Editing Indecent exposure (section)

== History ==

What is an inappropriate state of dress in a particular context depends on the standards of [[decency]] of the community where an exposure takes place. These standards vary from time to time and can vary from the very strict standards of [[modesty]] in places such as Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, which require most of the body to be covered, to tribal societies such as the [[Pirahã people|Pirahã]] or [[Mursi people|Mursi]] where full nakedness is the norm.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/1416/legality-of-nudism-in-public-places/1524#1524|title=Legality of Nudism in Public Places?|website=politics.stackexchange.com|access-date=2018-03-02}}</ref> There is generally no implication that the state of dress objected to is of a sexual nature; and if such an allegation were to be made, the act would generally be described as "[[gross indecency]]".{{cn|date=November 2024}}

The standards of decency have varied over time. During the [[Victorian era]], for example, exposure of a woman's legs, and to some extent the arms, was considered indecent in much of the [[Western world]]. Hair was sometimes required to be covered in formal occasions as in the form of a hat or bonnet. As late as the 1930s – and to some extent, the 1950s – both women and men were expected to bathe or swim in public places wearing [[bathing suit]]s that covered above the waist. An adult woman exposing her [[navel]] was also considered indecent in parts of the West into the 1960s and 1970s, and even as late as the 1980s. Moral values changed drastically during the 1990s and 2000s, which in turn changed the criteria for indecent exposure. Public exposure of the navel has been accepted during the 1990s, while in the 2000s, exposure of the buttocks while wearing a thong at a beach became acceptable.{{cn|date=November 2024}} Female toplessness, however, has become more taboo in recent decades; for many years it was quite common for women to go topless at public beaches throughout Europe and South America and even some parts of the United States.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3834365/map-topless-laws/|title=Here's Where It's Legal for Women to Go Topless in the U.S.|magazine=Time|language=en|access-date=2018-03-02}}</ref>