Cache-sexe
Encyclopedia
A cache-sexe is an item, often a small garment, that covers its user's genitals. The most common style, seen in Western G-string
s and Japan
ese Fundoshi
s, has a triangle of material (cloth, beaded strings, etc.) attached at the corners to straps or strings around the waist and between the legs, that fasten the triangle over the genitals. It is a French loanword
.
Cache-sexes have various social intentions, including the wearer's practice of sincere or enforced "modesty
", legal and/or customary restrictions within the context of intentional eroticism, and adding fetish
istic or playfully teasing
aspects to intentional eroticism. In Western cultures, for example, G-string
s appear as swimming attire; for many erotic dancing
venues, as the final state of undress, set as the polite and/or legal limit; or as a garment whose removal is one of many steps of a striptease
, each existing to provide an increment in the viewer's sexual arousal
.
cross-dressers use a panty
-like garment
, often called a gaff, that serves to hide the male genitalia and provide a female-like flat and smooth crotch
area.
The penis gourd
s of tribal New Guinea
, and cache-sexes of some other tribal cultures, are often perceived by Westerners as self-evidently obvious forms of sexual display, but described by their wearers as a practice providing privacy.
The Brazilian Portuguese
tapa-sexo is often used in samba school
parades, where performers may parade their decorated but unclothed bodies, exposing the buttocks and groin. The regulations in these parades generally prohibit people being completely naked. Thus, the tapa-sexo, a strip of tape or cloth that strategically covers a dancer's genitalia, prevents the school being penalised in such cases.
G-string
A G-string is a type of thong underwear or swimsuit, a narrow piece of cloth, leather, or plastic, that covers or holds the genitals, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a band around the hips, worn as swimwear or underwear by women and men...
s and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Fundoshi
Fundoshi
is the traditional Japanese undergarment for adult males, made from a length of cotton. Before World War II, the fundoshi was the main form of underwear for Japanese adult males...
s, has a triangle of material (cloth, beaded strings, etc.) attached at the corners to straps or strings around the waist and between the legs, that fasten the triangle over the genitals. It is a French loanword
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
.
Cache-sexes have various social intentions, including the wearer's practice of sincere or enforced "modesty
Modesty
Standards of modesty are aspects of the culture of a country or people, at a given point in time, and is a measure against which an individual in society may be judged....
", legal and/or customary restrictions within the context of intentional eroticism, and adding fetish
Sexual fetishism
Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
istic or playfully teasing
Teasing
Teasing is a word with many meanings. In human interactions, teasing comes in two major forms, playful and hurtful. When teasing is playful and friendly, and especially when it is reciprocal, teasing can be regarded as flirting. People may be teased on such matters as their appearance, weight,...
aspects to intentional eroticism. In Western cultures, for example, G-string
G-string
A G-string is a type of thong underwear or swimsuit, a narrow piece of cloth, leather, or plastic, that covers or holds the genitals, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a band around the hips, worn as swimwear or underwear by women and men...
s appear as swimming attire; for many erotic dancing
Erotic dancing
Erotic dance is a major category or classification of dance forms or dance styles, where the purpose is the stimulation or arousal of erotic or sexual thoughts or actions....
venues, as the final state of undress, set as the polite and/or legal limit; or as a garment whose removal is one of many steps of a striptease
Striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
, each existing to provide an increment in the viewer's sexual arousal
Sexual arousal
Sexual arousal, or sexual excitement, is the arousal of sexual desire, during or in anticipation of sexual activity. Things that precipitate human sexual arousal are called erotic stimuli, or colloquially known as turn-ons. There are many potential stimuli, both physical or mental, which can cause...
.
Examples
Some maleMan
The term man is used for an adult human male . However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole...
cross-dressers use a panty
Panties
Panties are a form of underwear, usually light and snug-fitting, designed to be worn by women or girls in the area directly below the waist. Typical components include an elastic waistband, a crotch panel to cover the genital area , and a pair of leg openings which, like the waistband, are often...
-like garment
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
, often called a gaff, that serves to hide the male genitalia and provide a female-like flat and smooth crotch
Groin
In human anatomy, the groin areas are the two creases at the junction of the torso with the legs, on either side of the pubic area. This is also known as the medial compartment of the thigh. A pulled groin muscle usually refers to a painful injury sustained by straining the hip adductor muscles...
area.
The penis gourd
Koteka
The koteka, horim, penis gourd or penis sheath is a phallocrypt or phallocarp traditionally worn by native male inhabitants of some ethnic groups in New Guinea to cover their genitals. They are normally made from a dried out gourd, Lagenaria siceraria, although other species, such as Nepenthes...
s of tribal New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, and cache-sexes of some other tribal cultures, are often perceived by Westerners as self-evidently obvious forms of sexual display, but described by their wearers as a practice providing privacy.
The Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
tapa-sexo is often used in samba school
Samba school
A samba school is a club or dancing school. They practice and often perform in huge square-compounds devoted to practicing and exhibiting samba, an African-Brazilian dance. The schools are traditionally associated with a particular neighborhood, often shanty towns...
parades, where performers may parade their decorated but unclothed bodies, exposing the buttocks and groin. The regulations in these parades generally prohibit people being completely naked. Thus, the tapa-sexo, a strip of tape or cloth that strategically covers a dancer's genitalia, prevents the school being penalised in such cases.