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, and also potentially exposing the genitals. Mooning is used in the English-speaking world to express protest, scorn, respect or for provocation, but mooning can be done for shock value, for fun, as a joke or as a form of exhibitionism. The Māori have a form of mooning known as whakapohane that is a form of insult. Some jurisdictions regard mooning to be indecent exposure, sometimes depending on the context.

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. As documented by McLaren, "'mooning', or exposing one's butt to shame an enemy ... had a long pedigree in peasant culture" throughout the Middle Ages, and in many nations. Although the practice of mooning was widespread by the 19th century, the Oxford English Dictionary dates the use of "moon" and "mooning" to describe the act to student slang of the 1960s, when the gesture became increasingly popular among students at universities in the United States.

In various countries and cultures

Australia

In Australian idiom, "chuck a browneye" is synonymous with the act of mooning.

Victoria

In January 2016, mooning in a public place in Victoria was made a criminal offence.

Northern Territory

A group of locals, called "Noonamah Moonies", mooned the Ghan at Livingstone Airstrip in 2004 and 2024. The next exhibition can be expected in 2034, with the mooning happening every 10 years.

Latvia

In Latvian legends, two maidens went naked from the sauna with carrying poles to the well. While collecting water, one of the women noted how beautiful the Moon is. The other was unimpressed, saying her own butt is prettier and proceeded to moon the Moon. As a punishment, either Dievs or Mēness (a lunar deity) put the woman along with a carrying pole on the Moon, with her butt now being visible to everyone.

New Zealand

Whakapohane is the Māori practice of baring one's buttocks with the intent to offend. It symbolises the birthing act and renders the recipient noa ("base").

United States

Maryland

In January 2006, a Maryland state circuit court determined that mooning is a form of artistic expression protected by the First Amendment as a form of speech. The court ruled that indecent exposure relates only to exposure of the genitals, adding that even though mooning was a "disgusting" and "demeaning" act to engage in, and had 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 case from 1983 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 genitalia. No review of the case by a higher court took place since prosecutors dropped the case after the ruling.

California

In December 2000, in California, the California Court of Appeal found that mooning does not constitute indecent exposure (and therefore does not subject the defendant to sex offender registration laws), unless it can be proven beyond reasonable doubt that the conduct was sexually motivated.

Notable incidents