Editing Modesty (section)

==Body==
[[File:1868-skirt-lengths-girl-ages-Harpers-Bazar.gif|thumb|upright=0.72|1868 diagram from ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]'' showing proper girls' skirt lengths increasing as they grow up]]

Standards of modesty discourage or forbid exposure of parts of the body, varying between societies, which may include areas of skin, the hair, [[undergarments]], and [[intimate parts]]. The standards may also require obscuring the shape of the body or parts of it by wearing non-[[form-fitting clothing]]. There are also customs regarding the changing of clothes (such as on a beach with no enclosed facilities), and the closing or locking of the door when changing or taking a shower.

Standards of modesty vary by culture or generation and vary depending on who is exposed, which parts of the body are exposed, the duration of the exposure, the context, and other variables. The categories of persons who could see another's body could include:

* a spouse or romantic partner of some sort,
* a [[friendship|friend]] or [[family]] member of the same sex,
* strangers of the same sex.

The context would include matters such as whether it is in one's own home, at another family member's home, at a friend's home, at a semi-public place, at a beach, swimming pool (including whether such venues are considered [[dress code|clothes-optional]]), [[changing room]]s or other public places. For instance, wearing a [[bathing suit]] at the beach would not be considered immodest, while it likely would be in a street or an office. The context may change during specific events or rituals such as [[Mardi Gras in New Orleans]]<ref name="shrum">{{cite journal|last1=Shrum|first1=W.|first2=J. |last2=Kilburn|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2580408|title=Ritual Disrobement at Mardi Gras: Ceremonial Exchange and Moral Order|journal=Social Forces|volume=75|number=2|date=December 1996|pages=423–458|doi=10.2307/2580408 |jstor=2580408 }}</ref><ref name="sparks">{{cite journal|last=Sparks|first=Randy|url=http://nuevomundo.revues.org/document3941.html|title=American Sodom: New Orleans Faces Its Critics and an Uncertain Future|journal=La Louisiane à la dérive|date=16 December 2005}}</ref> or during neopagan [[Skyclad (Neopaganism)|Skyclad]] work.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://hoard.billbert.co/Books/Occult_Library/Wicca/Witchcraft%20and%20Wicca%20%5B291%20e-books%5D/Overview%20and%20Guide%20for%20Wiccans%20in%20the%20Military.pdf|title= Overview and Guide for Wiccans in the Military|first1= David L. |last1=Oringderff|first2=S. Drake|last2=Fey|publisher= The Sacred Well Congregation|date=2000}}</ref>

Excessive modesty is called [[prude|prudishness]]. As a medical condition, it is also called [[gymnophobia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12335|title=Definition of Gymnophobia|website=MedicineNet.com|access-date=27 September 2016}}</ref> Excessive ''immodesty'' is called [[exhibitionism]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hypersexualdisorders.com/hypersexual-disorders/dsm-5-understanding-exhibitionistic-disorder/|title=DSM 5: Understanding Exhibitionistic Disorder|date=21 June 2013|website=Hypersexual Disorders|publisher=Elements Behavioral Health|access-date=27 September 2016}}</ref>