of putting evil spirits, primarily, and
secondarily evil-disposed persons, to flight. It is the most
effective way for a woman to display sexual centers, and it
shares in the magical virtues which all unveiling of the sexual
centers is believed by primitive peoples to possess. It is
recorded that the women of some peoples in the Balkan peninsula
formerly used this gesture against enemies in battle. In the
sixteenth century so distinguished a theologian as Luther when
assailed by the Evil One at night was able to put the adversary
to flight by protruding his uncovered buttocks from the bed.
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