“Most species with feathers, fur or scales have their dorsal face (back) loaded with ornaments and colours. It is the proven visual manifestation of their strength. The cat and the ladybug have all the mottling on their backs that the belly lacks; the belly looks faded, delicate and naked. Animals do not like to show their bellies, they only do so in desperate situations or out of submission. T he front is soft, vulnerable. In contrast, we humans (whose strength under the skin did not change when we changed position from quadrupeds to bipeds) walk on two legs and always show the ventral face, which has become the front. No area in the whole body is more muscular than the nape of the neck and the kidneys. Muscles and tendons of the back are clearly superior in number, thickness and strength. By always showing off our weakest part, we are perceived by others and ourselves as compliant and permissive living beings.” 

Thérèse Bertherat, 1990, La tigre in corpo, Milano, Mondadori