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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A histoical, evolutionary, and cultural analysis of clothing, April 22, 2000
Unfortunately there are not a lot of books written (that I'm aware of) that try to explain the need for clothes. Because of that, this is one of the best (if not the best) books on the subject.He claims that humans started wearing clothes for protection. (There is some controversy on this subject. Some other scholars say that clothes were originally intended for decoration.) I feel that he does a fairly good job explaining this popsition. Once clothing was invented, it had a profound impact. It separated us from the animals, and made humans something like gods. It increased sexual desire, linking clothing (and any subsequent lack of clothing) with sexuality. It differentiated classes, and distinguished males from females (and hindered females - thus keeping them under male authority). He also mentions some of the functional aspects of some types of clothing. He mentions the history of various articles of clothing (such as hats and underwear). The strenth of this book is its dealing with the history of clothing, and how it was important in our development. He does not adaquately explain why clothing is still required. He does have a chapter on nudism, but I found his arguments to be fairly weak. I found this book to be an excelant book, and highly recomend it to anyone interested in why we wear clothes, and/or the history of clothing.
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