Italians banned from touching crotches

10:48 Thu 28 February 2008

How unfair. Italian men have been officially banned from grabbing their privates in public.

In Italian culture a quick grab of the male privates hints at more than covert chafing. It's a sign of good luck and a way of warding off evil. So if on your travels you've ever been privy to one of these supersitious acts - it wasn't cos the stallion was trying to come on to you. He might have thought you were a witch and was trying to ward you off!

Though alas no more. The Rome Appeal Court recently ruled against a defendant fined 200 euro for an innocent pant shuffle, decreeing, "The touching of genitalia in public is a sign of ill manners and must be considered against public decency. The rules of social etiquette require all of us to abstain from what might be considered offensive to public decorum". But I was only adjusting my overalls pleaded the defendant, a mechanic. Yeh right, bet your boxers are extra large too!

So next time you think Mediterraneans are all at it constantly, loping around in a state of fervent passion, think again. They're actually a bit boring really.

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Photo taken from NeoForm's Flickr stream