By celebrating the beauty of the human body in Song of Myself, Walt Whitman promotes the philosophy of “[taking] off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men”. In section 24, when Whitman says, “I do not press my finger across my mouth //copulation is no more rank to me than death is”, he displays the need to embrace sexuality. Whitman sees the beauty in sex, and refuses to repress his ideals because of society’s opinion (Whitman 1245). In the preface, Whitman conveys this philosophy, instructing his audience to “take [their hats] off to nothing . . . or to any man or number of men” (Whitman 1215). Here, Whitman promotes deference to societies view on sex, expanding on the aforementioned philosophy. Further along
