In Bodies and Boundaries, Hans Fehlinger examines how clothing, nudity, and modesty influence love, marriage, and identity across cultures.
Drawing on ethnographic observations, the book traces why people wear or go without clothing, and how those choices relate to social rules, gender, and power.
- See why clothing sometimes marks protection from weather or a social signal, not just modesty.
- Learn how different cultures regulate marriage, sexuality, and kinship through exogamy and class systems.
- Discover how puberty, rites, and body norms shape relationships and family life.
- Understand the balance between natural human instincts and the rules societies build around them.
Ideal for readers curious about cross-cultural customs, social norms, and the ways bodies are kept, displayed, or concealed in everyday life.