# If someone is wearing just a towel, do they count as naked? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817 "2013-12-08T13:08:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/41 "2013-12-10T02:58:06Z")
Why is the phrase “running around” so intimately associated with the idea of bodily exposure? Like, can’t naked people walk slowly? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/42 "2013-12-10T04:31:02Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Ironically, a lot the time when a person is said to be “half naked” they’re actually closer to ninety percent naked. That’s because many people are half naked in their daily life, at least compared to, say, 1940 or something. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/43 "2013-12-10T04:56:48Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Why is the phrase “running around” so intimately associated with the idea of bodily exposure? Like, can’t naked people walk slowly? Bouncing bits. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/44 "2013-12-10T07:05:55Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Not naked. > > To be naked you have to be entirely 100% without clothing. > > A man wearing nothing but a belt around his waste is not naked. > > A woman wearing a towel on her head is not naked. > > A child running around in a pair of socks and nothing else is not naked. > > If there is anything on your person whatsoever that can be removed, you are not naked. I don’t know. That time I stood out in my front hard with only cowboy boots and a holster on, the police saw things differently. Why doesn’t anyone ever say they you are committing _decent_ exposure? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/45 "2013-12-10T14:07:11Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > …I stood out in my front hard… Whoa - TMI, dude. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/46 "2013-12-10T15:32:30Z")
Context. If you say “I can’t come outside now, I’m naked” and you’re just wearing a towel, that’s true. If you say to your wife “Honey, I didn’t see her naked, she was wearing a towel”, that’s true too. In both cases, assuming the towel covers boobs, butt and crotch. In fact, nudity is almost always about context. The things I wear to the beach, I’d feel naked in if I wore them anywhere else. It goes the other way too. I go to burns (local Burning Man events – never been to the big one), and you’d be surprised the amount of clothes and costumes people wear while still allowing all their naughty bits to hang out in the open. I don’t think I’d consider them naked, but I bet if they showed up to work in those outfits, their boss would. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/47 "2013-12-10T17:15:22Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > … > In fact, nudity is almost always about context… Good point. One interesting thing about social rules of modesty in the US is that nightwear (e.g. pajamas, nightgowns) is considered immodest outside of the home, regardless of how much of the body is actually covered. E.g. a miniskirt and halter top is considered more modest than a floor length nightgown. If a person in nightwear needs to step outside, they can become modest enough to step outside briefly if they put on a bathrobe, regardless of whether or not the bathrobe covers any additional parts of the body or whether or not the climate calls for additional protection against cold, etc. It’s just a social rule. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/48 "2013-12-10T17:16:48Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > …I stood out in my front hard… wearing my mother’s Freudian slip. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/49 "2013-12-10T17:46:30Z")
_The New Yorker_’s great Arno: [http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/wp-content/t/\_ArnoCartoons5.jpg](http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/wp-content/t/_ArnoCartoons5.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817.md?page=2)