Moon over Millington

    My 3 1/2 year old granddaughter mooned me.  It was justified.  She was just waking up from a nap and kinda cranky.  I was teasing and bugging her to wake her up and she reached around and slowly pulled her princess underware down and showed me her bottom.  The look on her face was crystal clear, though she never uttered a sound.  It screamed, “Kiss my lily white baby behind, Gamma.”  We tried not to reinforce her less than lady like behavior, but it was impossible.  We all cracked up.  Of course we strangled the guffaws and immediately spouted all the right things about appropriate behavior, but our spontaneous reaction, no doubt, spoke volumes to her. 
    Where did she learn that move?  How did she know that showing her bottom was an insult?  It made me think about when I was a little girl.  If I wanted to send my sister into orbit I would turn my back to her, bend over and wiggle my behind in her face.  She often returned the favor.  Then we fought until our mother begged us to stop before we did permanent damage to each other.  This made me wonder if the “butt in your face” technique was universal?
    I realize you can find anything on the internet so here I go into www. world.  Ummm exactly what do I want to ask?  The history of mooning?  The use of the buttocks to communicate in a non verbal manner your distain or displeasure with another?  Cultural non verbal communication with body parts?

Excuse me while I surf. (sing the Jeopardy tune, please)

    Wow!  The www never fails to satisfy.  My first inquiry, “the history of mooning”,  hit pay dirt.  I will direct  you to the site for your reading pleasure, but just let me say, my  favorite part is that the Maori people called it whakapohane and tried to entertain Queen Elizabeth with it during her 1986  royal visit to  New Zealand.  I am not sure of the Maori pronunciation, but for me it is Wacky po’heinie and that NAILS it!


http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/06/27/mooning_a_history_when_did_people_start_baring_their_butts_as_an_insult_.html

    On to, “Use of the buttocks to communicate in a non verbal manner.”  This was pretty much a washout.  One path led me to a 245 page educational dissertation on how a teacher’s non verbal behavior impacts the classroom.  I will give you the site but I discourage you from clicking unless you are working on a doctoral thesis.  Considering the impetus for my research tonight, I had to laugh at the thought of the impact of a teacher using My non verbal topic on her class.  She would definitely have their attention, but I don’t think it would help her evaluation score.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CFUQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fprr.hec.gov.pk%2FThesis%2F808S.pdf&ei=REskUKi-J4382gXRyoCYDg&usg=AFQjCNHhZjIfHZ95Ygd8SD3ScofSMBSPVQ&sig2=P0rpR3t3VV3yASd62kfE0g

    I cannot leave this line of inquiry without giving an honorable mention to the Japanese “ro-butt” article.  Leave it to the Japanese to bring mooning into the 21st centruy of technology. I am sure I would be just as insulted if I got it from a “ro-butt” as from a random real butt.

http://www.neurope.eu/article/japanese-ro-butt-develop-humanoid-communication

    Finally, there was the inquiry thread of, “Cultural non verbal communication with body parts?”

That did not get me anywhere except to a power point on how to be culturally appropriate in different parts of the world.  It was very interesting and I might actually use it in my classroom.  But it did not further my research. So I modified the question to,  “Cultural non verbal communication with the buttocks?”  That led me to another educational treatise on non-verbal gestures.  I scanned it. Yawn. The only interesting tidbit, nestled deep in educational yadda yadda, was this.  Apparently Europeans not only talk about the Ugly American. They also rag on the Ugly Australian.  It seems that Australian teenage boys like to go to Europe and act the fool.  I quote, “His antisocial behaviour includes drinking to excess, singing, vomiting, and sometimes the baring the buttocks from out of the window of moving vehicles. “.  That was an amusing bit of trivia, but the best part comes in the next paragraph where this learned researcher suggests that we conduct this activity in our classrooms.

Activity: In the classroom break up into small groups and role-play the Ugly Australian. Other nationalities may role-play other characteristics. The Australian groups should try to script a short play that epitomises drunken behaviour in a setting such as an overseas pub or camping ground. Other nationality groups may also try to enact an embarrassing part of their particular culture.

    Yeah, I am going to do that.  Having my student’s role playing mooning behavior is definitely going to get me those 5’s I want on my evaluation.

    So, in summary, the first known instance of mooning was recorded by the famous Roman-Jewish historian, Josephus, in the 1st century .  I found reference to it in many cultures.  I think we can safely absolve Wesley from the time out corner for flashing me a non-verbal clue to what she was thinking.  It is a time honored tradition and besides, it was the cutest little mooney butt I have ever seen.