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Ion Mittler: Look at the human
Content warning:
This report contains statistical information about the erotic interests of adult people towards women and girls, who are dressed either very scantily or even quite ordinarily, which might feel shocking for some readers.
This survey was done 8 – 12 january 2023, with the title ”The styles of a woman’s clothing: what is HOT, and what is NOT?” Photos of 88 different styles of women’s clothing were presented to anonymous respondents, ranging from the islamic niqab cloak, which covers nearly everything, all the way to the scantiest western beachwear.
The respondents were asked for an opinion, how strongly erotic each style of women’s clothing is for them, on the scale 0 (fully neutral and unerotic) – 10 (extremely stimulating sexually, even comparable to pornography). People were also asked for a perception of the eroticness of nudity or the toplessness of women, but no photos were presented of these levels of clothing, unlike in the other alternatives. There were respondents both from Finland and abroad, mostly from western countries. The survey was done with the help of a website that was specifically designed for this purpose.
The illustrations of this work intend to avoid strong eroticness. Therefore many photos in this report are ”censored” to be quite unclear, what comes to colours and shapes. A perception will be given to the reader, what the photos were like that were used in the survey, yet without the sometimes quite strong erotic atmosphere of the original photos.
Respondents of the survey saw all photos uncensored. This can raise ethical questions, though, was it right to show such photos to the respondents, which we don’t want to show to the readers of this book. The matter can be considered from several perspectives.
It is possible to think that the survey was not very noble ethically, if the photos used in it were depraved. On the other hand, the photos in the survey contained nothing such that nearly all respondents would not see also otherwise every now and then, either on the internet, in movies, or sometimes in the real life too. The respondents, who represented the ordinary mainstream population, probably did not get such experiences through this survey, which would be more depraved than the same persons experience in any case every now and then.
This survey provides statistical information about what the world of ordinary people is like, which we all live in, and how the style of clothing statistically affects the eroticness of a person’s appearance. If any reader benefits from this information, and applies it to his or her own life, in that case this research may have also a positive impact on the world that we live in.
This report lists the questions about women’s clothing in the order of the total scores that were given by 52 heterosexual men. A different summary of the results and conclusions of this survey is in chapter Q09C of the book. The diagrams in the report show visually, how the points 0 – 10 given by the respondents were distributed statistically.
Nearly all styles of clothing were assessed with such photos, in which the person is in a very neutral posture, either standing straight, or sitting in an ordinary body position. Such questions would not give a fully complete perception of people’s ordinary life, however, because also other kinds of body postures and view angles towards the watcher are spontaneously encountered in an ordinary social situation. For that reason, also some such body postures and view angles were taken into the survey, which can unintentionally happen in very ordinary social situations, but which may cause stronger erotic notions to another person nearby than the most neutral possible body posture would cause.
It turned out that a woman’s body posture and view angle, which causes remarkably strong erotic notions for heterosexual men, is a female person being in swimwear, underwear or a very short mini skirt, either standing or on her knees, the body bent forward at the waist, and seen from behind or diagonally behind. Such clothing and a body posture reserved the four highest ranks in the scores given by the respondents. (In addition to the three questions that are mentioned below, the fourth such case is YA, which is introduced at the end of this report.)
AA
7.97 |
woman in mini skirt
bends forward, under-
pants seen from behind |
 |
AB
7.81 |
woman in bikini on all
fours, or lying with the
legs spread a bit, etc. |
 |
AC
7.50 |
woman in underwear,
on her knees legs wide,
from various angles |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 1, AA, 91 %. |
Pic 2, AB, 89 %. |
Pic 3, AC, 86 %. |
Under the photos is indicated the percentage of the score that the style of clothing received, compared to the assumed eroticness 8.75 points of a fully nude woman (in a neutral posture, without sexually provocative specific circumstances). For example, the score 7.97 of case AA is 91 % of the reference value 8.75. In chapter Q09C of the book I explain, on what grounds I use 8.75 as the assumed score, which the respondents probably would have given to fully nude women, if such photos had been shown to them.
The aforementioned three (or four) questions got some 20 % higher scores for eroticness from men than similar clothes on women in a fully neutral body posture. Such a posture and view angle may have inspired stronger sexual notions than more neutral postures in the men who answered the survey. These are quite ordinary body postures, however, which may spontaneously happen while being at the swimming beach, or when doing gymnastics or stretching after a sports exercise.
The objective of this survey is to assess the eroticness of quite ordinary social life. For that reason also these body postures are included in the survey. If they were not, the survey would give an inadequate and even censored perception of what the quite ordinary life of quite ordinary people is like. (What comes to the questions afore, most probably at the beach or at an aerobics gym.)
The 10 cm long mini skirt in the question AA is exceptionally short, though, which would not be worn by hardly any woman elsewhere than at the beach perhaps. The hem of a skirt of any length rises some 20 cm at the backside, if the woman bends forward at the waist. The mini skirt in the photos of question AA, which normally would reach 10 cm below the buttocks, has risen some 20 cm, leaving the underwear visible at the height of 10 cm, seen from behind.
Case AB has five photos of women wearing bikini in various quite ordinary postures, in which women are sunbathing at the beach: lying on one’s stomach, or on one’s back with the knees raised and the thighs spread a bit. The women are wearing bikini in the photos of this question, but none of the five postures draw the viewer’s attention specifically on the upper body, so it would not make any difference for the score, if the dress is a one-piece swimsuit or bikini. Though it might make a difference, how much of the pelvis the clothing covers.
Women’s clothing in the question AC covers the body to a similar extent as a one-piece swimsuit. But the clothing used in the photos is underwear by official definition, not swimwear. Further in this report there are questions concerning bikinis and one-piece swimsuits in a more neutral posture, standing straight for example.
The five questions that received the next highest scores for eroticness (AF – AJ) are all in a fully neutral body posture, and the attention of respondents is most probably focused on the woman’s breasts, at which the clothing is specifically scanty in these cases. The highest score in a neutral posture was received by case AF, which has women without bra in a skin-tight shirt, which reveals the true shape of the breasts (whereas a scanty shirt normally reveals an unauthentic version of the shape of breasts, which is modified by the bra), and the nipples shine through the shirt as a 3-dimensional form.
AF
7.45 |
skin-tight shirt, no bra,
the shape of nipples
and breasts is visible |
 |
AG
7.09 |
a Hollywood-style night
dress has a wide armhole
revealing side of breast |
 |
AH
7.06 |
wet one-piece swimsuit,
crease at the crotch, and
shape of nipples visible |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 4, AF, 85 %. |
Pic 5, AG, 81 %. |
Pic 6, AH, 81 %. |
In question AG is a woman seen from the side, who has an evening dress with a very revealing upper part, without bra. Major part of the breast is seen through the spacious armhole, but the nipples are covered by the fabric of the dress.
In the question AH, which concerns a wet one-piece swimsuit, the three-dimensional shape of the nipples is seen through the wet swimsuit, and a vertical crease has been formed at the crotch in the fabric of the swimsuit. These details, which may have provoked the erotic imagination of the respondents, are not very uncommon: their statistical prevalence might be over 30 %, when any female person wears an ordinary one-piece swimsuit, which is wet and glued onto the skin soon after rising from the water, and the nipples have reacted to cool water.
(When rising from water, negative pressure or indeed a vacuum is formed between the swimsuit and the skin for some half a minute, which causes the fabric of swimsuit to get glued onto the skin with extreme fidelity to every smallest detail of shapes, also at the breasts and the crotch.)
AI
7.03 |
bikini top on the
upper body, cup size
approximately C |
 |
AJ
6.97 |
20 cm deep very wide
neckline in shirt, cup
size approximately E |
 |
AK
6.94 |
yoga suit (leggings
and a top), on all fours,
seen from the side |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 7, AI 80 %. |
Pic 8, AJ 80 %. |
Pic 9, AK 79 %. |
Question AI had women’s upper bodies with a bikini top, with cup size of breasts approximately C. The pictures were cropped from below the eyes until 20 cm below navel. Question AJ received nearly as high points as AI, when the stomach was not seen at all in the pictures, the top 20 cm of the upper body was fully bare, and the cup size of breasts was quite large, approximately E. (The size of breasts of the women seen in the photos is mentioned in the context of some questions, because this detail has sometimes clearly had an impact on how many points the respondents gave for eroticness.)
Question AK, which received 6.94 points, had women in yoga clothing on the floor on all fours, seen directly from the side. For the sake of comparison, in case AW the respondents gave 6.23 points to leggings in a more neutral posture, standing straight. A posture on all fours on the floor has apparently raised by 11 % the points given by the respondents.
The body postures and view angle directly from behind, which received the highest scores in cases AA and AB, were not tested with leggings or skin-tight jeans, so we don’t know how erotic the respondents would have felt such circumstances, when the woman is dressed differently than in swimwear or underwear. Based on question AK it seems probable that also with leggings or tight jeans the score would have been 10 – 20 % higher in these somewhat provocative postures than such styles of dress received in a neutral posture.
AL
6.88 |
pelvis and thighs from
behind, wedge of pants
begins at mid-buttocks |
 |
AM
6.77 |
sitting on floor knees up,
skirt forms a window,
underpants are visible |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 10, AL 79 %. |
Pic 11, AM 77 %. |
Pic 12, AM 77 %. |
Question AL is otherwise comparable to case AA, which received the highest score 7.97, but the woman is standing straight, the upper body is not bent forward. This difference in body posture brought 16 % higher points in the question AA. Such a style of clothing, very scanty bottom part of bikini or a one-piece swimsuit, has an eroticness of level 6.88 on the condition that the person is not crawling or bending forward.
The bottom part of bikini in the question AL covered only a bit more than thongs. The visible part of the fabric on the backside started some 10 cm above the bottom edge of buttocks, leaving the lower part of buttocks completely bare at the height of some 10 cm, then widening upwards towards the edges of pelvis. Such cuts of the bottom part are a trend both in bikinis and one-piece swimsuits.
Question AM has a quite rare but sometimes unintentionally occurring situation, in which women, who are wearing a nearly ankle-length skirt, are sitting on the stairs or on the ground, so that the knees are raised in front of the body. This is a typical sitting posture on a quite level surface, where one cannot lower one’s feet much below the seating level. In such a situation the hem of an even ankle-length skirt can rise to half-shin level, so that a 20 cm high window can be formed under the hem, which reveals the woman’s thighs, buttocks and underpants, without the woman herself noticing this situation at all. She imagines that her clothing is very decent, as she wears a skirt that reaches nearly to the ankles (which received 2.63 points from the respondents of this survey in the question CM, and 3.32 points in the question CF).
The risks of unintentional revealingness or eroticness when using a skirtlike garment were pointed out already in the law of Moses, thousands of years ago (Exodus 20:26). Skirt is a garment that involves various risks of unintentional eroticness. Women are usually quite well aware of such risks, and strive to take them into account in their behaviour.
A skirt can create additional erotic tension into a social situation, if other persons nearby become aware that at any random moment a woman who is wearing a skirt can make a mistake in her body posture or in estimating what the skirt covers, which can result in an erotic scenario worth 6.77 points for example, as in case AM. Most notably, a quite short skirt can be an outright symbol of sexiness, compared to shorts of the same length, because a skirt involves the possibility of unexpectedly occurring eroticness, for which loose shorts do not leave hope of any kind.
AN
6.68 |
neckline reveals the
breasts nearly completely,
but not nipples |
 |
AO
6.66 |
when bending forward,
breasts are seen past
neckline, also nipples |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 13, AN 76 %. |
Pic 14, AN 76 %. |
Pic 15, AO 76 %. |
The scores given by respondents to questions AN and AO are in an illogical order, as higher points for eroticness were received by the case in which the nipples remain hidden behind the bra. On the other hand, the breasts are smaller in question AO than in AN, and the respondents have a general tendency to give higher points to larger breasts. For this reason these questions are not fully comparable with each other.
The neckline of a woman’s shirt can create either intentional or unintentional eroticness in a social situation, especially when the woman leans forward in the presence of other people. When the woman leans forward, a shirt neckline as small as 5 cm below collarbones can form a window, through which opens a view that corresponds to question AN or AO. (In fact even a neckline that covers the collarbones does not always guarantee that such a view cannot be formed, if the neckline has looseness at the backside of neck: when the person leans forward, the shirt makes use of all available looseness, also from the backside of neck.)
The neckline of a woman’s shirt sometimes involves unintentional eroticness, of which the woman is not aware herself. She assumes to be dressed very decently, if the shirt has a relatively tight neckline, in which the woman puts more trust than would be justified while leaning forward. Similarly as was noted in the context of a skirt, also the slightly loose neckline of a woman’s shirt can create additional erotic tension in a social situation, if other persons nearby become aware that at any random moment the woman can make a mistake in assessing the field of vision of the other people, the posture of her upper body and how much the neckline of her shirt covers, which can result in an erotic scenario worth 6.68 points for example, similarly as in the case AN.
The view that would result most probably is similar to question AN, so that the bra covers the region of the nipples. However, for females with a relatively small cup size AA, A or B it is quite common to wear a bra of a larger cup size, in order to give a social impression as attractive as possible of themselves. In that case the probability increases that while leaning forward, the brassiere (or bikini top) descends lower than the breasts, so that also the nipples become visible past the oversized bra, similarly to case AO.
AP
6.63 |
a long gown, no open
neckline, scantily
follows the body forms |
 |
AQ
6.63 |
very tight trousers
form a vertical
crease at the crotch |
 |
AR
6.60 |
very scanty jeans
that follow the shapes
of pelvis and buttocks |
 |
Question AP intended to assess what impact the scanty looseness of a woman’s dress has on the impression of eroticness. The photos were chosen so that the dress has no low neckline, to avoid it being unclear whether the points given by respondents are based on a low neckline or scanty looseness of the dress. The photos had women in an ankle-length dress, whose looseness is very scanty, and the soft fabric of dress conforms to the body shapes. The three-dimensional feminine forms replicated by the soft fabric were enough for a quite high score 6.63, without revealing any “bare skin”.
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 16, AP 76 %. |
Pic 17, AQ 76 %. |
Pic 18, AR 75 %. |
Questions AQ and AR had women in skin-tight trousers, which conform to the forms of the pelvis and buttocks with great fidelity. If a woman (or a man) has “tight trousers” (or leggings), usually the fabric of the trousers does not conform to the shapes of the buttocks with complete precision, as the tight fabric “cuts the corners” to minimize the distance that it must travel. A pair of tight trousers can also force the soft parts of the body into its own shape, so that it is not the shape of the buttocks themselves that is seen, but rather the shape caused by the trousers. In that case the eroticness of clothing would probably remain 1 – 2 points lower than the respondents have given to these questions.
In the case AQ trousers were tightened with a belt towards the waist, so that a clearly detectable vertical crease is formed at the crotch. Repondents of the survey did not react to this detail very dramatically, however, which is regarded as embarrassing and unwanted by most women — although the survey used photos that make this aspect as obvious as is practically possible. The respondents have appreciated trousers that precisely conform to the shapes of the pelvis and buttocks as so highly erotic in any case, that a vertical crease occurring at the crotch of trousers did not bring any additional rise into the score. Style points were not asked from the respondents.
AS
6.59 |
shorts have a negative
hem length, 3 cm of
buttocks remain visible |
 |
AT
6.41 |
3 cm long shorts, stand,
sit or lie on the ground
with the knees raised |
 |
AU
6.34 |
scanty mini skirt
and stockings,
sitting or standing |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 19, AS 75 %. |
Pic 20, AT 73 %. |
Pic 21, AU 72 %. |
AV
6.25 |
bikini from behind,
wedge leaves lowest
10 cm of buttocks bare |
 |
AW
6.23 |
long leggings
standing, or one knee
raised, or on the knees |
 |
AX
6.06 |
bikini from behind,
wedge begins from the
buttocks 0 cm wide |
 |
Case AV has a similar very scanty bottom part of bikini as the previously mentioned AL, which does not cover the buttocks at all at the lowest 10 cm. Question AL received 10 % higher score for eroticness (6.88) than AV (6.25), although both of them have precisely the same level of clothing. The only difference between these two cases is that question AV, which received lower points, is a generic picture of the entire body, while case AL displays the body from the waist until below the knees only, in a larger size.
Enlarging the photo and zooming it on a specifically interesting body part has intensified the impression of eroticness in this case, and in many other questions too. In the real life, similar variation of the impression can probably occur based on a shorter distance to the watched person, or if one focuses one’s look at a specific part of the body with interest. The person who wears clothing cannot necessarily control either of these two aspects.
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 22, AV 71 %. |
Pic 23, AW 71 %. |
Pic 24, AX 69 %. |
Question AX has an otherwise similar view of a bikini wearer from behind as in case AL, but the visible part of the fabric of the pants begins at the bottom level of the buttocks (with 0 cm width), while in question AL the visible part of the fabric begins 10 cm higher. The slightly more scantily covering garment gave 14 % higher points to case AL (6.88) than AX (6.06).
It might be unexpected that leggings (AW, 6.23 points) and skin-tight jeans (AS, 6.60 points) received approximately as high scores for eroticness from the respondents of the survey as very scanty bikini (AL, AV and AX), although leggings and jeans do not leave any “bare skin” visible at all, while a scanty bikini leaves nearly as much of skin bare as the law allows in a public place.
The skin-tightly clothed three-dimensional shapes of a woman’s pelvis, buttocks or breasts (e.g. in questions AF, AP, AR and AW) have generally interested the respondents nearly as much as bare skin. Based on merely three-dimensional shapes, without seeing any bare skin, the respondents gave 7.45 points to a woman’s upper body in case AF, and 6.60 – 6.63 points to the lower body in cases AQ and AR. Bare skin at the legs, from the ankles until nearly the crotch, has not motivated the respondents of this survey to give as many points for eroticness as trousers or leggings which precisely conform to the shapes of the pelvis and buttocks, even if these don’t leave bare skin visible much or at all.
AY
6.06 |
typical quite scanty
bikini, standing, front
side only, entire body |
 |
AZ
6.06 |
one-piece swimsuit
from various angles,
also a kneeling posture |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 25, AY, 69 %. |
Pic 26, AZ, 69 %. |
Pic 27, AZ, 69 %. |
Bikini and a one-piece swimsuit received a bit more than 6.00 points for eroticness in these questions, when the garment is dry and such photographs were used in the survey, which display the entire body, or the photos display the lower body only. In a close-up photo the scantiest cuts in the bottom part of bikini or one-piece swimsuit received 6.88 points (AL) when standing straight, and nearly 8.00 points in a posture crawling on all fours seen from behind (AA and AB). When wet, soon after rising from the water, a one-piece swimsuit can reveal as a three-dimensional shape the nipples or the vertical crease of vagina (AH, 7.06 points) with an estimated probability over 30 %.
BA
6.06 |
in tight jeans
sitting on stairs,
legs are spread 30 cm |
 |
BB
5.97 |
shorts 3 cm, sitting
on ground, knees raised,
legs are spread 30 cm |
 |
BC
5.94 |
long dress (or skirt and
shirt), slightly scanty
looseness, no open neck |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 28, BA, 69 %. |
Pic 29, BB, 68 %. |
Pic 30, BC, 68 %. |
Case BA has women in tight jeans sitting on a bench with spread legs. Such a carefree sitting posture is “men’s manner of sitting” according to some traditional perceptions, which has been assumed to possibly inspire erotic notions, if a woman sits in such a posture. However, the respondents of this survey gave higher points for eroticness to women wearing skin-tight jeans, when standing in a neutral position (AR 6.60) than when sitting with spread legs (BA 6.06).
Question BB has a similar sitting posture, but the clothing is shorts with 3 cm long hem. The respondents did not give extra points for showing bare skin at the full length of the legs, compared to clothing that is sking-tight at the pelvis region. This can be considered a bit surprising, but the respondents had such a tendency generally in other cases too.
A quite ordinary full-length dress in the question BC got surprisingly high points for eroticness from the respondents, considering that no bare skin was visible, and the garment was not skin-tight either, only a bit scanty in its looseness. It is typical for dresses to have a soft fabric, which conforms to the body shapes with great fidelity even when loose, without forming its own independent shape off the surface of body, because the fabric does not have much bearing and rigidity.
Church father Clemens of Alexandria pondered the eroticness of soft fabric and skin-tight clothing in his work Paedagogus (Teacher) in ca. 200 AD, making such observations about people’s clothing that are in line with the results of this survey: ”Luxurious clothing [such as soft silk], which cannot cover the shape of body, is no longer any covering. Namely such clothing, which descends along the forms of body, takes more easily its shape … and emphasizes the woman’s body, so that the full essence of the body is visible for viewers, although they don’t see the body itself [concerning bare skin].”[1]
1
of Alexandria, Clemens ca. 200 AD. About clothing. Paedagogus.
https://st-takla.org/books/en/ecf/002/0020275.html [1 march 2023].
BD
5.87 |
bare back crossed by
the straps of bikini top,
gown with open back |
 |
BE
5.84 |
bare upper body, only
the nipples are covered
with small nipple pads |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 31, BD, 67 %. |
Pic 32, BD, 67 %. |
Pic 33, BE, 67 %. |
Women’s bare back in the question BD received 5.87 points from the respondents of the survey. A woman’s upper body with a bikini top seen from the front side got 20 % more points (7.03) in the case AI.
The score received by question BE is perhaps the most illogical of all questions in this survey: 5.84 points to women, whose upper body is covered with quite small nipple pads only. The expectation was that this question would receive some 30 – 35 % more points, perhaps 7.50 or even 8.00. In any case higher points than the upper body with an ordinary bikini top (AI, 7.03 points). This did not happen, however.
Question BE is a rare exception to the general perception that men’s answers follow quite straightforwardly such a principle, that the more there is bare (or skin-tightly clothed) skin, the higher points the respondents give for the eroticness of a woman’s clothing. Question BE had more bare skin at the upper body than question AI, for example, but the score remained much lower nevertheless. Perhaps the respondents have felt that this presented style of clothing is unrealistic and factitious, and they have reacted more strongly to such styles of clothing, of which they have memories from the real life.
BF
5.78 |
T-shirt with
slightly scanty
looseness |
 |
BG
5.76 |
shirt with very scanty
looseness, which repli-
cates shapes of breasts |
 |
These two questions belong to a series of three questions BF, BG and CN (which were not presented to the respondents in a sequence, but randomly around the survey), which had a woman’s upper body and face, seen from the front or the side. All women had brassiere under the shirt. Questions BF and BG had photos of four different women, whose breasts had varying sizes (quite small, medium size and quite large).
Women dressed in a skin-tight shirt that conforms to the shapes of breasts in the question BG received more than twice higher points for eroticness (5.76) than women dressed in a very loose shirt in case CN (2.34). This was a quite expected outcome. The anticipation was that the score of a shirt with only slightly scanty looseness would settle approximately at half-way between the two aforementioned cases. This did not happen, however, as the question BF received even higher points (5.78) than women dressed in a skin-tight shirt in the question BG.
A possible logical explanation for this unexpected result is that the woman with largest breasts in the question BF (picture 35) may have been deemed more attractive than the owner of largest breasts in the question BG (picture 34), who was clearly overweight. Such small details can sometimes have a great impact on the results of the survey. Measuring with full neutrality such aspects, which this survey attempts to measure, turned out to be a quite difficult task in this case.
 |
 |
| Pic 34, BG (5.76) 66 %. |
Pic 35, BF (5.78) 66 %. |
The intention was to define the concept of slightly scanty clothing, which would receive scores that settle at half-way between the scores of very loose and completely skin-tight clothing. This was successful what comes to women’s trousers, as skin-tight jeans received 6.60 points in the question AR, and trousers with slightly scanty looseness received 4.06 points in the question CA, and very loose trousers got 1.84 points in the question CR.
What comes to women’s shirt, such preplanned scaling to three alternatives with different levels of eroticness failed quite dramatically. Looseness of the shirt was apparently a bit too scanty in the question BF. An outcome that conforms to the expectations would have required a somewhat looser shirt, at least at the highest point of the breasts.
It seems also probable that question BG, which concerns a skin-tight shirt, did not reach the highest possible score that the respondents might have given, if the photos had contained a woman with a similar style as in picture 35, in a skin-tight shirt. The summary in chapter Q09C uses such an estimation that the potential peak value for the eroticness of a woman’s skin-tight shirt would probably be approximately 6.50 points, when brassiere is worn under the shirt.
BH
5.75 |
leggings shorts to
approximately half
thigh, front and behind |
 |
BI
5.65 |
whole body, front and
behind, very tight
trousers, loose shirt |
 |
BJ
5.65 |
strapless evening dress,
which leaves top 15 cm
of the upper body bare |
 |
Question BH had leggings shorts that reach approximately to half thigh, seen from the front and behind. The expectation was that short leggings would be deemed to be at least as erotic as ankle-length leggings in the question AW (6.23). Case BH received 8 % lower points, however (5.75), which is probably explained by the technical quality of the photos not being the best possible. Also the general observation was mentioned afore that showing bare skin at nearly the full length of the legs has not received equally high scores from the respondents as skin-tight clothing that conforms to the shapes of the pelvis and buttocks. Therefore short leggings did not receive more points than long leggings.
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 36, BH, 66 %. |
Pic 37, BI, 65 %. |
Pic 38, BJ, 65 %. |
Case BI had full-body pictures of women wearing skin-tight trousers. One could have expected that this question would compete quite evenly with case AR, in which women’s tight jeans received 6.60 points from the respondents. The 14 % lower score is probably explained by the fact that photos depicting the entire body usually received a weaker score for eroticness in this survey than pictures in larger size of a specifically interesting part of the body, which has similar clothing as the full-body picture.
In the question BJ a strapless festive evening dress, which leaves the shoulders and upper part of the chest broadly bare, received 5.65 points for eroticness from the respondents. The cup size of women’s breasts was approximately B and C in this question. Case AJ received 23 % higher points (6.97) with nearly identical clothing, when the cup size of women’s breasts was approximately E, and the shirt left the upper body bare at the height of some 20 cm.
A woman who owns quite large breasts receives more erotic attention towards herself when dressed scantily than the owner of small breasts, because bountiful shapes are easier to detect from under the clothes, and large breasts form interesting strong shapes at the wide open neck of a shirt. Men might like large breasts also otherwise, but this survey that concerns dressed women is not undeniable proof, which size of breasts is the most pleasant sight for men statistically, if the woman did not have any clothes at all.
BK
5.56 |
glowing through shirt
straps of bra at the back,
diagonal edges at front |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 39, BK (5.56) 64 %. |
Pic 40, BK (5.56) 64 %. |
Case BK had photos in which a woman’s shirt is not very skin-tight when seen from the front, and the only unusual observation is that the diagonal edges of brassiere glow through the shirt (picture 39), When seen from behind, the photos had a skin-tight shirt, through which the backside of brassiere was seen very clearly (picture 40).
The respondents gave 5.56 points for eroticness to these photos, which might be a higher score than expected, if we consider only the impact that the brassiere glowing through the shirt has on the matter. On the other hand, this score is logically in line with the fact that the looseness of shirt was slightly scanty in these photos, and shirts with scanty looseness received 5.78 and 5.76 points in cases BF and BG.
BL
5.52 |
skin-tight dress
reaching to half thigh,
the entire body |
 |
BM
5.34 |
kneeling on the floor,
crease of buttocks is
seen past low trousers |
 |
BN
5.32 |
loose shirt that reaches
a bit below the breasts
leaves the navel visible |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 41, BL, 63 %. |
Pic 42, BM, 61 %. |
Pic 43, BN, 61 %. |
Question BL had a woman in a dress that reaches to half thigh, with very scanty looseness. The expectation was that at least as high points would be given for eroticness as to question AO (6.63), which had women in an equally scanty dress that reaches to ankles. Bare skin at the legs did not bring extra points from the respondents in this case, and the score remained 17 % lower than in case AP. This might be caused by technical reasons: case BL had only one woman, seen from the front only, and the quality of photo was a bit blurry. Question AP had four different women, one of whom had clearly larger breasts than in the question BL, there were view angles from the front and behind, and the technical quality of photos was better. It might be reasonable to conclude that the case BL is not comparable with the other questions. With better photos, such a mini skirt would probably have received at least 6.63 points from the respondents.
BO
5.16 |
10 cm long shorts or
skirt from front, behind,
or kneeling on the floor |
 |
BP
4.97 |
bikini, nearly horizontal
cut in the lower edge of
pants, front and behind |
 |
BQ
4.91 |
from the waist to knees,
bikini pants, nearly
horizontal lower edge |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 44, BO, 59 %. |
Pic 45, BP, 57 %. |
Pic 46, BQ, 56 %. |
Cases BP and BQ had similar bikinis, whose pants had a low, nearly horizontal cut at the bottom edge, so that some 5 cm remains visible of the lower edge of buttocks. Question BP displayed the full body, and question BQ in larger size only from the waist to below the knee. The different cropping of the image did not affect the score practically at all in this case. (There is both a positive and a negative expectation for the score of question BP, compared to case BQ: the photo shows also the upper body, which statistically has interested the respondents more than a woman’s lower body. On the other hand, details of the body are seen in smaller size, which has usually produced lower scores.)
Shorts with 10 cm long hem in the question BO unexpectedly received higher points for eroticness than much scantier bikini bottoms in questions BP and BQ. A possible explanation for this can be that case BO included a body posture with a bent pelvis (sitting on the floor on one’s knees), which has usually received higher points for eroticness from the respondents than a posture standing straight.
BR
4.81 |
clothing leaves a lot
of the back visible,
tanlines on the back |
 |
Question BR, which had tanlines left by a bikini top on the backs of women, received 19 % less points than case BD (5.97 points), in which there were no tanlines on women’s backs. We might make such a conclusion from this that tanlines reduced the eroticness of women’s backs by 19 %. This somewhat surprising conclusion is very uncertain, however, because in the case BR one of the women had untypically numerous moles on her back, and the other woman was overweight. The difference between the scores received by questions BD and BR can be explained by completely other reasons than tanlines on the back.
There was no intention in this survey to find out, whether it affects the eroticness of a woman’s appearance if the skin is tanned or untanned.
 |
 |
| Pic 47, BR (4.81) 55 %. |
Pic 48, BS (4.81) 55 %. |
BS
4.81 |
wide 15 cm deep
shirt neckline, B cup,
fully straight chest |
 |
Case BS had women whose breasts have cup size approximately B, in a shirt whose neckline is very wide and 15 cm deep. The area of chest that is seen through the neckline was flat, without any slightest raised form that would be caused by breast tissue. Question BS received 31 % lower points from the respondents than case AJ (6.97), which had women dressed in a nearly identical way. In the case AJ the cup size of breasts was approximately E, and what was seen through the neckline was not an even chest, but rather a deeply creased cleavage of the breasts.
In social situations such a wide open neckline of shirt contains the risk that when the person leans forward, the neckline of shirt offers a view worth some 6.68 points, similarly to questions AN and AO.
BT
4.75 |
tight trousers, diagonal
seams of underpants
are seen on buttocks |
 |
Question BT had women in leggings or skin-tight trousers, so that the three-dimensional form of the seams of underpants crosses the buttocks diagonally. The most closely comparable other questions are perhaps the leggings shorts in case BH (5.75 points), and skin-tight jeans in case AR (6.60 points).
The 4.75 points received by question BT seem to be an unexpectedly low score, compared to other similar questions. Technical quality of the photos was not very good in the question BT, which gives a reason to be suspicious about the statistical comparability of this case. Therefore it remains unclear, whether the seams of underpants seen on the buttocks affected the erotic general impression, how much, and to which direction.
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 49, BT, 54 %. |
Pic 50, BU, 54 %. |
Pic 51, BV, 53 %. |
Question BV had photos of the upper body of women, with brassiere of the smallest cup size AA. The respondents gave 4.68 points for eroticness, which is 33 % less than a similar visual theme received in case AI (7.03 points), in which the cup size of breasts was approximately C.
BU
4.69 |
skirt reaches 10 cm
above knee, standing,
sitting on a chair |
 |
BV
4.68 |
adult woman, brassiere
as the clothing on upper
body, cup size AA |
 |
BW
4.63 |
bare shins, e.g.
knee-length skirt,
standing or sitting |
 |
In the question BW close-up photos of women’s shins in knee-length skirt received 4.63 points for eroticness from the respondents. Case BU received only a bit higher points (4.69), when the skirt reaches 10 cm above the knee. Technical quality of the photos was better in the case BW, which may have narrowed down the difference between the scores of these two cases. (A photo from question BW will be found further down in this report, in the section that discusses the hairiness of skin.)
BX
4.47 |
whole body, trousers &
shirt with a bit scanty
looseness, front, behind |
 |
BY
4.28 |
loose sleeveless
shirt, no spacious
neckline |
 |
BZ
4.09 |
shorts or skirt reach
to half thigh, standing
or sitting |
 |
CA
4.06 |
trousers with slightly
scanty looseness,
standing, front, behind |
 |
Case BX had full-body photos of women whose trousers and shirt had a bit scanty looseness. (Scantiness of the shirt was similar to case BF: a bit too scanty to settle at half-way between very loose and skin-tight, what comes to scores given by the respondents.) A close-up photo of the upper body with equally scanty looseness of shirt received 29 % more points in the question BF (5.78). This result is in line with the general observation that close-up photos of the upper body receive higher points from the respondents than full-body photos, which show a similarly dressed upper body in smaller size.
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 52, BX, 51 %. |
Pic 53, BX, 51 %. |
Pic 54, BZ, 47 %. |
On the other hand, case BX received 10 % more points than a close-up photo of trousers with slightly scanty looseness in the case CA (4.06). This fits the general observation, which was mentioned afore at question BP, that the respondents have usually given higher points to photos which show the upper body too, compared to photos that show the lower body only.
 |
 |
| Pic 55, BY (4.28) 49 %. |
Pic 56, CA (4.06) 46 %. |
In the case BY women’s bare arms up to the shoulders received 4.28 points for eroticness from the respondents, which is 8 % less than women’s bare shins received in the question BW (4.63). Picture 55 in the question BY was not very realistic and authentic what comes to the hair. The original photo had a deep-cut bare back part, which was removed a bit carelessly with an image editor, so that the respondents would tell their impressions about the sleevelessness of the dress only, without the bare back having an impact on the answers.
In the question BZ shorts or a skirt that reaches to half thigh received 4.09 points from the respondents. This can seem illogical, as a 10 cm longer skirt received 15 % higher points in the question BU (4.69), and 20 cm longer clothing 13 % higher points in the question BW (4.63). The quite apparent reason for this illogical situation is that the technical quality of pictures was weaker in the question BZ than in these other cases. Therefore the question BZ cannot be regarded as fully comparable with the other questions.
CB
4.06 |
whole body, loose dress
until the knees, front
and behind, stockings |
 |
CC
3.58 |
close-up of photo
of shins, wearing
leggings |
 |
In the case CC the respondents gave 3.58 points for eroticness to close-up photos of women’s shins in skin-tight leggings. Question CB received 13 % higher points (4.06) for full-body photos, in which shins are clothed with dark stockings, and the rest of the body has loose clothing. The slightly higher points can be due to the stockings being thinner and more transparent than leggings. Or then the general impression of the entire body and the face was deemed more attractive than a close-up photo of the shins only.
 |
 |
| Pic 57, stockings, 46 %. |
Pic 58, CC (3.58) 41 %. |
It would have been equally possible to use photos of men’s shins in the question CC, without telling it to the respondents, and they would probably have given similar scores. Men’s and women’s shins have quite identical shape. Their greatest difference is in the structure of the skin, which cannot be noticed through leggings. Muscularity of the shins is more common among men than women, though. Stereotypical differences of the genders in the three-dimensional forms of the legs become more apparent above the level of knees.
CD
3.41 |
close-up photo of hands
(backside of palms and
wrists), artificial nails |
 |
CE
3.38 |
loose T-shirt, sleeve
5 cm below armpit,
no wide open neckline |
 |
CF
3.32 |
loose skirt to ankles
and loose shirt,
sleeve to wrists |
 |
CG
3.19 |
close-up photo of
ankles, feet and toes
that have nail polish |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 59, CD (3.41) 39 %. |
Pic 60, CG (3.19) 36 %. |
Women’s hands with decorative artificial nails received 3.41 points for eroticness from the respondents in the question CD. Women’s hands without nail polish received 21 % lower points (2.71) in the case CK.
 |
 |
| Pic 61, CF (3.32) 38 %. |
Pic 62, CE (3.38) 39 %. |
Women’s feet with nail polish received 3.19 points for eroticness in the question CG, and without nail polish 11 % less (2.84 points) in the case CJ.
The historical western basic level of women’s clothing, a loose shirt with long sleeves and an ankle-length skirt, received 3.32 points in the question CF. Close-up photo of a woman’s upper body with a shorter sleeve in shirt (5 cm below armpit) produced slightly higher points (3.38) in case CE.
The aforementioned questions CD, CF and CG received 3.19 – 3.41 points for eroticness, when all that is visible are women’s palms of hands, feet, face or hair, and everything else is covered with loose clothing. Based on this it can be noted that approximately 3.50 points (40 % of the eroticness 8.75 of a fully nude woman) is the theoretical minimum limit, below which it is not possible to guarantee the eroticness of women’s appearance in a social situation, with any less radical style of clothing than an islamic burqa. For example, a veil that covers the hair does not affect this basic level of women’s appearance hardly at all, apparently, if people can see the face and palms of hands, whose eroticness is approximately of level 3.50. This topic is discussed more in more detail further in this report, in the section on islamic clothing.
CH
3.16 |
woman’s upper body
from behind, no bra, a
lot of acne on the back |
 |
CI
3.03 |
sprinter’s very
muscular legs,
3 cm long shorts |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 63, CH (3.16) 36 %. |
Pic 64, CI (3.03) 35 %. |
Women’s back, which has a lot of signs of severe acne, received 3.16 points for eroticness in the case CH. This is 46 % less than the respondents gave to the backs of women who possess a flawless skin in the question BD (5.87). The photos used in the case CH were partially unauthentic: the women in the photos had a completely flawless skin, and the acne was added with an image editor.
Question CI had a track & field sprinter’s very muscular legs in tight shorts, whose hem length is 3 cm. Other fully comparable questions are not available, because the other questions with short shorts had photos also from behind, or kneeling and with the pelvis bent. Such body postures and view angles have statistically produced higher points than when standing straight and seen from the front only.
Question CI received more than half lower points than 3 cm long shorts in the question AT (6.41). The respondents apparently did not deem muscular legs to be very womanly and erotic. The difference between these two cases might be a bit narrower, though, if case AT had not gotten advantage from using more interesting view angles and body postures.
 |
 |
| Pic 65, CK (2.71) 31 %. |
Pic 66, CJ (2.84) 32 %. |
Woman’s hands and feet without nail polish received 11 – 21 % lower points for eroticness than with nail polish or artificial nails, in cases CD and GG.
CJ
2.84 |
close-up photo of
ankles, feet and
toes, no nail polish |
 |
CK
2.71 |
close-up photo of hands
(backside of palms and
wrists), no nail polish |
 |
In the question CL leggings and a skirt to half thigh received 2.63 points for eroticness from the respondents. This result is not logically in line with the other questions, because in the question CC close-up photos of the shins only in leggings received 36 % more points (3.58), and in the case CB dark stockings under a loose knee-length dress received 54 % more points (4.06).
 |
 |
| Pic 67, CL (2.63) 30 %. |
Pic 68, CM (2.63) 30 %. |
CL
2.63 |
leggings, on top of
which is a skirt that
reaches to half thigh |
 |
CM
2.63 |
loose skirt,
which reaches
to half shin |
 |
In the case CM the respondents gave 2.63 points for eroticness to women, whose loose skirt reaches to half shin. Also this result is somewhat illogical, because in the case CF the respondents gave 26 % more points for eroticness (3.32) to women whose skirt reaches to ankles.
One reason for these illogical results might be that at any level below 3.50 points the eroticness of clothing is so mild, that other details (such as an attractive face, posture of the body, how the image is cropped, or general attractiveness of the woman’s appearance) can affect the points that the question receives even more than the detail of clothing, whose eroticness we are attempting to measure. The photos that are used in the questions should be chosen with yet more careful consideration than happened in this survey.
In question CL the technical quality of most photos was quite poor, although picture 67 which is presented here is quite adequate in quality. In the summary of chapter Q09C I use such an assumption (which is based e.g. on comparison with the results of questions CB and CC) that the expectation for the eroticness of case CL is approximately 4.25 points — which is 62 % more than the respondents gave to the photos that were used in this survey, which were partly of poor quality or cropped to the lower body only.
Skin-tight trousers and a skirt reaching to half thigh is a quite common style of clothing, and noteworthy also internationally, because in Iran it seems to be the current policy that case CL is the scantiest practically allowed style of a woman’s clothing, what comes to the lower body. (The trousers under the skirt would probably not be leggings in Iran, though, but more probably skin-tight jeans.)
CN
2.34 |
upper body, loose
shirt with long sleeves,
no wide open neckline |
 |
CO
2.19 |
upper body, loose
shirt, sleeve to elbow,
no wide open neckline |
 |
Also in these questions CN and CO it probably happened that the difference in points given by respondents to this and other questions is based on something else than the small differences in the coverage of clothing, which the survey intends to assess. In the case CO a loose shirt with sleeves to elbows received 6 % lower points (2.19) for eroticness from the respondents than a loose shirt with long sleeves in the case CN (2.34). Thus a shirt that reveals less skin received more points for eroticness. The probable explanation is that in the question CN the appearance of the women was more attractive in the opinion of the respondents, and the difference in scores is not based on the length of sleeve at all.
 |
 |
| Pic 69, CO (2.19) 25 %. |
Pic 70, CN (2.34) 27 %. |
CP
2.16 |
entire body, front and
behind, loose shirt, long
sleeves, loose trousers |
 |
CR
1.84 |
trousers that are very
loose also at the pelvis,
from front and behind |
 |
Case CR had women’s trousers, which have as much looseness as men’s trousers typically have: one could generally take between one’s fingers a fold of fabric over 10 cm long of extra looseness, and even at the hips some 5 cm. Such trousers of women received lower points for eroticness (1.84) than any other western style of clothing in this survey. Only an islamic cloak with the niqab veil received lower points for eroticness (0.74).
This survey did not contain such a case at all, which would have in close-up photos the lower body only in an ankle-length skirt. Thus it remained untested in a comparable way, whether a full-length skirt would have received more or less points from the respondents than very loose trousers.
 |
 |
| Pic 71, CR (1.84) 21 %. |
Pic 72, CR (1.84) 21 %. |
 |
 |
| Pic 73, CP (2.16) 25 %. |
Pic 74, CP (2.16) 25 %. |
In the question CP full-body photos from the front and behind of women, who have very loose trousers and a loose shirt with long sleeves, received 2.16 points for eroticness from the respondents, which is 17 % more than the respondents gave in case CR (1.84) to close-up photos of the lower body only, which is clothed with very loose trousers. But 8 % less than the respondents gave in the question CN (2.34) to close-up photos of the upper body only, in a loose shirt with long sleeves.
The general observance can be noted once again, which has been mentioned also earlier in the report a couple of times, that in close-up photos the respondents have deemed the upper body (and the face) to be more interesting than the lower body, and the scores of full-body photos settle somewhere between these two alternatives.
There was no separate question for close-up photos of the face, so it remains unclarified, how high points for eroticness the respondents would have given to an attractive face only. (The scores given in survey Q08, which concerns the face and hair, cannot be compared with survey Q09 which concerns clothing, because the respondents have quite apparently taken a different attitude when giving points, because of a differently outlined topic, even though the scale of points was similar, 0 – 10.)
Faces that were seen in photos of the upper body did not guarantee that the respondents would give much over 2.00 points for eroticness. On the other hand, neither did palms of hands or fingers seen in upper-body photos guarantee more points than this. In the data tables in chapter Q09C of the book I use such an assumption that eroticness of the face in close-up photos would be of a similar level with the palms of hands and the feet, approximately 3.50 points.
This would mean that such styles and levels of clothing, whose eroticness is assumed to be lower than 3.50 points, cannot in reality guarantee that the attractiveness of a person’s social essence would be under 3.50 points when meeting at close distance, if the face, palms of hands or feet are visible. 3.50 points seems to be approximately the theoretical minimum, under which it is nearly impossible to limit women’s erotic attractiveness in social situations, even when following very radical guidelines of clothing. In some religions and communities it is assumed nevertheless that this is philosophically necessary, and that the objectives of decency that have been set are practically possible to achieve.
Such a convention is quite common in islamic cultures that a woman should cover her hair in public places with a scarf that is called hijab. According to stricter interpretations, a woman should cover also her face, only excluding a small area around the eyes, with a veil that is called niqab. In the most conservative islamic faith a woman must hide also her eyes behind a curtain of lace, with a veil that is called burqa.
Similar thoughts have existed already before the islamic era, in quite small inner circles. Church father Clemens of Alexandria wrote approximately in 200 AD in his work Paedagogus (Teacher) that a christian woman should cover in public places her entire body, also the face and the eyes with a veil (in a manner that is similar to the modern islamic burqa):
“Neither is it proper that any part of a woman is revealed. … ’Your face is beautiful.’ ’Yes, but only for him who is my husband.’ However, I don’t want decent women to give a reason for such praises ... and not only because it is forbidden to reveal the ankle, but because it has been decreed that the head should be veiled and the face covered. As it is depraved for beauty to be as a snare for men.”[2]
2
of Alexandria, Clemens ca. 200 AD. About clothing. Paedagogus.
https://st-takla.org/books/en/ecf/002/0020275.html [1 march 2023].
The thinking of Clemens of Alexandria regarding women’s clothing apparently did not get very broad support outside of a small ascetic inner circle. He is one of the most famous persons of early christianity for other reasons: his quite extensive literary production is among the earliest christian theological texts, which have been preserved from a post-biblical era.[3]
3
Wikipedia 2023. Clement of Alexandria, subtitle Theological works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_of_Alexandria#Theological_works [1 march 2023].
Apparently it became customary in christian monasteries already before the islamic faith was founded, that nuns have the obligation to be dressed in a manner that is similar to the modern islamic hijab, in a loose cloak and a veil that covers the hair. Such a convention has remained among nuns to the modern day. Although there are also such monasteries for nuns nowadays, in which the dress code is more modern and liberal.
CS
0.74 |
loose cloak, niqab covers
the hair, visible are eyes,
palms of hands and feet |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 75, CS (0.74) 8 %. |
Pic 76, hijab (~3.50) ~40 %. |
Of the various alternatives of islamic clothing, this survey included the niqab only, which received 0.74 points for eroticness from the respondents, in case CS. The full-body photos show the eyes, palms of hands, bare ankles and feet (in one photo) of women who are dressed in a loose cloak. The women have shoes on their feet. The only question that received less points than CS was the case SC (0.58 points), which had a woman’s shins with dark skin hair that is never shaven.
In the case CD merely the palms of hands in a close-up photo (decorated with esthetic artificial nails) received 3.41 points for eroticness from the respondents. In question CG women’s toes with nail polish received 3.19 points. Eroticness of the eyes with feminine makeup was not tested in this survey, in such a way that the rest of the face would have been covered with a veil. In the summary of chapter Q09C I assume the eyes to have an eroticness possibly some 2.00 points, and the face 3.50 points.
Based on photos that can be found on the internet with the search word ”burqa”, it seems that in real-life situations in the Middle East it is not very uncommon that a woman wearing a burqa or niqab has the palms of hands visible, or she may be wearing sandals that leave the bare ankles and polished toe nails visible. Thus the appearance of a burqa-wearer may contain details, whose eroticness is even ordinary western basic level from a close distance, approximately 3.50 points.
The local male population in the Middle East is not accustomed to seeing much of women’s bare skin in a public place. Through classical conditioning it is possible that they would react more strongly to women’s hair or face than the western respondents of this survey.
The hijab, which covers the hair but leaves the face visible, is nowadays in western countries the most common such detail in a woman’s clothing, which people recognize as a garment that is typical for islam. The argumentation presented in islam for women’s obligation to wear the hijab is God’s will and decency, limiting the eroticness of women’s appearance. That is, limiting the scores that the respondents have given in this survey.
Can wearing a hijab, which covers the hair, reduce the eroticness of a woman’s outer appearance from the western basic level of some 3.50 points, to the level of 2.00 or 1.00 points, for example? This might be an impossible formula when meeting at a close distance, if already the mere fingers with artificial nails may have an eroticness of level 3.41 points, and the face that the hijab leaves visible might also be of a level around 3.50 points. For it to be possible that covering one’s hair reduces a woman’s eroticness, when her face is visible, hair would need to have greater eroticness than the face has. It seems improbable that this were the truth about this matter.
Such a phenomenon does not seem to happen hardly at all in this survey, that the eroticness of the various body parts that are visible would be “summed up” cumulatively. This was a main reason for using also full-body photos in the survey, to test whether eroticness of the entire body is the sum of the eroticness of the upper body and of the lower body, or their mathematical average, or the peak value. Usually it seems to be an average, because the details are seen in a smaller size. In none of the questions is it the sum of the visible body parts.
Women’s obligation to cover their hair with the hijab is probably a futile duty, which at least in a western context does not advance in any statistically measurable way the objective, with which this obligation is argumented in islam: that a woman’s appearance would be less erotic with the hijab than without it. This formula does not function, if such body parts remain visible after covering the hair, which are at least as erotic as the hair, and often much more erotic too.
A typical wearer of the hijab in western countries does not remain even at the westerm basic level 3.50 points in the eroticness of her outward appearance, because the rest of her clothing might have a bit scanty looseness, in a modern western manner. It is not rare in western countries that a female person has her hair covered with the obligatory hijab scarf, but she is also wearing skin-tight jeans, whose eroticness can be even 6.60, based on question AR. Yet more common than this is wearing a shirt with slightly scanty looseness, whose eroticness can be 5.78 for example, based on question BF.
 |
 |
| Pic 77, hijab (~6.50) ~74 %. |
Pic 78, hijab (~5.75) ~66 %. |
The photos above demonstrate these points of view. In picture 77 a woman wearing a hijab takes a selfie with her phone, wearing tight jeans, whose eroticness might be of level 6.60 according to question AR, when standing straight.
In picture 78 the woman has a shirt with slightly scanty looseness. Appearance of the upper body is nearly identical with the photo that was used in the question BF, which received 5.78 points for eroticness from the respondents.
In the scenarios of these photos the hijab scarf has no relevance for decency, because the eroticness of the rest of clothing is nowhere near such a level of modesty (apparently under 3.00 points), which is assumedly the objective of wearing the hijab, but rather somewhere around the level of 6.00 points.
When we take into account, which details in a woman’s appearance have received more than 3.50 points for eroticness in this survey (for example, slightly scanty looseness of shirt 5.78 points), it can be noted that maintaining an appearance, whose eroticness is below the western basic level 3.50 points, is an extremely difficult and heavy, even nearly impossible objective, which most islamic communities in western countries have practically given up already, judging by how they are dressed generally. Only the hijab remains as an obligatory memorial monument of medieval islamic puritanism, which they don’t want to admit having abandoned, although in reality they have abandoned it long ago.
Iran is a conservative islamic state, where the style of women’s clothing has become heavily westernized in the recent decades. Hijab remains obligatory for women, however. According to official information, women should wear loose trousers in Iran, but based on photos that can be found on the internet, it seems that the jeans of iranian women are often practically as skin-tight as in western countries, as long as a loose coat or shirt forms a skirtlike hem at least to half thigh.
Based on the questions CL, CB and CC it can be estimated that the eroticness of such clothing is approximately of 4.00 points level. Quite undeniably of such level that covering one’s hair in the name of decency is a futile formality in such circumstances. A standing dead tradition.
It is required in Iran that women’s shirt is loose with long sleeves, such that received 2.34 points from the respondents of this survey in the case CN. Based on news photos that can be found on the internet, it can be noted that the society of Iran is practically unable to define or supervise the concept of the looseness of women’s shirt so precisely, that clothing with somewhat scanty looseness would not occur too and be accepted every now and then — such that received as many as 5.78 points for eroticness from the respondents of this survey in the question BF.
The situation might be such in islamic and jewish communities quite commonly in various parts of the world, that people possess the skill to measure the length of a skirt with the precision of centimeters, but assessing the looseness of a shirt turns out to be an insurmountably abstract and ambiguous topic. This happened to me too, when I was creating this survey: in case BF it was my intention to use photos that would receive approximately 4.00 points for eroticness from the respondents. In this role of a morality police, I inadvertently approved the photos of women who were wearing a too scanty shirt, which received 5.78 points from the respondents of the survey. I tried my best, but my judgment was faulty. The task was too abstract and ambiguous.
 |
 |
Pic 79, burqa, Afghanistan
(~0.25) ~3 %. |
Pic 80, niqab, Saudi-Arabia
(~4.00) ~46 %. |
These photos show a burqa and a niqab, photographed in their authentic environment in the Middle East. Burqa does not mean only a veil of lace that covers the face, it is also a style of clothing, which includes a cloak so large and tentlike that other people nearby are usually not able to observe much of the shapes of the woman’s body. The most erotic publicly visible parts of the woman are then the palms of hands, fingers, possibly a bit of bare ankles, and maybe feminine shoes with high heels. Or sandals, which might have bare toes with nail polish. From a close distance the eroticness of these body parts can be nearly of 3.50 points level, even in a western context, where not much classical conditioning has occurred to pay very keen attention to these details.
Niqab is a style of clothing that leaves the eyes visible, and which is usually less tentlike than the burqa. In picture 80 the tentlikeness of the clothing is somewhat inadequate at the breasts of the saudi-arabian woman. Not as clearly scanty as the woman’s shirt was in the question BF (5.78 points), but scantier and offering more information about the woman’s breasts than happens with a very loose shirt in the case CN (2.34 points). Perhaps this would settle at half-way between the cases CN and BF, around the level of 4.00 points. Perhaps this is the level of looseness that should have been used in the question BF.
In the context of saudi-arabian culture, the eroticness of this woman’s appearance is defined more probably by her chestly possessions than her covered hair, or her nearly completely covered face. In the end they are covered to no avail, without a cause, if the rest of her clothing offers more eroticness (4.00) to the men who pass her by on the street than her hair or face could have possibly offered (3.50).
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 81 (~3.50). |
Pic 82 (~5.75). |
Pic 83 (~7.00). |
What comes to islamic clothing, let us mention yet the burkini, which is a combination of a hijab, loose shirt, trousers and a short skirt, which are made of swimsuit fabric. Women might wear a bra under the burkini nearly without exception, because the shirt of the burkini is a quite ordinary loose shirt with long sleeves, which gets glued onto the skin and conforms to the shapes of the body, when wet. If no bra were worn under the burkini, the eroticness of many women’s appearance could be around the level of the question AF (7.45 points), when the three-dimensional shape of the breasts and nipples would be revealed through the wet fabric, which glues itself tightly onto the skin.
It might be rare that any islamic woman wears the burkini without brassiere under it. The bra needs to have paddings, however, in order to prevent that the nipples, which can get hardened in cold water, might be seen through the burkini as a three-dimensional shape. Not all islamic women perceive this, judging by the fact that one of the most widely used photo sets internationally in the news articles that reported the french burkini ban in 2016 (which was used e.g. by Helsingin Sanomat in its article on 25 august 2016) has an islamic woman wading in the seashore waters, who has brassiere under the burkini that has glued onto her skin, conforming to the shapes of her breasts, but nevertheless the nipples are seen through the burkini (and the unpadded brassiere) as a three-dimensional shape, which might be worth approximately 7.00 points in eroticness (picture 83). Helsingin Sanomat did not use the photo from this set of many pictures, which makes these circumstances apparent most clearly.
If we examine the photos that Google image search returns with the keyword “burkini”, it can be noted that there are many kinds of burkinis, and the level of their eroticness varies greatly. As a very approximate estimation, some 50 % of the burkinis listed by Google image search are quite loose, with eroticness around the western basic level 3.50 points — at least in the advertisement photos, which were taken when the garment is dry. The other 50 % of burkinis have somewhat scanty looseness at the breasts even when dry (picture 82), and might be skin-tight at the legs, with an eroticness that can be similar to question BF, approximately 5.75 points, for example.
When wet, the eroticness of a typical burkini might be approximately 5.00 – 6.00 points, nearly without exception. When a person spends time in the water, there will be water between the burkini (or any swimwear) and the person’s body, but not any air. When the person rises from the water, this layer of water flows out downwards, but air cannot enter as quickly under the garment. A vacuum is formed between the garment and the skin, which causes the fabric to be glued onto the body as skin-tightly as is theoretically possible. Revealing the shapes of breasts, for example.
Majority of burkini manufacturers make no attempt to develop a technical solution of any kind to prevent the wet fabric from being glued skin-tightly onto the wearer’s body at the breasts. Some manufacturers have models, in which the hijab scarf reaches to the waist level (picture 81), and forms an additional loose hem in front of the breasts. I don’t deem it very probable that such a hem changes the situation much, when the garment is wet (if and when the fabric used in such a hem is soft, easily bending and absorbs water): also the hem of the hijab scarf probably gets glued skin-tightly against the body.
In some burkinis the fabric looks more sturdy than a regular shirt, even like a coat. Majority of the photos of such products were taken in the studio when dry, so it is difficult to estimate, how such garments behave when wet.
Burkini includes a hijab scarf, which covers the woman’s hair. Covering one’s hair may seldom make any practical difference regarding the eroticness of the woman’s appearance, in the extremely challenging circumstances that are caused by the clothes becoming totally wet. A person’s hair might not be at its most attractive anyway when wet.
Western women have had for more than a hundred years a convention that is followed by nearly the entire population, to shave the bodily hair on their shins and armpits. Cultures still remain in some parts of the world, in which a woman’s skin hair is considered even something holy from a religious point of view, but in most countries a woman’s hairless skin has become a beauty ideal which is seen in these surveys in a quite dramatic way.
Questions SA and SB had very similar photos of women in a night shirt or top, with an arm raised and the armpit visible. In the case SA the woman had shaven her armpit hair, while in the question SB the women have their armpit hair trimmed to the length of approximately 1 cm. Not freely growing as 5 cm long bushes, which is quite common among men.
SA
5.18 |
night shirt with thin
spaghetti straps, arm up,
armpit hair shaven off |
 |
SB
1.22 |
night shirt with thin
straps or a top, arm up,
armpit hair is visible |
 |
Respondents of the survey gave 5.18 points for eroticness to clean-shaven armpits, which is an expected result for a level of clothing that resembles a strapless evening dress in the case BJ (5.65 points), but is less festive in its style.
Women’s armpit hair trimmed at the length of 1 cm received only 1.22 points from the respondents, which is 24 % of the expected result. 63 % of the men gave 0 points to this alternative. The other 37 % of men agreed to see at least some eroticness in the women in the photos. One respondent even worth 9 points.
 |
 |
| Pic 84, SA (5.18) 59 %. |
Pic 85, SB (1.22) 14 %. |
High-quality close-up photos of clean-shaven women’s shins received 4.63 points for eroticness from the respondents in the case BW. In question SC the respondents gave 87 % fewer points (0.58) to the shins of three different women, on which dark skin hair is growing at its full natural length. Case SC received lower points for eroticness than any other question. Higher points (0.74) were given even to a loose islamic cloak, which has a niqab veil that leaves only the eyes visible.
77 % of the men gave 0 points for eroticness to women’s hairy shins. The other 23 % of men took a slightly more positive attitude to these photos: six respondents gave 1 – 3 points, and one respondent gave the highest grade of this style, 5 points.
BW
4.63 |
bare shins, e.g.
knee-length skirt,
standing or sitting |
|
SC
0.58 |
shins, dark skin
hair at its full
natural length |
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 86, BW (4.63) 53 %. |
Pic 87, SC (0.58) 7 %. |
This survey did not ask about people’s opinion concerning pubic hair. Surveys on this topic have been done elsewhere, according to which the majority of men regard a woman’s pubic hair as very erotic and important. There are not many friends of completely freely growing hairiness, but an appearance trimmed to a neat length is appreciated widely. Approximately one third of men deem a woman’s pubic hair to be disturbing, regardless of its length, and would like it to be completely shaven off. Thus the opinions of people are divided, even quite sharply.
Shaving the pubic hair completely off is remarkably common in pornography. We can only speculate the original motive that the producers of pornography have had for this, was it their intention to make the material more attractive for the viewers, or quite the opposite, to reduce the eroticness of the material, so that the product that is sold to the customer will not be interesting endlessly, and the customer will soon come to buy more. Esthetic decisions taken by the producers of pornography decades ago are one possible explanation, where such a beauty ideal can have developed from, to become so widely prevalent in the western society.
Pubic hair is one of the characteristics of sexual maturity, which differentiates the body of a sexually passive child from the body of a sexually active adult. Such beauty ideals, in which the pubic hair is shaven completely off, narrow down the chasm between the symbolic esthetics of the bodies of children versus adults. Does this aspect have any unwanted practical consequences, through classical conditioning for example, and what would those consequences be, this is difficult to estimate.
This survey avoided using photos in which the person has tattoos, at least in such parts of the body, whose eroticness the respondents should evaluate. Parallel questions were made of a few styles of clothing, so that in one question the person does not have any tattoos, and in the other question the person’s skin is quite heavily tattooed.
In case TA the respondents gave 24 % lower points for eroticness to women who have large tattoos on their back, compared to women who have no tattoos on their back in the question BD. Formulation of the question may have favoured tattooed women a bit, because in the case TA the women did not wear brassiere. Awareness of the women’s toplessness may have inspired erotic notions in the respondents, even though the breasts cannot be seen in a photo that was taken from behind.
TA
4.47 |
bare back, no
bra, large tattoos
in a wide area |
 |
BD
5.87 |
bare back crossed by
the straps of bikini top,
dress with open back |
|
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 88, TA, 51 %. |
Pic 89, TB, 45 %. |
Pic 90, TC, 26 %. |
TB
3.97 |
bikini top on the
upper body, cup size
C, many large tattoos |
 |
AI
7.03 |
upper body, whose
only clothing is bikini
top, cup size C |
|
Questions TB and AI had women’s upper bodies in a bikini top, breast size approximately C. The respondents gave 44 % lower points for eroticness to women who have large tattoos in the region of the stomach or chest. Quality of the photos was much poorer in the case TB, so these questions are not fully comparable with each other. The difference between the scores of these two questions might have been much smaller, if the photos had been of similar quality.
TC
2.29 |
age 50 y, bottom part of
bikini, waist to knees,
front, large tattoos |
 |
BQ
4.91 |
from waist to knees,
bikini pants, nearly
horizontal lower edge |
|
AY
6.06 |
typical quite scanty
bikini, standing, front
only, the entire body |
|
The case TC received over 50 % fewer points than other quite similar questions, in which the woman does not have any tattoos at all. The photo in the question TC may have given such an impression that the person is approximately 50 years of age. There would not be another comparable question in any case, because case BQ has view angles from behind too, and case AY has a full-body photo, so that also the region of the breasts is visible, which statistically has interested the respondents quite much. The difference between a tattooed and untattooed body might have remained much smaller, if these questions had been fully comparable.
TD
2.13 |
entire body, bikini,
nearly horizontal cut in
lower edge, overweight |
 |
BP
4.97 |
bikini, nearly horizontal
cut in the lower edge,
from front and behind |
|
The question TD (picture 94) had a full-body photo of a woman seen from the front, who has many large tattoos on her entire body. The closest equivalent is question BP, which received over twice more points for eroticness from the respondents. There are remarkable problems in the comparability of these two questions, however, because question BP had view angles also from behind, and the woman in the case TD was somewhat overweight.
In all four questions regarding tattooed women (TA, TB, TC and TD) the comparability of photos was less than perfect compared to such questions, in which the woman does not have any tattoos on her skin. 25 % seems to be a realistic estimation, how much large tattoos on a woman’s skin reduce the points for eroticness that respondents give. Some of the respondents do not lower the score at all becaue of tattoos, but some respondents drop the points dramatically to zero.
In the case FA photos of a breastfeeding mother received 55 % lower points from the respondents than women with equally revealing clothing in other questions. 39 % of the respondents gave 0 % for eroticness to a breastfeeding mother, who flashed even some of the nipple while breastfeeding. 29 % of respondents estimated such a view to cause mildly erotic feelings, worth 1 – 4 points. The remaining 32 % of respondents assessed the situation to be quite strongly erotic, by giving 5 – 10 points.
FA
3.00 |
mother breastfeeds a
baby, large area of
breast and nipple seen |
 |
AO
6.66 |
while bending forward,
breasts are seen through
shirt neck, also nipples |
|
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 91, FA, 34 %. |
Pic 92, FA, 34 %. |
Pic 93, FB, 31 %. |
FB
2.69 |
mother breastfeeds
a baby, large area of
breast seen, not nipple |
 |
AJ
6.97 |
20 cm deep very
wide neckline in
shirt, cup size E |
|
In the question FB the head of the baby covers the middle part of the breast, and the nipple remains hidden. The respondents gave 61 % less points for eroticness than would have been the expectation, which would perhaps be something similar to case AJ. The given scores are distributed quite similarly as in the case FA.
It is possible to speculate at least three possible explanations, why approximately half of the respondents have given much lower scores to the photos of breastfeeding mothers than would be the theoretical expectation. One possible explanation is that breastfeeding as the context of the photo has subconsciously affected approximately every other respondent, so that their spontaneous emotional experience has been fully neutral and nonsexual.
Another possible explanation is that the spontaneous first reaction of these persons, springing from the subconsciousness, has been as erotic as one might statistically expect, based on how revealing the level of clothing is, but these persons have consciously suppressed such an emotional reaction, because of philosophical reasons, and as the result their emotional experience has become mostly as neutral and unerotic as their given response indicates.
A third possible explanation is that the reaction of these persons has been as erotic as one might statistically expect, based on how revealing the level of clothing is, and they have not suppressed such an emotional response, but they have nevertheless preferred to answer the question in an ideologically suitable way. That is, contrary to the truth about their emotional experience.
We don’t know, which of these three alternatives explains the given answers, and with which statistical distribution. In any case these answers can be interpreted as a tolerating attitude towards breastfeeding a baby in the sight of unrelated third parties. The aspect of possible jealousy may remain unindicated through these questions: would the male respondents of the survey have an equally neutral and careless attitude, if their own spouse breastfeeds in a public place without trying to cover her breasts in any way. This survey does not indicate either, what women think about breastfeeding in a public place, because all respondents of this question are heterosexual men.
Case RA had middle-aged women seen from the front with a bare upper body, whose both breasts have been removed, probably in the context of treating breast cancer. Fully comparable other questions are not available, considering the full toplessness and the age of the persons. Case AF received over 7 times more points from the respondents, even though the women were wearing a shirt.
 |
 |
| Pic 94, TD (2.13) 24 %. |
Pic 95, RA (1.06) 12 %. |
If the women in the question RA had not been with a bare upper body, and they would have been wearing breassiere of cup size AA, the expectation for the score might have been even 4.68 points according to question BV, or 4.81 points according to question BS. Removal of the breasts does not as such prevent a woman’s appearance from having eroticness even up to the level of 8.00 points: it is possible to receive so high points without showing the breasts, and theoretically without even possessing them.
RA
1.06 |
bare upper body, from
the front, breasts
removed, horizontal scars |
 |
AF
7.45 |
skin-tight shirt, no
bra, shape of nipples
and breasts visible |
|
Two questions were based on using one’s imagination: a nude woman, and a woman with a fully bare upper body. These questions were accompanied by photos of women in bikini, and cartoons or classical oil paintings of nude women. The respondents were asked to imagine, how erotic these women would be, if these had been photographs of naked real persons.
NA
7.16 |
nude woman,
in a neutral body
posture (imagined) |
 |
NB
6.46 |
topless woman,
entire upper body
is bare (imagined) |
 |
These questions produced some 20 % lower scores than was the expectation, which is not logically in harmony with how erotic the respondents deemed other very scanty styles of clothing to be. This is probably because the respondents did not get a chance to look at the scenario that the question concerns, and they had to use their imagination. Therefore these cases are not comparable with the other questions.
In the summary in chapter Q09C I use such an assumption that nude women would have probably received approximately 8.75 points for eroticness from the respondents, and topless women 8.25 points. Even though this is an estimation only, not a solid fact, the realistic margin for possible variation is not very wide for these values, when we consider the following points of view:
At a swimpool people have a moderate attitude (though possibly mixed with an erotic interest) towards women who are wearing bikini. On the other hand, women’s nudity or toplessness would be outright sensational at nearly any swimpool. The difference between bikini and nudity or toplessness does not seem to be small and insignificant, but rather something quite big and dramatic. The respondents gave as many as 7.45 – 7.97 points for eroticness to women who were in bikini or underwear, so it seems improbable that the score of nudity could even theoretically be lower than 8.50.
There is also a mathematical upper limit for realistically possible scores. The average of all answers cannot be higher than 9.00 very easily. If even one person gives 0 points for the eroticness of nudity, with a nudistic attitude, we would need nine others who give full 10 points, for the average to become 9.00. But not everyone gives full 10 points to such nudity that does not include obviously sexual or pornographic insinuations: some give 8 or 9 points only. For these reasons it is improbable that my estimation 8.75 points could deviate from the reality much more than +/- 0.25 points.
The theoretically possible margin for variation can be a bit wider for the eroticness of women’s toplessness. The respondents have shown remarkable interest towards the region of women’s breasts in many questions of this survey. A woman is apparently more erotic when topless than when in bikini, in any quite ordinary body posture (e.g. case AA 7.97 points). Probably at least 8.25 points. However, it is not impossible that the eroticness of topless women could be as high as 8.50 or even 8.75 points.
| 8.75 |
nude, in a neutral body
posture (assumed,
not researched) |
 |
| 8.25 |
topless, whole upper
body bare (assumed,
not researched) |
 |
These two diagrams present the probable statistical distribution of the scores given by various respondents, if it is true that the eroticness of nudity is 8.75 and the eroticness of toplessness is 8.25 points. (These diagrams imitate the way how the scores given by respondents are distributed in the questions that received highest points, and in which people’s attention is drawn mostly on the upper body or on the pelvis region.)
These art pictures portrayed fully nude people, created with the techniques cartoon, sculpture and classical oil painting. Through these questions it is possible to clarify an aspect that has been pondered many times along the centuries and millennia, also in christianity: how strongly erotic the ordinary people deem nudity to be in works of art.
VA
5.38 |
cartoons drawn
in a quite realistic
japanese style |
 |
VB
2.94 |
classical sculpture of
19th century, marble,
nude adult woman |
 |
VC
2.38 |
classical sculpture of
19th century, marble,
nude 11 years old girl |
 |
VD
2.35 |
classical oil painting
from the years 1884 –
1917, nude woman |
 |
Modern japanese cartoons were deemed as clearly the most erotic of these artforms. Case VA depicted nudity by means of quite realistic cartooning, which did not contain such references to sex or arousal, which would meet the official definition of pornography. The respondents gave an average 5.38 points for eroticness, which is 61 % of the score that the photos of naked real persons would probably have received (without any pornographic emphasis).
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 96, VA, 61 %. |
Pic 97, VB, 34 %. |
Pic 98, VC, 27 %. |
In classical art (oil paintings and sculpture) scores of the respondents were distributed quite similarly as in the questions concerning a breastfeeding woman. Some 40 % of the respondents gave 0 points, but some deemed nudity in art to be very strongly erotic, even worth 10 points.
31 % of the respondents gave high scores (8 – 10 points) for eroticness to japanese cartoons. 15 % gave high scores to classical sculpture that portrays women, and 12 % to sculpture that portrays girls whose age is approximately 11 years. 13 % of the respondents deemed oil paintings of the classical era to be worth 8 – 10 points in eroticness (picture 99).
These questions used approximately the most erotic possible examples of art from the classical era, e.g. from the artists Anders Zorn, Bertel Thorvaldsen and Erastus Palmer, so these answers do not represent typical feelings that nudity in classical art inspires in people, but rather the potential peak values with each technique of classical art.
The survey included a few cases in which the respondents were allowed to believe that they see something else in the photo than actually is in it. The intention was to assess with these cases the philosophical hygiene of people’s erotic interest, regarding the age or gender of the person who is an object of interest.
It was emphasized in the instructions of nearly every question in this survey, that the answer should indicate how erotic precisely that person is, who is seen in the photo. Therefore the questions did not concern the styles of clothing in a theoretical sense. The questions concerned the eroticness of the very person who is seen in each photo. The survey had such an emphasis for the reason that in these few misleading cases it would be as probable as possible that people tell their opinion about precisely the body that is seen in the photo, not the level of clothing in a theoretical sense. Was this eventually the way of thinking that people’s answers are based on in these misleading cases, this we cannot know with certainty.
In two cases the photo portrayed a man, even though the assumed topic of the survey was the eroticness of women’s clothing. The photos were cropped in such a way that the respondents did not have a way to conclude that there is a man in the photo and not a woman. The respondent should have recognized, based on the shapes of the body parts that were visible in a photo, that they belong to a man and not a woman. Considering the given answers, it seems that practically none of the heterosexual men who answered the survey noticed that these photos portray a man. Otherwise a much greater share of the answers would probably have been grades of zero points, for the sake of principle and for philosophical reasons, similarly as may have happened with the breastfeeding women and classical art.
MA
6.16 |
* man who has long
leggings, standing,
from behind only |
 |
AW
6.23 |
woman, long leggings,
standing, with one knee
raised, on all fours |
|
Question MA has a homosexual man in black leggings, standing with the legs straight. The view angle is a bit diagonally from behind. Only the lower body is seen in the photo, from the waist to the ankles. Based on the style of clothing (and possibly the carefully chosen pose), a perception is formed to the viewer that the person in this photo is a slim young woman with a quite typical body.
31 heterosexual men answered this question, giving quite precisely the same amount of points as they gave to the photos of adult women wearing leggings in the case AW.
 |
 |
 |
| Pic 99, VD, 27 %. |
Pic 100, MA 70 %. |
Pic 101, MB 65 %. |
MB
5.71 |
* man in leggings, from
behind, standing, under-
pants glow through |
 |
BT
4.75 |
woman, tight trousers,
the seams of underpants
are visible at the buttocks |
|
The case MB has an otherwise quite similar photo as in the question MA, but the black leggings of this homosexual man are a bit transparent. It can be clearly noticed through the fabric at the buttocks that he has white underpants, which have a very scanty cut of the lower edge that is typical for women, which would leave some 80 % of the buttocks bare, if the person did not have leggings over the underwear. Underpants that leave so much of the buttocks bare are not even for sale being marketed for men, elsewhere than in some specialty shops for homosexuals.
The heterosexual men who answered the survey have quite apparently interpreted the person in the photo to be a woman, based on the quite high score that they gave for the eroticness of this photo.
In two questions the photos portrayed a girl under the age of puberty, even though the assumed topic of the survey was eroticness of the clothing of adult women.
YA
7.48 |
* 10 years old girl on
all fours in bikini, whole
body diagonally behind |
 |
AB
7.81 |
woman in bikini: on
all fours, lying with the
legs spread a bit, etc. |
|
In the case YA a girl approximately 10 years of age crawls on all fours on the sand of a swimming beach. The view angle is diagonally from behind, and the person’s whole body is seen in the photo. The girl is wearing bikini, whose a bit scanty bottom part is quite similar as in questions AB and AX. If one looked more carefully at the photo, it would be possible to notice (or fail to notice) that the bikini top is flat on the chest. One may assume the girl to probably be approximately 10 years of age. Her body does not have such specific shapes that are typical for an adult woman’s body, which nearly all 10-year-old girls would not have, whose weight is normal and whose puberty has not started yet.
 |
 |
|
| Pic 102, YA, 85 %. |
Pic 103, YB, 57 %. |
Pic 104, BQ, 56 %. |
The respondents gave only 4 % fewer points for eroticness to this photo (7.48) than to photos of adult women wearing similar bikini in the question AB (7.81). A greater number of the highest 10-point grades were given to the 10-year-old girl in the case YA (39 %) than to adult women in the case AB (28 %). The photos of adult women had such an advantage in their favour that there were five photos in various body postures, and the technical quality of the photos was better.
We don’t know what the respondents assumed the age of the female person to be in the question YA. Classical marble sculpture portraying approximately 11 years old girls in the case VC received 19 % lower points from the respondents than sculpture that portrayed adult women in the question VB. But there were equally many 10-point grades (9 % of respondents), although the age of the girls 11 years was mentioned in the title of the question.
Case YB had two photos, which were cropped from the waist to below the knees, standing straight, and seen from the front only. One photo had an approximately 7 years old girl, and the other an approximately 8 years old girl, whose puberty had not started yet, and whose body is slim and typical for the age level.
It was impossible for the respondents to estimate very reliably, how old the persons are that were seen in the photos. The shapes of thighs and the pelvis lacked the breadth and curviness that is typical for an adult woman, but there are adult women who have a quite equally narrow and slim “body of a mannequin”.
The most closely comparable such equivalent for the case YB, which portrays adult women, might be the question BQ, which gets comparative advantage from having view angles also from behind, but perhaps also disadvantage because the lower edge of the bikini pants has a very low cut, nearly horizontal. The average of given points is nearly the same in these questions. 10-point grades were given in 13 % of all answers to the girls who are 7 or 8 years of age, and in 9 % of all answers to the adult women in the case BQ.
YB
5.03 |
* girls aged 7 and 8
years in swimsuit, from
front, waist to knees |
 |
BQ
4.91 |
woman waist to knees,
bikini pants, nearly
horizontal lower edge |
|
The misleading cases that presented girls under the age of puberty, even though the respondents assumed to see adult women, can certainly be controversial, even reproachable. While these questions were designed, there was an assumption that the respondents would give exaggeratedly low scores for eroticness to girls under the age of puberty, if they knew how old the persons are that they are seeing. On the other hand, the questions concerning classical sculpture indicate that more than 10 % of the respondents deemed it convenient to give the highest 10-point grades for eroticness, despite the age 11 years of the person depicted in the art being mentioned to the respondents.
There was an intention to find out with these misleading questions, whether the body or the level of clothing of girls under the age of puberty has erotic significance for adults, and how common this would be statistically. Based on the answers it seems that with the exception of the region of the breasts, already years before the onset of puberty the body of a female person is esthetically very similar to the body of a quite slim adult woman, having eroticness of nearly equal level statistically — at least if the viewer does not know the age of the person who is being seen.
Photos: 34. pexels.com / Shvets Production, 35. pixabay.com / alyalasadi, 39. freepik.com / Diana Grytsku, 48. pexels.com / Rodnae Productions, 55. pexels.com / Arina Krasnikova, 56. pexels.com / Antony Trivet, 57. unsplash.com / Craig Whitehead, 58. pexels.com / Anna Shvets, 59. unsplash.com / Eric Fung, 60. pixabay.com / Soul Chentu, 61. unsplash.com / Nikhil Uttam, 62. freepik.com / Cookie Studio, 63. pexels.com / Evgeniya Karpova, 65. photo-ac.com / p*****************m, 66. photo-ac.com / acworks, 68. pexels.com / Aizhana Aldanova, 69. pexels.com / Mart Production, 70. pexels.com / Anna Nekrashevich, 73. pexels.com / notch pixels, 75. pixabay.com / 20231442, 76. pexels.com / Artem Podrez, 77. unsplash.com / Zibik, 78. pexels.com / Mart Production, 79. unsplash.com / Wanman Uthmaniyyah, 80. pixabay.com / Hans Braxmeier, 84. pexels.com / Alena Shekhovtcova, 85. unsplash.com / Billie, 86. pexels.com / Anastasia Shuraeva, 87. freepik.com / freepik, 95. pexels.com / Michelle Leman. Photographer who is anonymous but known to the author of this book: 40, 53, 67, 71, 72, 74.
The given answers are indicated in these data tables added by one point: for example, 1 means that the respondent gave the score 0. Empty means that the question was not answered at all. The answers of lesbian women were not discussed in this report at all, because the sample is one person only, who answered only a small share of all questions.
id NA NB YB YA VA VD VB VC CS CF CP BC BX AP BI BL BP TD AY AV CK CD
97 9 9 5 9 8 7 5 5 4 8 1
id CN BF BG CO CE BY SA SB BD BR CH TA BN BK AF BS AJ BJ BV AI TB BE
97 9 5 2 2 4
id AN AO AG FB FA RA CJ CG CR CA AR CB CL AU AW BH CM BW SC CC BU BZ
97 9 3 2 2
id BO AT CI AS BQ AZ TC AX AL AK BB AB AC BA AM AA AH AQ BM BT MB MA
97 3 3 6 3
Questions 1/4 NA – CD:
id NA NB YB YA VA VD VB VC CS CF CP BC BX AP BI BL BP TD AY AV CK CD
31
32 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
33 8 8 7 9 1 1 1 1 1 6 9 10 8 10 9 9 7 10 8 9 6 7
34 2 3 5 11 2 2 4 3 1 1 1 7 3 11 9 5 2 1 4 3 1 2
35 11 11 9 11 8 1 1 1 1 8 3 10 7 11 8 8 9 1 10 11 4 5
36
37 11 8 6 8 10 8 8 6 2 3 2 4 5 4 3 4 8 1 8 9 1 3
38 7 5 4 6 2 2 3 2 1 4 1 3 4 4 5 4 3 1 3 2 3 4
40
41 11 3 10 11
42 5 1 5
44 4 2 1 4 2
45 3 4 3 3 4 3 2 3 2 3 3
46 10 9 9 8 6 1 1 1 1 8 1 9 6 9 8 8 9 1 9 8 9 8
47
49 9 9 11 4 10 11 8 1 10 10
50 8 7 4 7 3 2 2 2 2 5 3 7 4 7 5 3 6 3 6 9 3 3
51 11 11 5 9 11 2 2 2 1 3 3 7 5 10 9 3 7 3 9 6 2 2
54 11 11 10 11 11 1 1 1 1 2 1 8 3 10 9 10 10 9 8 11 1 1
55
56 8 9 9 9 4 5 9 6 6 8 4 8 8 10 10 8 9 3 9 10 6 8
58 11 10 10 11 5 1 1 1 1 7 7 9 9 10 10 8 9 8 10 10 2 9
59 9 7 4 4 8 1 3 3 2 6 5 8 5 7 7 3 3 5 7 7 4 5
60
61 10 9 9
62 3 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 8 3 7 5 5 4 1 2 3 1 1
63 10 10 9 10 6 2 3 2 1 4 2 6 6 6 9 6 7 1 8 10 2 2
64 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
65 8
66 11 11 11 11 11 7 11 11 3 7 2 11 11 11 7 11 11 1 11 11 11 7
67 6 11 11 11 6 5 4 4 1 7 3 11 9 11 11 11 3 1 11 10 4 7
68 9 6 8 9 6 5 4 4 3 7 8 7 10 8 9 7 7 2 8 9 6 8
69 6 6 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 4 3 1 1
70 11 6 1 11 5 1 5 3 2 1 1 4 5 6 6 9 5 1 8 8 5 6
71 10
72 9 4 9 7
73 10 1
74 8 8 6 9 5 3 4 4 3 5 3 5 5 6 4 7 6 6 5 8 3 3
75 11 11 10
76 11 11 5 11 10 10 9 9 1 3 5 10 6 8 8 6 8 5 7 9 3 3
77 8 7 2 10 8 1 1 1 1 2 1 5 2 7 6 9 3 1 3 2 4 6
78
79 8 7 5 9 8 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 5 4 3 1 1 1
80 11 7 3 1 5 1 4 6 6 7
81 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 1 6 7 11 10 11 11 11 11 5 11 11 10 11
82 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 5 1 1 1 3 10 11 5 11 1 11 11 7 1
83
93 9 9 9 10 7 9 8 7 4 10 8 9 7 9 9 7 7 6 9 8 7 8
94 8 8 7 7 5 7 7 8 6 8 8 7 3
96 5 6 8 9 9 1 6 4
98 6 10 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 2 5 3 1 3 4 1 7
99 5 9 6 2 1 1 1 1 2 8 6 7 2 6
Answers by heterosexual men (52)
Questions 2/4 CN – BE:
id CN BF BG CO CE BY SA SB BD BR CH TA BN BK AF BS AJ BJ BV AI TB BE
31
32 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1
33 8 9 7 8 9 8 8 1 7 8 6 10 10 7 10 7 9 6 6 8 10 5
34 1 4 8 1 1 1 3 1 3 2 1 1 5 3 9 2 9 2 6 8 1 3
35 3 8 8 3 2 8 9 1 9 9 7 3 8 8 11 8 11 7 10 10 2 11
36 8 9
37 2 5 6 2 3 5 2 1 5 3 3 2 5 5 7 3 6 3 8 7 1 9
38 1 4 4 1 1 3 4 1 3 1 2 1 4 7 5 3 4 3 1 4 2 5
40 1
41 11 11 7 1 11
42
44 4 4 4
45 3 4 3 5 4
46 6 9 8 7 6 9 10 5 9 8 8 1 8 9 8 9 9 9 8 9 1 7
47 6
49 5 10 3 4 1 1 8 10 4
50 3 6 6 4 5 3 4 1 8 6 7 9 6 4 10 3 5 4 5 6 4 5
51 1 8 9 3 2 4 6 4 9 9 8 8 7 9 8 5 9 9 7 9 9 8
54 1 7 3 1 6 3 4 1 10 8 1 9 8 11 11 9 11 11 6 11 10 10
55 1
56 4 9 9 3 4 8 5 3 8 8 4 7 9 7 9 8 10 6 9 9 6 9
58 6 9 10 2 7 7 7 2 8 8 3 8 10 9 11 8 10 8 7 9 10 8
59 5 7 6 2 5 5 7 3 4 4 5 7 5 4 6 4 5 5 3 6 5 5
60 1
61 1 7 10
62 1 7 7 2 3 5 5 1 8 5 1 10 6 3 9 5 7 7 3 8 6 3
63 2 4 5 3 5 6 5 5 6 8 4 1 6 8 10 6 10 7 9 8 1 8
64 1 1 1 1 1 1
65 1 1
66 6 11 7 7 6 11 11 1 11 11 11 1 7 11 11 11 11 11 7 11 1 11
67 3 10 11 6 7 9 11 1 11 7 2 7 11 10 10 7 11 10 4 10 5 10
68 8 9 7 7 7 7 8 2 6 6 2 2 9 8 10 9 9 8 9 8 5 7
69 1 4 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 3 6 9 1 7 1 1 4 4 5
70 1 7 9 1 3 5 8 3 9 6 7 7 6 3 10 6 4 9 8 8 4 11
71 1 5 7
72 9 2 4 5 10
73 2 4 7
74 3 7 6 4 4 6 6 3 6 6 3 7 4 8 7 3 8 5 6 6 7 6
75 4 9 7
76 4 9 9 1 6 7 10 4 9 9 6 10 7 9 11 7 10 9 4 9 9 9
77 2 4 5 2 2 4 6 1 9 3 1 11 8 7 10 4 9 7 1 8 10 4
78 6
79 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 1 1 2 6 6 8 1 10 5 4 5 7 5
80 1 6 4 2 5 1 1 1 7 6
81 7 11 11 10 11 11 11 10 11 11 11 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 11
82 1 3 9 1 1 3 11 1 11 5 8 1 4 7 11 5 7 5 11 11 2 9
83 6
93 9 9 9 8 10 8 10 7 9 8 7 7 6 8 9 8 8 10 8 9 6 8
94 9 6 6 7 7 8 5 7 7
96 5 8 7 7 6 4
98 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 3 3 1 1 5 3 8 2 3 5 1 2 1 2
99 2 6 3 1 5 2 2 1 7 2 8 10 6 9
Answers by heterosexual men (52)
Questions 3/4 AN – BZ:
id AN AO AG FB FA RA CJ CG CR CA AR CB CL AU AW BH CM BW SC CC BU BZ
31
32 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
33 8 7 8 1 1 1 7 6 6 7 9 8 7 11 7 8 7 10 1 8 9 10
34 10 9 10 4 7 1 1 1 1 3 9 1 1 10 10 8 1 1 1 3 1 4
35 11 11 11 1 1 1 1 5 2 8 8 9 3 11 9 8 7 7 1 1 9 7
36 9 3
37 7 6 7 4 5 1 2 2 2 3 4 5 3 5 7 6 3 4 1 3 5 3
38 6 8 3 1 1 1 2 1 2 4 6 1 1 3 4 3 1 5 1 4 4 2
40 2
41 6 6 1 2 11 2
42
44 3
45 4 3 2 2 2 3
46 9 8 9 1 4 5 8 8 7 7 8 8 7 9 9 9 8 9 4 7 9 9
47
49 1 11 1 1 1 9 6
50 5 4 4 4 1 1 2 3 4 3 7 8 4 6 7 6 3 5 1 6 5 6
51 8 9 10 9 9 1 4 1 4 4 6 3 1 3 5 7 1 5 2 4 6 3
54 11 11 10 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 10 1 1 11 10 2 1 1 1 3 3 6
55 1
56 10 10 10 4 7 1 4 7 2 6 10 5 4 10 10 9 4 6 1 9 8 6
58 9 10 9 1 4 2 8 6 5 9 10 7 8 10 11 10 5 8 1 9 6 8
59 4 4 4 2 4 3 5 6 5 5 6 7 5 5 3 7 4 5 1 3 6 5
60 1 9 9
61 10 10
62 7 3 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 5 1 2 4 5 3 4 1 2 1 3
63 9 10 9 3 3 1 1 2 1 6 9 5 2 7 9 7 2 4 4 2 5 4
64 1 1 1 1
65 1 1 1 1
66 11 11 11 11 11 1 11 7 7 11 7 3 11 11 7 11 7 11 1 7 11 11
67 11 11 11 2 2 1 6 9 1 8 11 9 7 10 11 9 7 9 1 6 7 7
68 8 8 7 6 3 1 6 8 3 9 11 7 8 9 11 8 6 9 1 9 7 7
69 6 4 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
70 11 9 10 7 9 1 7 2 1 2 7 6 1 7 9 7 1 9 1 7 7 3
71 7 1 5 7
72 3 3 5 4 5 3
73 8
74 6 10 8 6 6 4 2 5 3 6 7 6 4 6 5 5 5 5 2 4 4 4
75 9 1 1 11
76 10 11 10 9 8 4 3 4 7 9 9 6 5 8 9 9 4 8 1 5 8 4
77 10 5 10 6 6 1 4 4 1 4 7 4 1 5 7 2 2 2 1 4 6 5
78 1
79 8 5 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 1 1 1 9 2 1 1 1 1 3 1
80 7 3 2 1 5 4 2 7 5 4
81 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 6 11 11 11 7 11 11 11 11 11 6 11 11 11
82 9 11 11 1 4 1 2 1 1 8 8 1 1 8 11 11 1 1 1 1 1 2
83 8
93 8 9 9 5 6 5 9 8 7 6 10 6 7 6 8 7 7 9 4 7 7 8
94 8 7 3 6 5 7 6 6
96 6 1 9 3
98 3 3 6 1 1 1 1 3 1 2 4 3 3 9 7 1 2 3 1 4 5 3
99 6 1 3 1 2 7 3 6 9 7 3 4 1 4
Answers by heterosexual men (52)
Questions 4/4 BO – MA:
id BO AT CI AS BQ AZ TC AX AL AK BB AB AC BA AM AA AH AQ BM BT MB MA
31 9
32 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1
33 10 9 6 10 7 7 9 8 10 8 8 8 8 9 7 9 8 7 8 7 7 7
34 2 9 2 10 7 5 1 7 9 10 11 11 9 9 11 11 11 11 9 4 9 9
35 8 10 2 11 9 9 1 9 10 11 10 11 11 8 11 11 11 9 10 8 9 9
36 5 6 4
37 6 7 5 9 8 9 2 7 8 8 10 10 9 4 9 9 9 8 6 6 7 5
38 3 4 2 4 2 4 1 4 4 5 3 6 3 5 3 4 5 3 4 3 4 6
40 4 4
41 11 11 11
42
44 5
45 3 2 4 4 3 3
46 9 9 7 9 9 9 1 8 7 9 8 9 9 7 9 9 8 8 7 8 9 7
47
49 6 9 8 11 1 9 11 11 3
50 4 5 8 7 5 6 3 6 7 10 6 9 8 6 4 9 7 8 6 6 4 7
51 4 5 2 5 7 7 3 8 8 5 5 10 9 5 9 11 10 6 6 4 5 4
54 10 11 3 9 7 10 9 9 3 11 11 11 11 7 11 11 11 11 1 2 9 10
55
56 9 10 7 10 5 9 5 8 9 10 11 10 10 9 10 10 11 11 9 8 10 10
58 7 10 10 10 10 9 7 9 10 10 10 11 8 10 11 11 11 11 10 9 11 11
59 5 7 3 7 7 5 4 7 7 8 6 9 8 7 4 8 6 8 9 4 4 6
60 11
61 10 10 9
62 8 8 1 4 1 4 4 3 4 7 1 7 6 2 3 7 7 2 5 1 2 3
63 8 10 3 9 9 9 1 10 11 6 11 10 9 8 11 11 11 10 10 9 10 9
64 1 1 1 1 1 1
65 1 1
66 11 11 1 11 11 11 1 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 6 7
67 9 9 3 7 3 11 2 11 9 11 8 7 11 11 11 11 7 10 4 11 11 9
68 9 11 7 11 8 9 1 9 9 10 8 9 10 9 6 8 10 9 3 8 10 11
69 1 5 1 5 1 3 1 1 5 1 5 4 4 4 4 5 6 1 1 3 1 1
70 2 7 1 8 5 4 1 7 7 7 8 11 9 4 8 11 8 4 3 3 11 6
71 11 7 1 8
72 9 11 11 11
73 3 6
74 6 7 4 7 5 7 8 6 8 7 6 8 6 6 7 7 8 7 8 7 6 7
75 1 11
76 1 9 5 8 6 7 5 8 10 8 10 10 11 10 9 9 11 8 10 5 6 9
77 8 7 1 7 3 4 4 4 8 9 8 9 8 4 5 7 7 4 3 3 3 7
78 5
79 4 3 1 3 1 4 5 1 3 6 5 7 7 1 5 3 7 2 3 2 8 9
80 4 5 3 3 8 4 10 7 7 8 7 2
81 11 11 11 11 11 11 6 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11
82 11 10 1 11 11 11 1 11 11 11 9 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 9
83
93 8 8 8 8 5 10 6 10 10 9 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 7 6 7 8 10
94 6 6 6 6 6 9 7 5 6 5
96 4 9 6 5 6 7 9 6
98 4 3 2 2 2 3 1 4 5 5 3 3 2 3 5 5 6 8 3 3 4 5
99 8 4 3 5 3 9 7 6 10 9 10 8 3 7
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