[kakacik]

It was quite shocking for me as somebody from eastern Europe to see ie Danish or Dutch homes having no curtains whatsoever, so me walking on sidewalk looking at them 3m from me behind the windows having breakfast, in pyjamas, kids doing early morning nasal cavities treasure hunt with finger etc.

Same for living rooms and bedrooms (those I would expect to at least have some curtains aside).

Still not used to it, i like my privacy and ability to shamelessly say scratch my butt when alone if needed.

[teekert]

Haha dutch guy here... Who cares? Our bedrooms have curtains! Actually living rooms usually as well, but we are reluctant in closing them I guess. Also, you'll often find patches of intransparant glass to prevent directly looking in.

But then the horror to go to the US and find toilets in i.e. hospitals that don't have doors closing all the way. You can literally stare someone in the eye through the crack in the door, or over the door, while he's taking a dump. Holy cow. Imagine the sounds echoing through the collective toilet room. My god. I'm still recovering from my visit to the prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Having a s* together with someone in the next stall is a whole new level of intimacy I was not ready for.

[kolp]

When I lived in NL, it was explained to me that closing the curtains would imply, in some sort of weird Calvinistic belief, that the occupants were engaged in some nefarious activities; therefore the curtains are left open to show that the occupants have nothing to hide and are engaged only in wholesome activities.

The other side of the social contract obliges passers-by to not look inside.

The other strange thing that I found is that some apartments have little spy mirrors mounted on the exterior wall to allow the occupants to monitor what's going on in the street.

[kergonath]

> the occupants were engaged in some nefarious activities; therefore the curtains are left open to show that the occupants have nothing to hide and are engaged only in wholesome activities.

That sounds utterly dystopian. Whose business is it if we want to shag in the morning?

It’s also completely self-defeating. Nobody can prove that they never did anything that someone else would disapprove. There are solid reasons behind the "innocent until proven guilty" principle.

[tremon]

That sounds utterly dystopian

Welcome to 18th-century small-village politics.

[TitaRusell]

Priests used to visit houses if the wife had not been pregnant for a while.

Most of us do not realise how utterly NEW individuality and freedom is. Not so long ago we were all Taliban.

[dotancohen]

Most of us (humans) still are. Only in Europe and the Americas is privacy or individually widely acknowledged.

[jonasdegendt]

The Dutch simply shamelessly scratch their butt, and if someone's watching that's their problem ;)

[normie3000]

I think that system requires that passers by don't look inside the houses.