Going in the nude may also influence who winds up competing. Shoes or no shoes, some athletes – if faced with mandatory nakedness – may choose to bow out of the Olympics in protest. More conservative nations may also ban their competitors from participating altogether. "For cultures in which modesty plays a great role, this just wouldn"t be contemplatable," says Ruth Barcan, an honorary associate professor of gender studies at the University of Sydney, and author of Nudity: A Cultural Anatomy.