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for verification. Please help im prove this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material m ay be challenged and removed. (September 2010) Page semi-protected Buttocks Human buttocks.jpg Buttocks of a female (upper) and a male (lower). Latin Clunis Artery superior gluteal artery, inferior gluteal artery Nerve superior gluteal nerve, inferior gluteal nerve, superior cluneal nerves, medial cluneal nerves, inferior cluneal nerves MeSH Buttocks The buttocks (singular: buttock) are two rounded portions of the anatomy, locate d on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other biped s or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to be t aken off the feet while sitting. In many cultures, they play a role in sexual at traction.[1] Many cultures have also used them as a safe target for corporal pun ishment.[2] There are several connotations of buttocks in art, fashion, culture and humor, and the English language is replete with many popular synonyms. Contents 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Anatomy Connotations Synonyms Related terms Fashion In popular culture See also References External links

Anatomy The buttocks are formed by the masses of the gluteal muscles or "glutes" (the gl uteus maximus muscle and the gluteus medius muscle) superimposed by a layer of f at. The superior aspect of the buttock ends at the iliac crest, and the lower as pect is outlined by the horizontal gluteal crease. The gluteus maximus has two i nsertion points: 1/3 superior portion of the linea aspera of the femur, and the superior portion of the iliotibial tractus. The masses of the gluteus maximus mu scle are separated by an intermediate intergluteal cleft or "crack" in which the anus is situated. The buttocks allow primates to sit upright without needing to rest their weight on their feet as four-legged animals do. Females of certain species of baboon ha ve red buttocks that blush to attract males. In the case of humans, females tend to have proportionally wider and thicker buttocks due to higher subcutaneous fa t and proportionally wider hips. Some baboons and all gibbons, though otherwise fur-covered, have characteristic naked callosities on their buttocks. While human children generally have smooth buttocks, mature males and females have varying degrees of hair growth, as on ot her parts of their body. Females may have hair growth in the gluteal cleft (incl uding around the anus), sometimes extending laterally onto the lower aspect of t he cheeks. Males may have hair growth over some or all of the buttocks. Connotations

Main article: Cultural history of the buttocks Students at Stanford University conduct a "mass-mooning" in May 1995 The English word of Greek origin "callipygian" indicates someone who has beautif ul buttocks. However, the qualities that make buttocks beautiful or well-formed are not fixed, as sexual aesthetics of the buttocks vary considerably from cultu re to culture, from one period of fashion to another and even from person to per son. Depending on the context, exposure of the buttocks in non-intimate situations ca n cause feelings of embarrassment or humiliation, and embarrassment or amusement in an onlooker (see pantsing). Willfully exposing one's own bare buttocks as a protest, a provocation, or just for fun is called mooning. In many punitive traditions, the buttocks are a common target for corporal punis hment, which can be meted out with no risk of long-term physical harm compared w ith the dangers of applying it to other parts of the body, such as the hands, wh ich could easily be damaged.[3] The buttocks have often been described as "the p lace provided by nature" for this purpose.[2] In Western and some other cultures, many comedians, writers and others rely on t he buttocks as a source of amusement, camaraderie and fun. In American English, phrases use the buttocks or synonyms (especially "butt" and "ass") as a synecdoche or pars pro toto for a whole person, often with a negati ve connotation. For example, terminating an employee may be described as "firing his ass". One might say "move your ass" or "haul ass" as an exhortation to grea ter haste or urgency. Expressed as a function of punishment, defeat or assault b ecomes "kicking one's ass". Such phrases also may suggest a person's characteris tics, e.g. difficult people are termed "hard asses". In America an annoying pers on or any source of frustration may be termed "a pain in the ass" (a synonym for "a pain in the neck"). People deemed excessively puritanical or proper may be t ermed "tight asses" (in Australia and New Zealand, "tight arse" refers to someon e who is excessively miserly). Certain physical dispositions of the buttocks particularly size are sometimes identi fied, controversially, as a racial characteristic (see race). The most famous in tersection of racism and buttocks may be the case of Saartjie Baartman, the so-c alled Hottentot Venus. Synonyms See WikiSaurus:buttocks for a list of synonyms and slang words for buttocks in many languages. For unrelated homophones of butt(ocks), see also butt (disamb iguation) and bud (disambiguation) Seattle's naked cyclists with painted buttocks Japanese man in a traditional swimwear Fundoshi-rokushaku The anatomical Latin name for the buttocks is nates (/'ne?ti?z/ NAY-teez),[4] wh ich is plural; the singular, natis (buttock), is rarely used. There are many col loquial terms to refer to them, including: backside, posterior, behind and its derivates (hind-quarters, hinder or the childish homophone heinie (US usage only), strictly the whole body behind the hi nd leg-trunk attachment), rear or rear-end, derrire (French for "behind") all stric tly positional descriptions, as the inaccurate use of rump (as in 'rump roast', after a 'hot' spanking), thighs, upper legs; analogous are: aft, stern and poop, naval in origin; in nautical jargon, buttocks also

designates the aftermost portion of a hull above the water line and in front of the rudder, merging with the run below the water line caboose, originally a ship's galley in wooden cabin on deck; also the "r ear end" car of a freight train, considered a cute synonym suitable for any audi ence bottom (and the shortening "bot" as well as childish diminutives "bottie " or "botty"), but the use of similar-sounding booty is artistic liberty[citatio n needed] tail (strictly anatomically a zoomorphism, humans only have a tail-bone, yet the illogical "tail feather" was popularized by musicians; also used for th e even more sensual phallus) and tail-end trunk, in American English, particularly when describing large buttocks: "junk in the trunk" apple, referring to the similar shape of the fruit, derived from the 1970s. Also likened to an upside-down heart, attributed from various, popular ads of th e 1970s. arse or ass, arsehole or asshole, and (butt-)hole: a pars pro toto (strictly only the actual body cavity and directly adjoining anal region); also used as a n insult for a person. The term arse or ass is Anglo-Saxon, and over a thousand years old. badonkadonk: onomatopoeic US slang meaning the voluptuously bouncing, large yet firm buttocks of a woman booty breech, a metaphorical sense derived from on older form of the garment breec hes (as the French culotte meaning pantoloons, via cul from Latin culus 'butt'), so 'bare breech' means without breeches, i.e. trouserless butt bum: in British English, used frequently in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Can ada, Australia, New Zealand and many other English speaking Commonwealth countri es, also historically in U.S., is a mild often humorous term for buttocks, not n ecessarily in a vulgar or sexual context: "I've a boil on my bum, thrice as larg e as my thumb" (The Judge With The Sore Rump, St. George Tucker). A bum boy is a n insulting term for a male homosexual. bumpy: a euphemistic term for the buttocks, used primarily with children buns, from Gaelic bun "bottom, base", mounds (cfr. Butte, a geographical mou nd, known since 1805 in American English, from (Old) French butte "mound, knoll" ) and orbs shape-metaphors. bund: derived from Punjabi bunda: bottom, of Brazilian Portuguese origin. butt: the common term for a pair of buttocks in the US (singular, as one bod y-part; cognate but neither its root nor an abbreviation), used in everyday spee ch. cakes: slang word for buttocks can (a container) had an unusual development: the slang meaning "toilet" is recorded c. 1900, said to be a shortening of piss-can, the meaning "buttocks" fr om c. 1910, and the verb meaning "fire an employee" (to flush=dump?) from 1905. cheeks, a shape-metaphor within human anatomy, but also used in the singular : left cheek and right cheek; sounds particularly naughty because of the homonym and the adjective cheeky, lending themselves to word puns culo: (From Spanish/Italian) slang, usually meaning a woman's voluptuous, ro und and firm buttocks. Derived from a term for booty; in Spanish the term is con sidered vulgar and offensive, but less so in Spain than in Latin America. duffs: Ulster Irish origin dumper sometimes denotes the buttocks, especially when they are large. fanny: a socially acceptable term in print, in Canada and the United States at least, for many years before some of the bolder terms came along; and a subje ct of jokes, since "Fannie" can be a woman's name, diminutive of "Frances"; howe ver, in British English fanny refers to the female genitals or vulva and is cons idered vulgar. The figure of a bare-bottomed lass named Fanny is ubiquitous in P rovence (the southeast of France) wherever ptanque is played: traditionally when a player loses 13 to 0 it is said that il est fanny (he's fanny), and he has to ki

ss the bottom of a girl called Fanny; as there is rarely an obliging Fanny, ther e is always a substitute picture, woodcarving or pottery so that Fanny s bottom is always available.[5] fourth point of contact: in military slang, because of the sequence of textb ook parachute jump landing fundament (literally "foundation", not common in this general sense in Engli sh, but for the buttocks since 1297) Gand or Gaand: a Hindi derivate hams, like buttocks generally as a plural, after the meat cut from the analo gous part of a hog ; pressed ham refers to mooning against a window; brawn, a si ngular derived from the Frankish for ham or roast, is also used for both a muscu lar body part (but either on arms or legs) or boar meat, especially roast hurdies: Scots, origin unknown, also applied to the whole rump haunches moon was a common shape-metaphor for the butt in English since 1756, and the verb to moon meant 'to expose to (moon)light' since 1601, long before they were combined in US student slang in the verb (al expression) mooning "to flash the buttocks" in 1968. prat (British English, origin unknown; as in pratfall, a music hall term; al so a term of abuse for a person) seat (of the trousers; or metaphorically): another long-standing socially ac ceptable term, referring to the use for sitting but compare the sarcastic use of s eat of wisdom and similar expressions, such as 'seat of learning', referring to use as target for an 'educational' spanking. sit-upon; has various independent counterparts in other languages, e.g. Dutc h zitvlak ('sitting plain'), German Ges Italian sedere six; in military terminology, particularly in the U.S. Navy, it refers to th e term "six o'clock", i. e. a point directly behind the referenced person. tocus: Yidish. tush or tushy (from the Yiddish language "tuchis" or "tochis" meaning "under " or "beneath") ultimatum (Latin, literally 'the furthest part') was used in slang c.1820s. Related terms The word "callipygian" is sometimes used to describe someone with notably at tractive buttocks. The term comes from the Greek kallipygos, (first used for the Venus Kallipygos) which literally means "beautiful buttocks"; the prefix is als o a root of "calligraphy" (beautiful writing) and "calliope" (beautiful voice); callimammapygian means having both beautiful breasts and buttocks. Both the English (in) tails and the Dutch billentikker ('tapping the buttock s') are ironic terms for very formal coats with a significantly longer tail end as part of festive (especially wedding party) dress Macropygia means 'heaving large buttocks, hindquarter', and occurs in biolog ical species names, A pygopag(ous) (from the Greek pyg 'buttock' and pagein 'attached') was a mon ster in Ancient (Greek) mythology consisting of two bodies joint by common butto cks, now a medical term for 'Siamese' twins thus joint back-to-back Pygophilia is sexual arousal or excitement caused by seeing, playing with or touching the buttocks; people who have strong attraction to buttocks are called pygophilists. Pygoscopia means observing someone's rear; pygoscopophobia a pathological fe ar to be its unwilling object Pygalgia is soreness in the buttocks, i.e. a pain in the rump. Steatopygia is a marked accumulation of fat in and around the buttocks. Uropygial in ornithology means situated on or belonging to the uropygium, i. e. the rump of a bird. "Bubble butt" has at least two connotations, which are at odds with each oth er: either a small, round and firm pair of buttocks resembling a pair of soap bu bbles next to each other, or a large rear end, seemingly about to burst from the

strain. In both cases, the term implies an appealing shapeliness about the butt ocks. Fashion Because many cultures have a nudity taboo, which usually applies specifically to the buttocks (as usually to the most erogenous zones), mainstream garments gene rally cover the buttocks completely, even when it is not a practical requirement . Nevertheless male and female clothing is often designed in a way that reveals the shape of the buttocks under the clothing. Some articles of clothing are designed to expose the buttocks. Such clothing is not generally worn in public situations; however, it is sometimes considered app ropriate to wear such clothing at swimming facilities or at the beach. Emphasis on one part or another of the body tends to shift with generations. The 1880s were well-known for the fashion trend among women called the bustle, whic h made even the smallest buttocks appear huge. The popularity of this fashion is shown in the famous Georges Seurat painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte in the two women to the far left and right. Like long underwear with the ubiquitous 'butt flap' (used to allow baring only the bottom with a si mple gesture, as for hygiene), this clothing style was acknowledged in popular m edia such as cartoons and comics for generations afterward. More recently, the cleavage of the buttocks is sometimes exposed by some women, deliberately or accidentally, as fashion dictated trousers be worn lower, as wit h hip-hugger pants. An example of another attitude in an otherwise hardly exhibitionist culture is t he Japanese fundoshi. In popular culture In 1966 Yoko Ono made a roughly 90 minute-long experimental film called No. 4, which is colloquially known as Bottoms. It consists of footage of human butto cks in motion while the person walks on a turntable. The 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap contained the song "Big Bottom" fea turing the lyric Big bottom, big bottom, Talk about bum cakes, my girl's got 'em , Big bottom drive me out of my mind, How could I leave this behind? Numerous songs have been released which glorify this body part. As early as 1961, the American Folk band The Limeliters recorded the song "Vicki Dougan" [si c, properly Vikki Dougan], which pays a humorous tribute to the pin-up star who wore infamously low-cut, backless dresses. A risque song for the time, the lyric s mention her "callipygian cleft" by name. Other English language examples inclu de: "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" by KC and the Sunshine Band The 1978 singles "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Race" by Queen "I See You Baby (Shakin' That Ass)" by Groove Armada "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot (1992) Rolling Stone magazine named the 1990s the "Decade of the Butt" because many of these songs were released in that decade. "My Humps" (in the back as well as in the front) by The Black Eyed Peas "Big Bottom" by Spinal Tap In the United Kingdom there is an annual award given to the male and female winners of the celebrity voted to have the Rear of the Year for that year. Past Winners have included Sarah Lancashire and Jane Danson. In 2008, Hong Kong lifestyle retail store G.O.D. collaborated with Kee Wah B akery to design mooncakes for the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. They presented th e traditional treats in the shape of bottoms in eight different designs, but sti ll filled with traditional white lotus seed paste and salted yolks.[6]

See also Buttock augmentation Buttocks eroticism Cellulite Coccyx Gluteus maximus muscle Hip and buttock padding Intergluteal cleft Intimate part Rump (animal) Spanking Steatopygia Waist hip ratio References Notes ^ Hennig, Jean-Luc (1995). The rear view: A brief and elegant history of bot toms through the ages. London: Souvenir. ISBN 0-285-63303-1. ^ a b "Police.". The Times (London). 22 March 1894. ""Mr. Curtis Bennett dep recated caning on the hands and boxing the ears, and said they were exceedingly dangerous forms of punishment. Nature provided a special place for boys to be pu nished upon and it should be used." ^ Zeno Chicarilli, M.D. et al. "Corporal Punishment to Children's Hands: A S tatement by Medical Authorities as to the Risks". NoSpank.net. 3 January 2002. ^ "nates - Definitions from Dictionary.com". ^ "Ptanque. La Fanny, Lgende". Laboulebleue.fr. Retrieved 2011-12-18. ^ "Hong Kong Lifestyle Brand G.O.D. Puts The "Moon" In Mooncakes". Jing Dail y. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012. Sources Etymology on line one can also search for most synonyms For synonyms: On-line thesaurus This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company . passim External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Buttocks Look up buttocks in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. "The Muscles and Fasci of the Thigh" (by Henry Gray) at "Anatomy of the Human Body", 1918.