Mooning
Meaning
Mooning is a beautiful form of protest against the leading power, against societal norms, or even just a great way to brighten easy-going peoples day.
If you want to participate in some “mooning”, all you have to do is to stand in a public place and pull down your lower garments.
Now bend over and flash those pale buttocks.
“Mooning” is the act of showing your butt in public.
Some do it for the shock value, some for provocation, and some just for shits and giggles. It may even be used to show disrespect to a particular person.
Whether your genitals show or not is each to their taste.
Origin
Moon has been a metaphor for a persons butt since mid-18th century in England.
Your butt rarely sees sunshine, therefore it is often pale and reflects light, just like the moon does.
Already in the middle ages, peasants would expose their butts to people they didn’t like to show disrespect towards them.
Although people have been “mooning” for centuries, it wasn’t defined in a dictionary until 1960, when students at American universities started doing it and using the slang.
Spread and Usage
Various countries have different standpoints on “mooning”.
In Victoria, Australia, “mooning” is considered a criminal offence since January 2016.
In the US, however, the freedom to practice “mooning” is protected by the First Amendment as a form of speech.
Jumping to the era of social media, the subreddit r/Mooning has close to 80K members, but rather than silly or provocative “moons”, most posts include pictures of attractive womens butts.