# In Norway you can go to the mall naked **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2009, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537 "2009-07-10T08:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/1 "2009-07-10T08:11:18Z")
This month’s Playboy has been scanned and sent to me. Of course I only read it for the cartoons, but nonetheless, some naked woman on page 138 states (in her own handwriting) “In Norway you can go to the mall naked and not get arrested.” Of course everything I know of Scandinavia I have learned from Playboy, still, I have to wonder if this is actually true. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/2 "2009-07-10T09:26:46Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > This month’s Playboy has been scanned and sent to me. Of course I only read it for the cartoons, but nonetheless, some naked woman on page 138 states (in her own handwriting) “In Norway you can go to the mall naked and not get arrested.” > > Of course everything I know of Scandinavia I have learned from Playboy, still, I have to wonder if this is actually true. I suppose you might avoid an actual arrest, but you’d certainly run afoul of the penal code, § 201: > [@](#): > > A person who in words or acts display sexually offensive or other indecent behaviour > > a) in a public place, > b) in the presence of or towards someone who has not consented, or > c) in the presence of or towards a child below the age of 16, > is punished by fines or by up to 1 year of imprisonment. Also relevant is the general instruction to the police § 8: > [@](#): > > Intervention should also take place in the case of destruction of public or private property, and unsanitary or indecent behaviour in a public place. Going naked to the mall is still considered indecent, so even if you might avoid an actual arrest, a police officer is obliged to, at least, make you put some clothes on. Or so I interpret the underlying laws. I can’t find any material relating to actual practice. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/3 "2009-07-10T09:44:14Z")
I’m not sure of the official wording, but in New York state, a woman is allowed to be topless in public everywhere a man is allowed to be topless in public. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/4 "2009-07-10T09:56:14Z")
In Tennessee, I, a straight male, can go to the mall naked. Once. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/5 "2009-07-10T10:02:38Z")
Thank you all. I suppose playmates do not make the excellent legal advisors I had thought. ---
**Author:** ![Eivind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@Eivind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eivind)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/6 "2009-07-10T11:09:46Z")
Interestingly, as I am reading this I am sitting (so far fully dressed) in my office in Bergen, Norway, not two blocks away from a mall. Although I should probably feel obliged to conduct an experiment in the interest of fighting ignorance, there is one block between where I am and the aforementioned mall, and that block consists solely of the city’s central police station. I have a firm hypothesis concerning the outcome of such an experiment, and with that in mind, I don’t think parading past a crowd of uniformed, baton-wielding lawmen with my own baton unconcealed, so to speak, would be a wise step - careerwise or in general. I otherwise agree - the cartoons are excellent. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/7 "2009-07-10T12:03:03Z")
But where would you keep your wallet? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/8 "2009-07-10T12:26:28Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > But where would you keep your wallet? :dubious: You don’t want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/9 "2009-07-10T12:38:46Z")
One of my patients had an ‘out of clothing’ experience in a mall. That’s one of the reasons he’s my patient now. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/10 "2009-07-10T13:00:23Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > But where would you keep your wallet? :dubious: Up your ass, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/11 "2009-07-10T13:18:03Z")
Are these the ones designated as strip malls? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/12 "2009-07-10T13:23:54Z")
> [@Eivind](#): > > Interestingly, as I am reading this I am sitting (so far fully dressed) in my office in Bergen, Norway, not two blocks away from a mall. Although I should probably feel obliged to conduct an experiment in the interest of fighting ignorance, there is one block between where I am and the aforementioned mall, and that block consists solely of the city’s central police station. I have a firm hypothesis concerning the outcome of such an experiment, and with that in mind, I don’t think parading past a crowd of uniformed, baton-wielding lawmen with my own baton unconcealed, so to speak, would be a wise step - careerwise or in general. > > I otherwise agree - the cartoons are excellent. Thanks for that laugh, I really needed it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/13 "2009-07-10T14:15:16Z")
Reading this prompts me to ask 3 questions: 1. Paul in Qatar - Are the rules for internet use considerably different from when you were Paul in Saudi? I assumed that access would be similarly monitored in most mid-east states. Poor assumption? 2. Eivind - excellent post. Prior to your experiment, could you stop on the way to inquire on the veracity of the demonstrators claims? If they say no, tell them that you’ll go back to work before you sneak off to test the reactions of the local populace. 3. Can you believe any writing in the pictorials? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/14 "2009-07-10T14:29:26Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > But where would you keep your wallet? :dubious: “A pretty woman doesn’t need money.” Roy Orbison’s wife told him that, when she said she was going shopping. A few minutes later, he began to write his big hit _Pretty Woman._ ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/15 "2009-07-10T15:53:00Z")
It’s possible that a Playboy playmate strolling naked through a mall would generate a different reaction than **Eivind** or most of the other humble denizens of this Board. When she says, “In Norway you can go to the mall naked and not get arrested”, she may mean that in Norway _she_ can go to the mall naked and not get arrested! ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/16 "2009-07-10T16:50:15Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > It’s possible that a Playboy playmate strolling naked through a mall would generate a different reaction than **Eivind** or most of the other humble denizens of this Board. When she says, “In Norway you can go to the mall naked and not get arrested”, she may mean that in Norway _she_ can go to the mall naked and not get arrested! That’s my take on it also. It’s the kind of incident that often passes into urban legend. An attractive woman goes naked into a mall and nobody arrests her. She tells all her friends about it but, people being people, the tale gets embellished step by step. By the time the naked woman on page 138 gets hold of the story, it’s enshrined under Norwegian law that nakedness in malls is now legal, and that the practice may indeed become totally compulsory by next Tuesday afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Zackmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19adc/32.png) [@Zackmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zackmo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/17 "2009-07-10T16:57:28Z")
I once read in a Playboy that is was healthy to make a carrot cake out of a carrot previously peeled and washed, then inserted in a male’s anus. It doesn’t specify how clean the male’s anus needs to be, but I’m sure a couple of germ-killing enemas would be necessary. Playboy hardly ever specifies such details. Maybe they meant “naked under your clothes” ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/18 "2009-07-10T17:01:42Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I suppose you might avoid an actual arrest, but you’d certainly run afoul of the penal code, § 201: > [@](#): > > A person who in words or acts display sexually offensive or other indecent behaviour Is nudity considered “indecent” or “sexually offensive” in Norway? ---
**Author:** ![Zackmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19adc/32.png) [@Zackmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zackmo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/19 "2009-07-10T17:04:36Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Is nudity considered “indecent” or “sexually offensive” in Norway? Maybe if they are ugly? I’m not sure, but I remember hearing something about vanity and image being huge in Norway, and those being noticably beautiful were also treated better. Kind of like racism, but with image. Is there a word for that other then just basic judgement based on appearance? ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/20 "2009-07-10T17:18:31Z")
> [@Zackmo](#): > > I’m not sure, but I remember hearing something about vanity and image being huge in Norway, and those being noticably beautiful were also treated better. > > Kind of like racism, but with image. Is there a word for that other then just basic judgement based on appearance? This has been proven to be true in almost every society on the planet, from tiny tribes in Papua New Guinea to the United States, and in children as young as 5 (there are experiments with infants too, but those are hard to interpret). People are hardwired to like attractive people better. I don’t know a pithy term for it (other than attraction bias), but a certain radio host coined the term Uglo-Americans to make fun of other “fake minorities”, yet was actually on to one of the most prevalent forms of prejudice in the world. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537.md?page=2)