Clothing and the Nude

surgery, the use of all kind of prostheses, wigs, false eyelashes," and other devices are, like clothing, intended to enhance the beauty of women, clothing differs from these items in that it is put on to be removed, Beyst says: "To be sure, some of these artifices can be laid off like clothes: think of make-up, a set of dentures or a wig, but their removal only lays bare hidden shortcomings instead of hidden charms. The difference is between objectively adding to the beauty or concealing shortcomings on the one hand, and subjectively increasing the erotic appeal on the other hand." Clothing has charm precisely because it can be removed, he suggests: "The charm of well-fitting trousers resides in opening the zipper, the charm of a blouse in its unbuttoning, the secret of the corset in its unlacing, the appeal of the bra in its undoing," adding "one could write a whole erotica on zippers, buttons, hooks, ribbons and laces." It is also erotic to leave part of a shirt or blouse unbuttoned or to leave a zipper unzipped, he asserts, because "such seeming dishevelment betrays an overall readiness or helps to conjure it up."

Beyst contends that there is a "natural 'transsexuality' in the sense that characteristics which, in a given culture, are supposed to be male or female, tend to be rather randomly distributed over genetically male of female beings" that enhances erotica. Traditionally male attire, he argues, enhances "female attractiveness," and "this is all the more so when what seemed to be a man turns out to be a woman."

In fact, he further claims, "when there is a sufficient initial natural ambivalence, the wearing of clothes of the opposite sex can become a means of acquiring a new body." Male transvestites wear women's clothing, he says, because of an exhibitionistic impulse to draw attention to his own beauty: "Male transvestism is foremost fuelled by exhibitionistic motives.