Mooning

Mooning is the act of displaying one's bare buttocks by lowering the back side of one's trousers and underpants, usually without exposing the genitals. Mooning is used in some cultures to express protest, scorn, disrespect, or provocation. It can also be done for shock value or fun.

Formerly, mooning was slang for "wandering idly" and "romantically pining".

Variants

Mooning is sometimes performed from a moving vehicle. Mooning with one's buttocks pressed against glass (for example, a car window) is known as a pressed ham. In some countries, blue mooning means exposing the genitals instead of the buttocks for the same purposes. In the UK, this is sometimes called a sunny (ie, the opposite of a moon). A blue moon also refers jokingly to the act of mooning on a very cold day, the cold weather supposedly changing the color of the skin.

Geographic distribution

The custom of mooning to show disrespect may be limited to North America and some countries of Europe, where it is generally considered a rude and insulting act (but much less offensive than flashing). It is often performed as a form of protest. Also, the Māori of New Zealand moon as a sign of disrespect. Mooning is considered offensive because the buttocks are considered taboo, and mooning therefore exposes the victim to the taboo.

The Liberty Bell is a variation of mooning that may be local to Pennsylvania. It combines the traditional moon with dangling male genitalia and a side-to-side rocking motion to emulate the ringing of a bell. The butt-crack represents the crack in Philadelphia's Liberty Bell. When the buttocks are pressed against glass one gets the so-called pressed fruit bowl, where the banana and peaches would be the male genitalia. In some southern states, specifically Georgia, the term a shaver is used to describe mooning while manually spreading the buttocks open.

Legal status

A court in Maryland recently determined that mooning is a form of expression protected by the United States constitutional right of freedom of speech. However, the decision has not yet been confirmed by a higher court, so it may not have set a legal precedent.

Notable incidents of mooning

During the Battle of Crécy in 1346 when king Edward III of England took Caen, on the way to Crécy, several hundred Normandy soldiers exposed their backsides to the English archers and many of them paid a high price for doing so.

On one of Giovanni da Verrazzano's trips to North America in the 1520s, he and his crew were mooned by a group of Abenaki Indians, who had already been soured by previous contact with Europeans. Although willing to trade their goods for steel and cloth, they denied Verrazanno permission to land, insisting on doing business on the open water, transferring the goods with ropes. Once the last items had been sent over, the Abenaki "began showing their buttocks and laughing." This is the first recorded incident of American mooning.

A legend of Nice (now in France, then part of Savoy) holds that the 1534 siege of the city by French and Turkish forces was repelled by a washerwoman named Catherine Ségurane, who led the townspeople to victory and drove away the Turks by mooning them.

During a visit by Queen Elizabeth II to New Zealand, Tame Iti, a Māori, mooned the queen. His defense in court was that it was a traditional Māori form of protest and he could therefore not be charged with indecent exposure.

In June 2000, a mass mooning event was organised outside of Buckingham Palace in England 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.

The Annual Mooning of Amtrak ^* . This long-running tradition occurs in Laguna Niguel, (Orange County) California, U.S.A once a year. A large group of people spend all day mooning at Amtrak trains. Some people even ride the trains on that day just so they can witness the event.

At the 2004 MTV Movie Awards, D12 (a rap group led by Eminem) mooned the crowd.

In the 2005 NFL football season, former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss pretended to moon Green Bay Packers fans at Lambeau Field after scoring a touchdown. Moss's "pretend moon" was condemned by most NFL coaches and commentators, and he had to pay a States dollar|US$" target="_blank" >^*10,000 fine. Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy remarked that Packers fans are infamous for mooning opposing teams as they leave on the team bus and that Moss was probably jokingly retaliating.

During The Amazing Race 8 (Family Edition), Lauren Bransen mooned the Linz family, whose car was driving next to theirs. It was censored by pixellating.

Noteworthy examples of mooning in popular culture

Zappa's Pound for a Brown on the Bus is about Mooning
In the film Last Tango in Paris, Marlon Brando moons the upper class patrons of a tango dance hall as he and his female companion are being kicked out.
The film Braveheart contains a scene in which over a thousand Scottish warriors mooned the English forces, though this had not actually taken place in the historical battle depicted.
Mooning scenes were included in the 1950s-set films American Graffiti, Hey Good Lookin', and Grease.
On the Futurama episode Future Stock, Fry moons world-domineering billionaire robot company owner Mom by squishing his bare buttocks up against a window, eliciting her response, "You call that an anus?!" (a censored version replaces the line with "You call that a pressed ham?!")
On The Simpsons, Homer and Bart are frequent offenders. Homer mooned his boss Mr. Burns while entertaining at a birthday party, and Bart once imitated Richard Nixon with a rubber novelty nose attached to his buttcheeks, frightening and appalling several female classmates. In "Bart-Mangled Banner" Bart inadvertently moons the flag. Bart also showed his patriotism by mooning a mob of Australian nationals, including the Australian Prime Minister, all while humming the Star-Spangled Banner. The text, "DON'T TREAD ON ME" was written on his butt.
In a first season episode of The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Jeff and his brother Wayne take Jeff's son Matt out mooning in one of the numerous "Foxworthy traditions." Eventually, Wayne ends up mooning Jeff's wife Karen and her friend.
In an episode of That 70's Show when the yearbooks are released, a picture of Donna mooning the Pep Rally is found.
In the movie Beavis and Butt-head Do America, Butt-head moons a chauffeur waiting for himself and Beavis at an airport. Later both Beavis and Butt-head moon the White House from a coach they are travelling on.
Degeneration X from the WWE which is known for their child's play has mooned on occasion and since their rebirth in 2006 Triple H has mooned Vince McMahon and had midget Spirt Squad members moon the real Sprit Squad.
One episode of the kid's show Hey Arnold!, Harold, Stinky and Sid all mooned principal Wartz at the same time.

References

Mann, Charles C. "Native Intelligence" Smithsonian magazine, December 2005, vol. 36 #9, pp. 94-108.

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