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What man has not observed with a conscious sense of delight the blush of a young girl? And who has not at one time or another been embarrassed and felt his skin grow warm and tingle as a blush spread across his face? Indeed, this phenomenon is a universal experience among human beings, yet it is unique to man of all creatures of the animal kingdom. No other animals have been observed to exhibit this peculiar vasodilation, but it has been observed in all races of man.13,32
Throughout literature blushing appears symbolically, but it does not have a unique symbolic meaning. The Bible relates it to shame as in Jeremiah VI, 15, “Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush,”25 or Ezra IX, 6, “Oh, my God! I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my head to thee, my God.”25 While in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (II, ii) the symbolism is not shame, but a complex of embarrassment and sexual arousal elements— “Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face/ Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek/ For that which thou hast heard me speak tonight.”46
The symbolic complexity of blushing is reflected in the variety of approaches which have been used in pursuing the origin of the phenomenon. Hence, to examine blushing one might begin with Webster's broad definition: “to become red, especially in the cheeks or face, as from shame, modesty, or confusion.”48 It is significant to note that blushing is defined as a reddening of the body surface, especially the exposed portions, due to a psychic rather than a