Buttocks

Buttocks
Male human buttocks.jpg
Male human buttocks.
Backtowel2.jpg
Female human buttocks
Artery superior gluteal artery, inferior gluteal artery
Nerve superior gluteal nerve, inferior gluteal nerve, cluneal nerves
MeSH Buttocks

The buttocks (singular: buttock) are rounded portions of the anatomy located on the posterior of the pelvic region of the apes, including humans and many other bipeds or quadrupeds.

Contents

Anatomy

Baboon hindquarters illustrating ischial callosities

The buttocks are formed by the masses of the gluteal muscles or 'glutes' (the gluteus maximus and the gluteus medius) superimposed by a layer of fat. The superior aspect of the buttock ends at the iliac crest, and the lower aspect is outlined by the horizontal gluteal crease. The gluteus maximus has two insertion points: 1/3 superior portion of the linea aspera of the femur, and the superior portion of the iliotibial tractus. The masses of the gluteus maximus muscle are separated by an intermediate gluteal cleft or "crack" in which the anus is situated.

The buttocks allow primates to sit upright without needing to rest their weight on their feet as four-legged animals do. Females of certain species of baboon have red buttocks that "blush" to attract males. In the case of humans, females tend to have wider and thicker buttocks due to higher subcutaneous fat and wider hips.

Some baboons and all gibbons, though otherwise fur-covered, have characteristic naked callosities on their buttocks. While human children generally have smooth buttocks, mature males and females have varying degrees of hair growth, as on other parts of their body. Females generally have hair growth in the gluteal cleft (particularly around the anus), often extending laterally onto the lower aspect of the cheeks. In addition to such areas, males often have hair growth over the most (or the entirety of) the buttocks.

Connotations

The English word of Greek origin "callipygian" indicates someone who has beautiful buttocks. However, the qualities that make buttocks "beautiful" or "well-formed" are not fixed, as sexual aesthetics of the buttocks vary considerably from culture to culture, from one period of fashion to another and even from person to person.

In ancient astrology, various parts of the body were associated with signs of the zodiac - e.g. the buttocks to the Balance. Depending on the context, exposure of the buttocks in non-intimate situations often causes feelings of shame, embarrassment or humiliation in a non-exhibitionist subject, and embarrassment or amusement in a non-voyeurist audience (see "pantsing"). Expressions such as being "caught with one's pants/ trousers down" or more explicitly in Dutch, "met de billen bloot" ("with bared buttocks"), use the image as a metaphor for non-physical embarrassment as well.

Students at Stanford University conduct a "mass-mooning" in May 1995.

Willfully exposing one's own bare buttocks as a protest, a provocation, or just for fun (especially but not exclusively practiced by youngsters such as North American frat boys) is called "mooning".

Buttocks depicted on a plaster replica of Donatello's sculpture of David.

A "wedgie" is pulling someone's undergarments or swimming trunks up through their buttock "crack" to be hauled over the top of the victim's trousers, sometimes partially baring the victim's buttocks.

It is no coincidence that the English verb to spank is the only one specifically meant for physical discipline of a specific part of the body, and various other languages have terms specifically referring to spanking; in many punitive traditions, the buttocks are the preferential target for painful lessons, from educational to judicial, as offering them for punishment (especially divested) adds a psychological dose of embarrassment and even sexual humiliation to the pain, which can be meted out with less risk of long-term corporal harm than elsewhere. There are, in various cultural traditions, expressions like "seat of learning" which refer to the preferential paining of the posterior in a submissively bent and exposed position.

Many comedians, writers and others rely on the buttocks in these and other ways (such as flatulence and toilet humor) as a source of amusement, camaraderie and fun, despite (or in some cases for the sake of) the risk of being in dubious taste, if not censored.

Because in most cultures the buttocks are rarely shown naked, they are generally considered unsuitable for ornamental body markings and body modification, but may be preferential for discreet markings, such as secretive membership proof or to be shown in intimate company (e.g. amongst lovers).

In American English, phrases use the buttocks or synonyms (especially butt and arse/ass) as a pars pro toto for a whole person, but generally with a negative connotation. For example, terminating an employee may be described as "firing his ass". One might say "move your ass" or "haul ass" (or the polite, understood euphemisms "move it" or "haul it") as an exhortation to greater haste or urgency. Expressed as a function of punishment, defeat or assault becomes "kicking one's ass". Such phrases also may suggest a person's characteristics, e.g. difficult people are termed "hard asses" (polite euphemism: "hard nosed"). People deemed excessively puritanical or proper may be termed "tight asses" (in Australia and New Zealand, "tight ass" refers to someone who is excessively miserly). An annoying person or any source of frustration may be termed "a pain in the ass" (euphemism: "a pain in the neck", though some claim that this alleged euphemism actually appeared in English earlier than the former).

Certain physical dispositions of the buttocks — particularly size — are sometimes identified, controversially, as a racial characteristic (see race). The most famous intersection of racism and buttocks may be the case of Saartjie Baartman, the so-called Hottentot Venus.

Synonyms

The anatomical Latin name for the buttocks is nates (pronounced /ˈneɪtiːz/ or NEY-teez[1] in English), which is plural; the singular, natis (buttock), is rarely used. As buttocks are an object of both shame and fascination, it is not surprising that there are many colloquial terms, euphemistic, ironic or other, to refer to them. These include the following:

fanny - a socially acceptable term in print, in the United States at least, for many years before some of the bolder terms came along; and a subject of jokes, since "Fannie" can be a woman's name, diminutive of "Frances"; however, in British English fanny refers to the female genitals or vulva and is considered vulgar. The figure of a bare-bottomed lass named Fanny is ubiquitous in Provence (the southeast of France) wherever pétanque is played: traditionally when a player loses 13 to 0 it is said that “il est fanny” (he's fanny), and he has to kiss the bottom of a girl called Fanny; as there is rarely an obliging Fanny, there is always a substitute picture, woodcarving or pottery so that Fanny’s bottom is always available.[2]

For more slang terms for the buttocks, see WikiSaurus:buttocks — the WikiSaurus list of synonyms and slang words for buttocks in many languages.
For unrelated homophones of butt(ocks), see also butt (disambiguation) and bud (disambiguation)

Related terms

Japanese man in a traditional swimwear Fundoshi -rokushaku

Fashion

Because many cultures have a (partial) nudity taboo, which usually applies specifically to the buttocks (as usually to the most erogenous zones), mainstream garments generally cover the buttocks completely, even when it is not a practical requirement. Nevertheless male and female clothing is often designed in a way that reveals the shape of the buttocks under the clothing.

Some articles of clothing are designed to expose the buttocks. Such clothing is not generally worn in public situations; however, it is considered appropriate to wear such clothing at swimming facilities or at the beach.

Emphasis on one part or another of the body tends to shift with generations. The 1880s were well-known for the fashion trend among women called the bustle, which made even the smallest buttocks seemingly huge. The popularity of this fashion is shown in the famous Georges Seurat painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte in the two women to the far left and right. Like long underwear with the ubiquitous 'butt flap' (used to allow baring only the bottom with a simple gesture, as for hygiene), this clothing style was acknowledged in popular media such as cartoons and comics for generations afterward.

More recently, the cleavage of the buttocks could be exposed by some women as fashion dictated trousers be worn lower. (known as a "coin slot", or "vertical smile").

An example of another attitude in an otherwise hardly exhibitionist culture is the Japanese fundoshi.

See also

Sources and references

External links