Alternate Eroticism: What if?

I have always wondered about the source of physical eroticism. What makes a body part viable to be considered a "private part", hence sexual? The genitals are obvious due to their purpose. What about breasts? And then there are fetishes. Why would some people find some other inanimate objects erotic?

Here is a scenario I have imagined:

What if all the people in the ancient world and all the way to present times wore no clothes? They just walked around in the nude. What body parts would be considered erotic then? I would guess that no body part would be considered sexy any more because it is always in plain view. I would also guess that erotic value will be on clothing, because people never see it. Maybe in that alternate dimension, people have sex clothed.

How about I put a little twist in the situation. Say they strutted around in the nude, but they wore shoes. In that sitation, I believe massive eroticism will be placed on feet, possibly focusing on the toes.

Imagine that. Instead of "Playboy" magazine, you get "Playtoe". Shoes will be considered as the ultimate way to tease. "Ohhh bad girl you are wearing sandals". Or perhaps, "Forget her, she is impossible, she wears heavy boots." What a strange world.

Nudism would no longer be neccessary. The fashion industry would disappear. Man, what a freaky place.

Then again, perhaps nothing will change and I am just flying around in the stranger realms of my imagination. Will we ever know?

Studying a bit of history and world cultures is enlightening. Eroticism seems to be all about teasing, about exploring the edge of your culture's boundries of naughtiness

In Victorian times, catching a hint of a women's ankle was sexy. The same is true now, in cultures that require women to wear dresses that cover entirely.

In the 1800's in the US and Canada, women were socially required to pin up their hair once they were considered adult. In those times, hair flying free was eroticized.

And today, I can name a body part that is always uncovered and that clothing for it is eroticized: your face. Masks are very sexy.

The word fetish originally referred to small tokens to remember your mate while away from home. A lock of hair, a stone found together, anything.

Many stones were ground down to resemble more erotic shapes, or wood whittled into obvious representations.

After a year of traveling, and fondling yourself and a river rock at the same time to stir memories of your wife, a certain pattern develops.

Reflecting on Dman's write-up on Alternate Eroticism: What if? node:

In other words DMan, you conjecture the world enjoys mixing in other desires into the primal soup of the desire to mate..

..Other desires such as the desire to demystify something that piques one's curious nature..

It occures to you that advertisers and thinking women who appreciate this observation make good use of such a kink in human nature..

Perhaps since we are curious in all things mysterious and evasive, covering other parts of our body makes us equally desirable when we display ourselves in a wide variety of social functions..

I guess I ought to test your hypothesis out. Time for some vodka and naked running through the snow..