Gillray - Sir Richard Worse-than-sly, exposing his wife's bottom; - o fye!

Candaulism, or candaulesism, is a paraphilic sexual practice or

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

in which one person exposes their partner, or images of their partner, to other people for their voyeuristic

pleasure Pleasure refers to experience that feels good, that involves the enjoyment of something. It contrasts with pain or suffering, which are forms of feeling bad. It is closely related to value, desire and action: humans and other conscious anima ...

. Candaulism is also associated with

voyeurism Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of watching other people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions of a private nature. The term comes from the French ''voir'' which means "to see". A ...

and

exhibitionism Exhibitionism is the act of exposing in a public or semi-public context one's intimate parts – for example, the breasts, genitals or buttocks. The practice may arise from a desire or compulsion to expose themselves in such a manner to grou ...

. The term may also be applied to the practice of undressing or otherwise exposing a female partner to others. Similarly, the term may also be applied to the posting of personal images of a female partner on the internet or urging her to wear clothing which reveals her physical attractiveness to others, such as wearing very brief clothing, such as a microskirt, tight-fitting or see-through clothing, or a low-cut top.

History of the term

The term is derived from an account in '' The Histories'' of

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known for ...

. King Candaules of ancient

Lydia Lydia ( Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provin ...

, according to the story, conceived a plot to show his unaware naked wife to his servant

Gyges Gyges can refer to: * One of the Hecatoncheires from Greek mythology * King Gyges of Lydia * Ogyges * Ring of Gyges The Ring of Gyges ( grc, Γύγου Δακτύλιος, ''Gúgou Daktúlios'', ) is a hypothetical magic ring mentioned by the p ...

. After discovering Gyges while he was watching her naked, Candaules' wife ordered him to choose between killing himself or killing her husband in order to repair the vicious mischief. The term was first used in psychology by

Richard von Krafft-Ebing Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing (full name Richard Fridolin Joseph Freiherr Krafft von Festenberg auf Frohnberg, genannt von Ebing; 14 August 1840 – 22 December 1902) was a German psychiatrist and author of the foundational work '' Psychopath ...

in his 1886 book '' Psychopathia Sexualis''.

Psychology

Isidor Sadger hypothesized that the candaulist completely identifies with his partner's body, and deep in his mind is showing himself. Candaulism is also associated with

and

. An alternative definition proposes it as a practice involving one person observing, often from concealment, two others having sexual relations.

Historical instances

In the 1782 case of Sir Richard Worsley against George Bissett for "

criminal conversation At common law, criminal conversation, often abbreviated as ''crim. con.'', is a tort arising from adultery. "Conversation" is an old euphemism for sexual intercourse that is obsolete except as part of this term. It is similar to breach of p ...

"—that is, adultery with Lady Worsley—it was revealed that Sir Richard assisted Bissett to spy on Lady Worsley taking a bath. The art collector and connoisseur

Charles Saatchi Charles Saatchi (; ar, تشارلز ساعتجي; born 9 June 1943) is an Iraqi-British businessman and the co-founder, with his brother Maurice, of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The brothers led the business – the world's largest ...

has considered the influence of candaulism upon the work of

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

, citing episodes recorded by the artist's biographers in which Dalí's wife Gala was displayed to other men.

Robert Hanssen Robert Philip Hanssen (born April 18, 1944) is an American former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) double agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States from 1979 to 2001. His espionage was described ...

was an American FBI agent arrested in 2001 for spying for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...

. It was disclosed that he had taken explicit photographs of his wife and sent them to a friend. Later Hanssen invited his friend to clandestinely observe Hanssen having sex with Hanssen's wife during the friend's occasional visits to the Hanssen household. Initially, his friend watched through a window from outside the house. Later, Hanssen appropriated video equipment from the FBI to set up closed-circuit television to allow his friend to watch from his guest bedroom.

References

Bibliography

External links

King Candaules as told by historian Herodotus
Archived fro
the original
on 2020-01-02. * {{Nudity Group sex History of human sexuality Nudity Paraphilias