# Public nudity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [October 16, 2018, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-nudity/823072 "2018-10-16T23:42:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-nudity/823072/1 "2018-10-16T23:42:55Z")
This column about public nudity leaves me with a question. > **[Can I be charged with indecent exposure if I stay on my own private property?](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2887/is-it-indecent-exposure-if-im-visibly-naked-while-on-my-own-private-property/)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD If one can be charged with indecent exposure, when others can see you, how come I could be forced to take a shower after gym class, without a private shower stall? All we girls had were those multiple shower head poles. I hated it, especially as in junior high all of our bodies were changing and out there for everyone to see. By the time I was in basic training, after high school, I didn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-nudity/823072/2 "2018-10-17T02:42:24Z")
There is a long, long tradition of same-sex nudity being an exception. Bathing suits are a relatively recent invention. ---
**Author:** ![szabrocki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@szabrocki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/szabrocki)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2018, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-nudity/823072/3 "2018-10-18T08:47:35Z")
Here in the State of Maine there is no law for either sex against being topless in a public area. Even for males it is not common. Private businesses can have “no shirt, no shoes, no service” bans for entering their establishments. One day, a few years ago I came out of a drug store to see an organized parade of men and women topless walking down our main downtown street. The news called it a “protest”, but I have no idea what they were protesting about as it is legal. Being a northern state it is generally not practical to not wear at least a t-shirt as the warm parts of the day are rather fleeting at the best of times. I still don’t understand what point they were trying to make. A week before they had an open gun “protest” in one of our parks. People carried guns openly. That is not illegal either, so I did not get that point. I had a thought! What if we brought those two groups together and had a open gun topless parade? That I might go see as not much happens here. This might not be what the OP was trying to say, but I think it is pertinent at least from the waist up. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2018, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-nudity/823072/4 "2018-10-18T08:55:57Z")
What **John W Kennedy** said. Plus “public” has different connotations depending on the circumstances. I don’t think internal regulations for minors by an entity _in loco parentis_ would come within the ambit of such a provision. ---
**Author:** ![szabrocki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@szabrocki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/szabrocki)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2018, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-nudity/823072/5 "2018-10-18T09:17:06Z")
Below the waist nudity is totally illegal. I have a friend who had to urinate very badly. He went behind a dumpster and relived himself. A police officer saw him and arrested him for Indecent Exposure. He is now a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. He is on the State of Maine’s website for sex offenders which doesn’t discriminate between taking a piss behind a dumpster or a child mollester. It really messed up his job opportunities. I tell me friends just piss your pants. That is not illegal.