French need tactful answers to loaded questions

Discussion

January 21, 2010

Anonymous The News Courier Thu Jan 21, 2010, 01:59 PM CST

Most (intelligent) American men have learned how to avoid answering the booby-trapped question, “Do these jeans make my butt look big?”

Skillfully avoiding answering or convincingly lying makes cohabitation oh so much simpler.

But in France, rising to the bait with a simple “Oui” could lead to an ankle-monitoring bracelet.

Yes, the country where real men eat quiche is to introduce a law banning “psychological violence” in marriage. The term could cover such matters as “off hand comments about appearance.”

While emotional and physical abuse in relationships, whether in marriage or cohabitation, is no laughing matter, it would seem that the French are indeed wading into some muddy water at the bottom of which lies a bed of quicksand.

One French sociologist Pierre Bonnet was quoted by the Web site Mail Online, as saying, “The next step will be to make rudeness a criminal offense. The police and courts will be overstretched trying to deal with the numerous cases.”

Under the proposed French law, repeat offenders are the ones most likely to wind up with an ankle-monitoring device.

But my understanding of ankle monitors is that they give authorities an idea of where you are spending your time. To be effective in this case, the bracelet would also have to have eavesdropping and recording capabilities to allow someone to listen to conversations and determine if damaging insults are exchanged.

And who’s to decide? How does one qualify as an arbiter of the crude, even setting aside the obvious violation of privacy involved here?

And should the case make it to court and a jury trial, if that’s how the justice system works in France, is the recording enough evidence to convict?

Or would the allegedly offended victim have to parade in front of the jury in the point-of-contention jeans so the members could determine if the accused was guilty of willful meanness or simple (if imprudent) truthfulness?

The story posted on Mail Online by reporter Peter Allen conjectures that if the law is successful in France it could be adopted by countries throughout Europe and even Britain.

So if this spreads across the pond, guys, watch your mouths.

Practice in front of a mirror saying, “Actually, those jeans are very flattering. Well, of course, not that you’d need anything to flatter your already perfect form. You look great—really.”

News Courier columnist Karen Middleton may be reached at (256) 232-2720, ext. 111.

Text Only

Karen Middleton

Sept. 11, 2001, felt like beginning of the end of world
September 11, 2011
Scandal has people asking, ‘What’s in a name?’
June 13, 2011
Cher’s 65 and I’ve felt better myself
May 25, 2011 1 Photo
Cruel nature cannot extinguish human spirit
The black monsters that churned out of the skies two weeks ago today took homes, livelihoods, possessions and lives. But they could not destroy the human spirit of survivors.

May 18, 2011
Tragedy brings out best, worst in people
... with each new report of looting, we feel the squeamishness that comes with the realization that this is also a part of human nature.

May 18, 2011
These are my people harmed by tornado
When the all clear was sounded Wednesday ... I lit candles, changed the batteries in my mobile scanner and sat in the semi-darkness, listening throughout the night to the valiant efforts of our emergency responders. They worked together to assess damage and relieve suffering like a well-oiled machine.

May 1, 2011
Hey, sister, can I borrow a hat?
It would not do for the future Queen Catherine of the United Kingdom to “go commando.” Although, according to Cosmo, this is not a new practice. The mag says that some of history’s hottest sex goddesses, such as Cleopatra and Jean Harlow, reportedly went “au naturel” beneath their clothes.

April 29, 2011
Did childhood chest fixation begin with Barbie?
Let’s hope the publicity generated by the push-up bikinis for tots has helped raise some awareness among parents who would be otherwise tempted to rob their precious daughters of the fleeting days of innocent childhood and possibly make them targets for unhealthy, unwholesome elements.

April 29, 2011
When I find myself in times of trouble ...
I thought my life was going along pretty well until I saw a commercial on TV that claims the average mattress doubles its weight in eight years due to dead skin cells and dust mites. E-e-e-u-w!

April 10, 2011
There will never be another one like Liz
I practiced long hours in front of my dressing table mirror with eye makeup, trying to achieve her sultry look. I thought I was doing pretty well, although I knew I could never get my dark brown eyes to appear violet like Liz’s.

March 27, 2011
More Karen Middleton Headlines

Karen Middleton

Search Results

Discussion

French need tactful answers to loaded questions

Which team will win Super Bowl XLVI?

Site Map

Contact Us