"…because the insult makes a man feel less manly." (Newser)

  • Brainspore

    I like having Italy around because they make the U.S. legal system seem sane and our politicians seem trustworthy.

  • Brainspore

    …also, this could have serious legal implications for any medical professional tasked with informing a testicular cancer patient about how his surgery went.

  • nowimnothing
    • ocker3

       Sheesh that took a while! Good news though

  • peterblue11

    so? if i told a woman she had no or small breasts that would also be an offence / anti-social behaviour here in the UK. 

    • Brainspore

      Is making a personal insult actually a criminal offense in the UK?

      • http://twitter.com/subjectsmith subject smith

        If you do it in a public place it can be. See Section 5 of the Public Order Act. The police have to warn you to stop, but yes, insult is criminal. 

        • Brainspore

          The police have to warn you to stop…

          Pfft. They don’t have the balls…

      • Antinous / Moderator

        What kind of nutless wonder would sue somebody over an insult?

        • eldritch

          Not sure if sarcasm…

          *glances shiftily at ‘Merika*

        • cdh1971

          Still a fan…I wouldn’t call her nutless though…but had to be said.

    • Boundegar

      Odd.  If I said that it would be a compliment.

      • cdh1971

        This is why taste shouldn’t be dictated…this law…an arse…

  • Gutierrez

    Machissimo!

  • onereader

    Insulting speech is a crime, the court just decided that in that particular case sentencing that someone was guilty of insulting speech for those particular words was lawful.

    Italy is a civil law country, the supreme court doesn’t work at all like the us supreme court. For one, the judgment is valid only for the given case, not in general.

    • Brainspore

      But is it still legal to tell a woman that she has no balls?

      • onereader

        No, it’s not legal, it can still be considered insulting speech according to that same supreme court in a diferent case (24964/12).

        This is an insult, not a diagnosis, calling someone a motherfucker is insulting even if that someone is physically unable or an orphan.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/FOQJRRPI726E34HN5P6N72VWOM Adam
  • flakingnapstich

    Apparently Italy has a bunch of eunuchs running around getting butt-hurt when someone points out they’re a collection of of phallus-deprived, rectal/cranial inversion victims.

  • jimh

    There ought to be a law! Are you even listening, pencil-dick?!

  • iamlegion

    Of course it makes him feel less manly – if it didn’t it wouldn’t be much of an insult, now would it?

    “You’re wrong, you great stallion of a man!”

  • cdh1971

    Can’t resist…must…resi….cannot…res….

    I’ve got big balls
    I’ve got big balls
    And they’re such big balls
    fancy big balls
    And he’s got big balls,
    And she’s got big balls,
    But we’ve got the biggest balls of them all!

    And my balls are always bouncing

  • adamrice

    Suing somebody who has insulted you by saying that you have no balls also makes you seem unmanly.

    Sometimes a guy just can’t win.

  • http://marjaerwin.livejournal.com/ Marja Erwin

    Why would someone want to seem at all manly? Why wouldn’t someone prefer to seem at least less manly if not completely unmanly? *confused*

    I don’t understand men.

    • cdh1971

      I dunno. Depends on one’s definition  of manly I reckon ;)

    • Lupus_Yonderboy

      Personally, I quite like being “manly”.  Of course, I wouldn’t get upset if someone told me I had no balls, so maybe I’m not the manly you’re looking for.  (I would, however, laugh into my full beard and drink some whiskey, perhaps while starting a fire.)

      • Selena60

        According to the ad, having an AR15 makes you feel manly (just don’t point and shoot at your balls)

        • Al_Packer

           An AR15 is a substitute for adequate male reproductory anatomy.

          • cdh1971

            Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby
            Ain’t nothing like the real thing
            Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby
            Ain’t nothing like the real thing…

        • Ipo

           ”You have no ammo!” 

    • Ipo

       No, you don’t. 
      I don’t understand men either, but you really don’t.  And I’m confused by your view. 

      Why should anyone want to seem less or more manly then they are?  Why should anyone feel uncomfortable with their gender?  It happens a lot, but it isn’t desirable. 

      XX versus XY sex chromosomes, the testis-determining gene Sry, androgen and testosterone levels are a roll of the dice. 
      The mechanisms nature employs to assign gender and sex have worked “well”, seeing that 7 billion of us pawned every other species but some micro organisms. 
      I’ve read somewhere that in “primitive” society groups a newborn’s life expectancy is far higher if the mother has a homosexual brother.  In a hostile environment such group also benefits from having members that are built more robust, have more muscle growth, a lower inhibition threshold for violence who are stupidly, insanely courageous and fiercely protective.   Egoistic genes, how do they work?  It used to take all kinds. 
      I’ve been led to believe that today a great many men concern themselves with penis enlargement, steroids, erection aids and raising insoles next to their shiny expensive phallic symbols, wishing so much to be manly men. 

      Not being equal, is misandry the answer to misogyny? 

      • wysinwyg

         Not sure how Marja’s comment constitutes misandry.  Nor am I sure I understand why you included all this bio gobbledygook when almost all of gender is culturally determined (go ahead and do a survey of what’s constituted “manly” in different times and different cultures if you disagree). 

        Frankly, I agree with Marja.  Most of what passes for “masculinity” in our culture is a bunch of conformist bullshit.  I can’t think of anything really worthwhile that a man can do that a woman can’t or vice versa ignoring the basic reproductive differences between the sexes so I’m also not too sure what’s so great about being “manly” (or “feminine” for that matter, which may be what led you to believe Marja’s comment was misandrist I suppose).

  • http://newnumber6.livejournal.com Peter

    But what about the mere fact that considering “lacking a physical quality only males possess” as an insult, is itself an insult to women?  What are we doing to redress that?

    • cdh1971

      Hmmm….I agree with your sentiment….but do not women also have balls that can function as a source of strength?

      • Antinous / Moderator

        They’re about as ball-shaped as testicles are.

        • cdh1971

          Indeed…I don’t know about you, but I take comfort in that.

    • onereader

      The same supreme court decided that the insult trascended is literal meaning and it can be judged insulting speech even when referrred to a woman.

  • oldtaku

    Testify!

    • ocker3

       We don’t wear the kind of clothing necessary for that anymore

  • http://twitter.com/agger_modspil Carsten Agger

    Hmmff, so what would you say to THIS guy? (Warning: Picture is NSFW in some jurisdictions.)

    Back story: The guy on the picture is Peter Aalbæk Jensen, Danish film producer and overall rich guy (known for producing a lot of Lars von Trier’s films). He published this as a full-page ad in two national newspapers as part of a dispute with parts of the press who have been (probably rightfullly) accusing him of abusing his employees and abusing public film support money for personal gains.

    But look how much he cares!  Our own little Berlusconi wannabe. :)

    http://jyllands-posten.dk/kultur/film/article4956458.ece, in Danish, you could Google translate it.

  • http://goodsharer.com/ Aloisius

    You know what’s not manly? Suing someone because you got your feelings hurt when someone called you a name.

  • http://twitter.com/ErnestValdemar Ernest Valdemar

    Phht. Forget Italy. Big balls in Cowtown. (“We’ll all go down.”)

    http://youtu.be/Hdk4WVgZjzw

  • Jake0748

    Needs more cowbell.

  • Brainspore

    Well, at least you can take solace that you can call us “self-centered ignoramuses” without running afoul of the law.

  • fuzzyfuzzyfungus

    It’s not that we don’t believe that other people do it differently, it’s that we believe they do it wrong…

  • jimh

    Bait.

  • Mutation_Engine

     Urgh, onereader, you know have to disguise better when out from under bridge.
    Be too obvious and make rest of us look dumb. Also you turn to confront goats who cross. Why you not at post?
    …
    Look, goat cross because you here and not there. Bad onereader!