52 SEX-LORE 



husband. It is considered rude even to look in the 

 direction of a Chinese lady's foot. 



The idea of modesty not only varies with different 

 races, but changes according to the times. We have 

 seen that nakedness is not necessarily a sign of im- 

 modesty. Ancient Greece is noted for the cult of the 

 body. Athletic sports were carried on by the com- 

 petitors in the nude state, and girls also took part in 

 them. The nude body was thus a familiar object to 

 the ancient Greeks, and to this is attributed the un- 

 surpassed beauty of their statuary. This attitude 

 prevailed for a long time, in spite of the efforts of the 

 Christian Church against it. Thus mixed bathing in 

 complete nudity was quite common in Europe nearly 

 up to the Middle Ages, and is still customary in 

 Japan. But even more: it was not considered im- 

 moral for beggars to be seen all but naked at the 

 church doors asking for alms; nor that at special 

 celebrations of royalty the king's triumphal pro- 

 cession was led by maidens in the costume of Eve. 

 Indeed, the habit of going naked, as seen among 

 savages, persisted in the more remote districts ol 

 Europe much longer than we should expect. Per- 

 haps we have a reminiscence of this state of affairs in 

 the story of Lady Godiva. Her husband had agreed, 

 at her intercession, to relieve the people from their 

 taxes if she undertook to ride naked through the 

 streets. This she bravely did, being covered only by 

 her long hair, while all the inhabitants of the town 

 remained indoors, in accordance with her wishes. In 

 any case, there prevailed a state of utter naturalness 

 between the sexes, as in Ireland, Denmark, Russia, 

 etc., almost up to the eighteenth century. It is only 



