# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**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, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/21 "2009-07-10T18:06:56Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > 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. Understandable. Its easy to see image being important in every society. I just remember Norway being labled as especially vain, judgemental people (not saying each person is vain and judgemental, just their society). ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/22 "2009-07-10T18:44:11Z")
Maybe this is one of those cases where, sure, you can go naked, but it just happens to be in a place that’s so freakin’ cold that, well, who would want to? ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/23 "2009-07-10T18:51:57Z")
It seems to me that I recall a case from Maine. A young woman was arrested for public nudity, and she successfully argued that the Maine law specified that it was an offense to have visible genitalia, and she kept hers discretely inside. I never saw a followup to see if Maine had modified their law. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/24 "2009-07-10T18:54:53Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > 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. Women! You fought for this equality…you had better damn well use it! ---
**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, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/25 "2009-07-10T18:56:34Z")
> [@cantara](#): > > 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? My powers of evasion have grown more powerful since I left Saudi Arabia. I am still behind the firewall, but now employ an old Jedhi trick for punching through. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/26 "2009-07-10T19:15:28Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > But where would you keep your wallet? :dubious: [With your handkerchief?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLIpfGATTco)(NSFW Video.) ---
**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, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/27 "2009-07-10T20:24:37Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Women! You fought for this equality…you had better damn well use it! Ha! You’ll probably be waiting a long time for that to happen. Here in good old western/upstate New York, the only time it ever happens is during the various summer festivals. Out of the thousands of festivalgoers, there will be one, maybe two women who decide to shed their tops. Usually, youngish hippies who are sad they missed out on the 60s. A few years ago I remember a friend saying she say a woman at one of the festivals completely topless but wearing a giant poodle skirt. I gotta say, I’m sorry I missed that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/28 "2009-07-10T20:35:43Z")
> [@](#): > > It seems to me that I recall a case from Maine. A young woman was arrested for public nudity, and she successfully argued that the Maine law specified that it was an offense to have visible genitalia, and she kept hers discretely inside. I never saw a followup to see if Maine had modified their law. I think that I remember that case, too, but the defense I remember was not that her genitalia were internal, but that they were concealed by pubic hair. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/29 "2009-07-10T21:28:02Z")
Yes, women in Maine are allowed to go around starkers, but men are not. [Two women were found not guilty in 2002](http://mainecampus.com/2002/05/13/streakers-found-not-guilty-2/) despite being caught without a stitch. In another case, [two men were found guilty but their female fellow skinny-dipper was found not guilty](http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/92539.html) in 2008. Vermont, I believe, has no statewide law against public nudity but towns and cities are free to pass their own bans. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/30 "2009-07-10T21:37:17Z")
There was a lawsuit back in the nineties in Ontario that resulted in female toplessness being legal alongside male toplessness in Ontario. The only place this seems to occur is at the Pride Parade, and various nudist spots. Given that I more and more frequently see people in almost-full burqa on the subway (just the eyes showing), that has to set some sort of record for variety of public body covering in the same city. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/31 "2009-07-11T02:49:57Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. “In summary, the People have offered nothing to justify a law that discriminates against women by prohibiting them from removing their tops and exposing their bare chests in public as men are routinely permitted to do.” [People v Santorelli, 80 N.Y.2d 875 (1992)](http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/6107/USA/Santorelli.html) ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/32 "2009-07-11T03:44:30Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > But where would you keep your wallet? :dubious: The Gap. ---
**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 11, 2009, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/33 "2009-07-11T09:27:26Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Is nudity considered “indecent” or “sexually offensive” in Norway? Going naked in public is considered indecent behaviour, yes. Topless at the beach, no problem, naked on a nude beach or by a secluded forest lake, no problem, expose yourself in the park, or go naked to the mall… indecent behaviour. ---
**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 11, 2009, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537/34 "2009-07-11T09:29:08Z")
My neighbour is a cop. I’ll try to remember asking him what the facts are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-norway-you-can-go-to-the-mall-naked/502537.md?page=1)