An intimate part, personal part or private part is a place on the
human body which is customarily kept covered by
clothing in public venues and conventional settings, as a matter of
fashion and
cultural norms. Depending on the culture, revealing these parts can be a
legal or
religious offense.
Definition
Definitions vary by context and culture, but the term usually refers to parts of body that are habitually covered by clothing in public places due to cultural norms, including areas such as the
buttocks,
groin
In human anatomy, the groin, also known as the inguinal region or iliac region, is the junctional area between the torso and the thigh. The groin is at the front of the body on either side of the pubic tubercle, where the lower part of the abdom ...
,
anus,
perineum, external
genitalia, and
breasts
The breasts are two prominences located on the upper ventral region of the torso among humans and other primates. Both sexes develop breasts from the same embryology, embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is ...
.
The term ''intimate parts'' may be construed to mean only the external body parts that are visible when
naked, rather than the body parts more commonly referred to. For example, when naked, a woman's pudendal cleft is predominantly visible rather than the vagina, and a man's scrotum is visible rather than the testes which are contained within.
Variations
Female breasts are considered as parts that would be covered in most contexts but with a degree of tolerance for
toplessness varying in different regions and cultures. For example, Dayna Fischtein, Edward Herold and Serge Desmarais (2005) found that acceptance of toplessness in a sample of
Canadians
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
varied depending on both personal factors (such as the respondent's gender, age, and religion) and contextual factors (i.e., toplessness in streets, parks, or beaches).
In some periods of
European history, female shoulders and legs may have been considered intimate parts. More conservative viewpoints in the West in some contexts still find it appropriate that females should cover their shoulders, particularly when entering a
church or other sacred space.
In Islamic traditions, the definition of awrah is similar to the definition of intimate parts in
Western culture
Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...
. The extent of cover for the female body depends upon the situation, but may include the hair, shoulders, and neck in addition to the aforementioned "intimate parts". A majority of scholars agree that the entire body except the face and hands should be covered in public and in front of unrelated men. The exceptions are the scholars from the
Hanafi school of thought, which has the largest number of followers, which agree that the feet are not part of the awrah and therefore may be revealed. For males, most scholars regard all parts of the body from the navel to the knees as awrah.
Considerations
The intentional exposure of one's intimate parts is a form of
exhibitionism. Such exposure may be subject to strict
social rules,
social control and even
criminal justice, if it is considered to be a form of
indecent exposure. The unintentional exposure of intimate parts (as in the case of a "
wardrobe malfunction") may be connected with feelings of
shame. For example, when actress
Goldie Hawn accidentally revealed a
whale tail in 2015, the American gossip website
Radar Online called her the "victim of a bad wardrobe malfunction" and stated that she had "committed a major style crime."
Intentionally touching the intimate parts of another person, even through clothing, is often associated with
sexual intent. If this is done without the consent of the person being touched, it is considered
groping, a form of
sexual harassment or
sexual assault.
Alternate perspectives
Naturism is a lifestyle choice that is characterized by the practice of nudity, both alone and in groups. Some naturists hold that nakedness is not automatically a sexual state and that covering areas of the body is merely a
social construct: they believe that the norms of society can be upheld even when all are nude.
[Van Blarcom, Jeffrey. "Physician Attire: A Scholarly Look." Hospital pediatrics 2.4 (2012): 249-252.]
See also
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Erogenous zone
*
Intimate parts in Islam
*
Public nudity
*
Secondary sex characteristic
*
Sex organ
*
Taboo
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Intimate Part
English-language idioms
Modesty
Sexual anatomy
Social constructionism
Human surface anatomy
Nudity