Mooning is the act of displaying one's bare buttocks by removing clothing, e.g., by lowering the backside of one's trousers and underpants, usually bending over, whether also exposing the genitals or not. Mooning is used mostly in the English-speaking world to express protest, scorn, disrespect, or provocation but can also simply be done for shock value or fun.
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Word history
Moon has been a common shape-metaphor for the buttocks in English since 1743, and the verb to moon has 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. Formerly, "mooning" was slang for "wandering idly" and "romantically pining."[1]
Legal status
The legal position of mooning varies between legislations, from indecent exposure to legal self-expression. Some example cases include:
Zimbabwe
Two brothers of Zimbabwean descent were charged and jailed for indecent exposure in 2006, for wearing traditional African loinclothes which leave the buttocks exposed.[2] Whilst not strictly mooning, it illustrates the legal view on mooning in that country. The BBC reports that whilst this "reignited" a debate, "not many people in the capital are on their side".
Greece
A 2003 case saw two British tourists convicted and fined €920 each on indecent exposure charges.[3]
United States
In 2006, a Maryland state appeals court determined that mooning is a form of artistic expression protected by the United States constitutional right of freedom of speech.[4][5] The court ruled that indecent exposure only relates to exposure of the genitals, adding that even though mooning was a "disgusting" and "demeaning" act to engage in, and had in addition taken place in the presence of a minor, "If exposure of half of the buttocks constituted indecent exposure, any woman wearing a thong at the beach at Ocean City would be guilty."
Defense attorneys had cited a 1983 case of a woman who was arrested after protesting in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building wearing nothing but a cardboard sign that covered the front of her body. In that case, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals had ruled that indecent exposure is limited to a person's genitals. No review of the case by a higher court took place since prosecutors dropped the case after the ruling.
Notable incidents of mooning
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- In the Siege of Constantinople in 1204, the Greeks exposed their bare buttocks to the Crusaders after they repulsed them from the walls.[6]
- During the Battle of Crécy in 1346 when king Edward III of England took Caen, on the way to Crécy, several hundred Norman soldiers exposed their backsides to the English archers and many of them paid a high price for doing so.[7]
- The Etchemin tribe of Maine were noted for this custom by a number of early explorers of the Atlantic coastline.[8]
- In June 2000, a mass mooning event was organised outside of Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom by the Movement Against the Monarchy (M'AM). The idea was for anti-monarchists to show their dislike of the British monarchy by performing a mass mooning at their home. However, a large police presence prevented a large scale mooning, but even so, a few individuals mooned (although there were many more who turned up to the event but were put off mooning by the large police presence). Some of them were arrested, but others managed to pose for various newspapers, etc. This event is known as the Moon Against the Monarchy event.[9]
- The Annual Mooning of Amtrak is a long-running annual tradition in Laguna Niguel, (Orange County) California, United States, where many people spend all day mooning at Amtrak trains; some even ride the trains on that day just so they can witness the event. This mooning has spawned a chain of "train moonings" throughout the entire country.[10] On July 13, 2008, local authorities cracked down on the practice after a reported 8,000 people participated in the festivities.[11][12]
- In the 2003 World Athletics Final in Monaco, Tim Lobinger mooned the crowd on the podium after winning the pole vault. The IAAF deducted US$5,000 from his winnings for the stunt.[citation needed]
- At the 2005 UK Music Hall of Fame awards ceremony, musician Ozzy Osbourne decided to moon the crowd after a set he played with his group Black Sabbath.[13]
- Patrick Devine, 19, from County Donegal, Ireland was arrested on 27 July 2007 for allegedly dropping his trousers as a dare in Saint Louis in Senegal. Devine, a student of Queens University Belfast, spent one month in jail for his alleged actions.[14]
- English Premiership footballer Joey Barton was fined £2,000 for mooning Everton fans.[15]
- A tradition of thru-hikers Mooning the Cog has developed on Mount Washington in New Hampshire.[16]
- On January 9, 2005, Randy Moss of the Minnesota Vikings pretended to moon Green Bay Packers fans following a touchdown he scored. He was fined $10,000 by the NFL for the incident.[17]
- Roy Scheider, in a 1990s interview with Jay Leno, mentioned that he had mooned President Ronald Reagan[citation needed]
- Three of the T-birds mooned a bunch of people in the 1978 film, Grease
- Mooning has become popular for rafters on the Colorado River, who will moon trains as they pass by.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Moon". The Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=moon&searchmode=term. Retrieved 2007-02-03.
- ^ Vickers, Steve (2006-02-02). "Zimbabwe furore over loincloths". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4673510.stm. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ "British pair convicted for mooning in Greece". The Independent (London) (Bnet). 2003-08-27. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20030827/ai_n12708294. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ Londoño, Ernesto (2006-01-04). "Mooning Deemed 'Disgusting' but No Crime in Md.". Washington Post (The Washington Post Company): pp. B01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/03/AR2006010301509.html. Retrieved 2008-09-01.)
- ^ "Judge rules 'mooning' is not illegal in Md.". The News Journal, redistributed from the Associated Press. January 6, 2006. pp. B6..
- ^ Queller, Donald E; Thomas F. Madden, Alfred J. Andrea (2000). The Fourth Crusade. p. 178. ISBN 9780812217131. "As the ships pulled away from the shore the Greeks on the walls hooted and jeered at the defeated attackers. Some of them let down their clouts and showed their bare buttocks in derision to the fleeing foe."
- ^ "Battle of Crécy". California Archery. 2002. http://www.archeryweb.com/archery/crecy.htm. Retrieved February 4 2006.
- ^ Axtell, James (1992). Beyond 1492:Encounters in Colonial North America. USA: Oxford University Press. pp. 189. ISBN 0195080335. http://books.google.com/books?id=-aTZ5k8VUFYC&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86&dq=etchemin+buttocks&source=web&ots=0K1o75ur4O&sig=PF8nb7g8F6LIayfSHfSQyVgn_9w#PPA189,M1.
- ^ "Cheeky anarchists in palace protest". BBC. 2000-08-03. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/775725.stm.
- ^ Sheldon (2005). "Mooning Amtrak Trains, Southern California USA". http://www.moonamtrak.org/. Retrieved 2006-02-04.
- ^ Elsworth, Catherine (2008-07-18). "'Mooning Amtrak' event shut down after crowd of 8,000 reveals too much". The Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group Limited). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2403691/Mooning-Amtrak-event-shut-down-after-crowd-of-8000-reveals-too-much.html. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ McBride, Sarah, "A Mooning Festival Is Something The Mayor Just Can't Get Behind: As Town Turns Its Back on 30-Year-Old Event, Will Train Flashing Go Into Eclipse?" The Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2009, p. 1.
- ^ Youngs, Ian (2005-11-17). "Legends turn out for Hall of Fame". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4441786.stm. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ "End of ordeal for Donegal Mooner". Irish Independent. 2007-08-29. http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/end-of-ordeal-for-donegal-mooner-1068141.html. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ "Police to probe Barton incident", BBC Sport, 30 September 2006, accessed 30 September 2006
- ^ "Officials Charge Hikers Who Moon Cog Railway". WLBZ 2 (The Associated Press). 2007-11-15. http://www.wlbz2.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=74791. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ "Moss pretended to moon crowd after scoring". ESPN. 2005-01-10. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs04/news/story?id=1963404. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mooning |
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