# Moon Over Parma **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2000, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743 "2000-01-02T01:28:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/1 "2000-01-02T01:28:00Z")
Simple question: why is mooning such a gesture of disrespect? I just happened to watch an episode of “The Drew Carey Show” that ended with all four of the main characters mooning Drew’s neighbor… and it occurred to me that while the others don’t do much for me, I actually wouldn’t mind seeing Christa Miller’s a… but I digress. It _also_ occurred to me that it’s such an odd gesture – mooning, that is. I suppose it’s contemptuous, but it also seems an oddly vulnerable gesture for the mooner to offer to the moonee. And if we’re to believe _Braveheart_, it’s a gesture that’s been around a while. So - why mooning, as opposed to, say, a well-timed insult, or a F-you finger? Who would even think of such a thing? - Rick ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/2 "2000-01-02T03:52:00Z")
> [@](#): > > why is mooning such a gesture of disrespect? - Rick I assume it has something to do with trying to convey, in the most graphic manner possible, one’s desire for another to “Kiss my ass! (And here it is all bared for ya, so pucker up, loser.)” And some guy’s pale, hairy, zitted posterior _is_ a pretty gross, insulting thing to have to look at, right? 'Course these days, mooning’s mostly done to get a laugh (because, of course, it does make the moon_er_ look pretty stupid). * * * **StoryTyler** “Not everybody does it, but everybody should.” [I Spy Ty.](http://sites.netscape.net/storytyler/homepage) ---
**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:** [January 2, 2000, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/3 "2000-01-02T04:00:00Z")
Don’t know if it’s true or not, but I once read that during the nadir of Sino-Soviet relations, Chinese and Russian soldiers used to frequently moon each other across their border. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/4 "2000-01-02T04:48:00Z")
## The kissing of an ass, and mooning of a sort, go back to at least Chaucer’s day (_The Miller’s Tale_ in _Canterbury Tales_) Jeremy… Nobody ever calls me after they’ve done something smart. ---
**Author:** ![timmar68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@timmar68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timmar68)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/5 "2000-01-03T04:03:00Z")
(My, Cuba is lovely this time of year!) I was listening to a beer commercial song and noticed that it sounds just like “Moon over Parma”. Is it my imagination? I think it was an old one for Budweiser. * * * MaryAnn No, stupid, it’s a boat! ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/6 "2000-01-03T06:22:00Z")
**MaryAnnQ** – ## If your thinking of the Budweiser song I’m thinking of (lots of Clydesdales in the shot) the tunes are similar but not identical. Good call though. I’m humming them as I type this and I’m having a heck of a time keeping them straight. I thought of a clever new sig line last night, but I forgot it when I woke up this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/7 "2000-01-03T15:07:00Z")
FYI: Parma is a large suburb on the West Side of Cleveland. When I last lived in the area, in the 1970s, Parma was known for its large Polish-American community, with the requisite accompanying witticisms about white socks, bowling shirts, and chrome balls and pink flamingos on the lawns. Note to current Clevelanders: Has any of the above changed over the last 20-some years? * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![StrTrkr777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@StrTrkr777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrTrkr777)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/8 "2000-01-03T17:22:00Z")
It could also be that since doing such puts you in a very vulnerable position (you can’t run with your drawers down) yet you are doing it so you are indicating that they are so pathetic that you are not worried about an attack by them so you are willing to put yourself in an otherwise vulnerable postition. Or maybe it is the hair butt idea that was mentioned earlier. Jeffery ---
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2000, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/9 "2000-01-04T06:51:00Z")
Ike–I lived in Parma about ten years ago and it was still kinda a joke then. ---
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2000, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/10 "2000-01-04T06:51:00Z")
Ike–I lived near Cleveland about ten years ago and Parma was still kinda a joke then. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Thin\_Skin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@Mr\_Thin\_Skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Thin_Skin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/11 "2000-01-03T19:10:00Z")
Apparently, people who live in Parma don’t like to admit it. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-over-parma/5743/12 "2000-01-03T19:16:00Z")
Uke, I live up in Lakewood, and I am in Parma enough, shopping and whatnot. Of course the white-belts-and-shoes and flamingo jokes continue, as do the Polish jokes, but Parma isn’t what it used to be. It’s still pretty solidly middle-class, UAW, Catholic, etc., but it has diversified a bit. The Parma/Brooklyn border is now dominated by big-box shopping (a Super KMart, a Best Buy, a Wal-Mart and the like), and the area down Ridge Road is almost all commercial now, with Parmatown Mall being one of the more successful malls in the area. Still, when the rubber hits the road, Parma makes a great punchline. * * * “It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather