prudery

Prudery describes a very sensitive attitude and narrow-mindedness towards custom and morality . Pierer's 1861 Universal Lexicon describes prudery as “demure in an exaggerated and affected manner; seemingly brittle, squeamish ".

In a broader sense, prudishness refers to a state of mind that aims to largely exclude sexual expressions of any kind in public and sometimes in private. This applies above all to the representation or even just hint of eroticism in sound and image form, fashion , mass media , literature , historical evidence, conversation.

etymology

The term appeared in German-speaking countries in the 18th century and is a borrowing from French. There it originated from preux (= capable, brave) and developed from the old French prodefemme (= honorable woman; compare also Prud'homme ).

reasons

Reasons for prudishness often lie in sexual ethics , often with a religious background, which is nourished by the rules of Old Testament , patriarchal tribal communities. Since the verifiability of genetic origin was indispensable for this, everything sexual was tabooed or strictly ritualized . Nevertheless, the Song of Songs in the Old Testament is dedicated to the love between man and woman and uses a very physical expression (for example there are several expressions in which the "thighs" are included).

But prudery is not just a feature of Christian , Islamic and partly Jewish traditions. The strict regulation of the sexual up to the point of criminalization is also widespread in other major cultures: The social norms of the Chinese , Indians , the Arab world and certain parts of the USA are prudish from a Central European point of view due to the local legislation and unwritten social norms. A somewhat amusing example are the coats of arms of Bern / Switzerland and New Bern / North Carolina , which differ in only one detail .

See also

• Shame
• Gymnophobia

literature

• Jürgen Stark: No sex . The new prudish in Germany. Moral apostles and enemies of lust on the advance. rororo 60115, Reinbek near Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-499-60115-X .
• Jean-Claude Bologne: Nudity and Prudery . A story of shame. Hermann Böhlaus successor, Weimar 2001, ISBN 3-7400-1138-6 (original title: Histoire de la pudeur . Translated by Rainer von Savigny, Thorsten Schmidt).

Web links

Wikiquote: Prudery  - Quotes

Wiktionary: Prudery  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Erik Möller , "Dangerous Doctor Games" , Telepolis
• ZDF editor Doris Schrenner on the question / challenge: How should you equip an erotic series (“Summer Night Fantasies”) when there are no more erotic films? - "Prudery in America has increased again".

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Duden 7, 1963, ISBN 3411009071 , page 536.
2. ↑ http://www.zeno.org/Pierer-1857/A/Prude?hl=pruderie
3. ↑ Knaurs German Dictionary , Lexigrafisches Institute Munich, 1985, the 770th