THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHAME AND THE PUBERT Y OF GIRLS

The sense of shame seems to vanish for more than a decade now, manifes ted e.g. by an increasing tolerance toward the naked female body. Howe ver, it is supposed that shame has still its significance especially d uring female puberty. Psychological considerations referring to shame and to the puberty of girls are reported and the significance of feeli ng ashamed in this salient segment of female development is delineated . Finally a concept is proposed within which the feeling of shame is u nderstood as a possibility to create accordance between the positive a spects of being ashamed and the tendency of going beyond the borders o f shame usually guaranteed by social rules.