Sexism to become a legal offence

[sabaku_no_gaara]

http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/989/Bin...trafbaar.dhtml (it's in Dutch)

What it boils down to:

Minister of equal opportunities Joëlle Milquet has drafted a law that will be approved in April to ban sexism out of this world.

As of April any person who deliberately makes a gesture or act that inflicts damage on woman or seriously affects the dignity of their person (read the dignity of a woman) can be apprehended and the judge will have to decide where the line is drawn and if they crossed it or not, offenders can risk a prison sentence between 1 month and 1 year and fines between 50 and 1000€.


I'm not sure what to say about this, on one hand, I foresee a whole lot of problems with this law and how it will be interpreted and I also foresee a lot of abuse, but on the other hand I don't want to be the misogynist pig opposing/criticising a law designed to protect woman from misogynist pigs

[Himster]

This law seems frighteningly subjective.

[sleepyx732]

Who'd of thunk that a law banning sexism would be sexist itself. This law only applies to woman?

"As of April any person who deliberately makes a gesture or act that inflicts damage on woman or seriously affects the dignity of their person"

You can't get any more vague then this. And proving it was deliberate, how much fun that'll be.

[mishkin]

Who'd of thunk that a law banning sexism would be sexist itself. This law only applies to woman?

Women are usually discriminated and abused, not men.

[Copperknickers II]

Women are usually discriminated and abused, not men.

Racism is usually directed towards non-white people in Europe. Does that mean when a group of Asians/Arabs attack a white person for infringing on their territory, it shouldn't be treated as a hate crime? A law like this should apply to all sexism, not just the most common form.

[mishkin]

A law like this should apply to all sexism, not just the most common form.

Maybe attacking the most common form of sexism is easier.

[Copperknickers II]

Maybe attacking the most common form of sexism is easier.

A hint: if something is easier, it probably means it is less well thought through.

They tried to do a similar thing with racism in the UK, only concentrating on anti-minority hate crimes and ignoring anti-white ones, and that didn't turn out very well. And that was just the media, never mind the actual legal recommendation. And before you say that anti-male sexism is not violent in the same way as racism, there have been several instances recently of sexist female serial killers.

[Carach]

Women are usually discriminated and abused, not men.

not true at all.

men simply get on with it.

OH SNAP. IM BEING SEXIST.

[Valerius Maximus]

I have read that as well yeah (also Belgian). It's a strange "law"if it happens. What about us men then? Shouldn't the same rule apply for us then, if some woman calls a man something sexist,that is fine then? A law should apply to everyone, no?

Also, who defines what is a sexist insult and what is a "normal" insult. If i call a woman a b**ch, is that sexist or not? if she calls me an a-hole, is that ok then?

The justice system in Belgium is screwed up enough without this kind of vague rules being enforced. Police surely have bigger priorities than this...

[sabaku_no_gaara]

I have read that as well yeah (also Belgian). It's a strange "law"if it happens. What about us men then? Shouldn't the same rule apply for us then, if some woman calls a man something sexist,that is fine then? A law should apply to everyone, no?

Also, who defines what is a sexist insult and what is a "normal" insult. If i call a woman a b**ch, is that sexist or not? if she calls me an a-hole, is that ok then?

The justice system in Belgium is screwed up enough without this kind of vague rules being enforced. Police surely have bigger priorities than this...

That is up to the judge, so if he doesn't like the look of your face, you could be in trouble.

Still misogyny is a problem and this law has been written in the aftermath of the "femme de la rue" video that that student girl created about young people in Brussels and their attitude towards woman

this is the video I mean:



Now I understand that woman need to be protected from this behaviour but wouldn't educating and sensitising men be better than repression?

[Roma_Victrix]

If there are already laws against sexual harassment against targeted individuals, then this law is completely pointless. If a man wants to spout a bunch of sexist rhetoric and make a fool of himself, that should be his business. He should be free to do so in a free country; it's called freedom of speech, you commie Belgians, look it up (). I suppose that means Belgium isn't free anymore, and we all know what happens to countries that don't have freedom.



Well, I guess not against a NATO ally.

[Tankbustaz]

Seriously, so if anyone says "go make me a sandwich", he gets arrested for 1 year and gets fined 1000 Euros?

[sabaku_no_gaara]

Seriously, so if anyone says "go make me a sandwich", he gets arrested for 1 year and gets fined 1000 Euros?

in theory yes. Since you demote the woman to a role of serf. this affects her dignity.

And "go make me a sandwich" is a stupid meme, designed to appeal to insecure males who feel threatened by woman's suffrage. Why else would you degrade woman like that

[Himster]

Why else would you degrade woman like that

Sometimes a man just wants a sandwich. Sometimes a man is just a dick. Should all men be punished because some men are dicks?

[mishkin]

Should all men be punished because some men are dicks?

Are "they" planning to punish all men?

[Gatsby]

Are "they" planning to punish all men?

The law is so intensely vague and subjective that I dare say it could have reasonably invoked against any male member of this board at one point.

I got in an argument with my ex once in front of our friends and called her needy and neurotic, boom I have broken this law because she then cried and replied in a very un-dignified manner. The fact that she called me a bastard and whatever name under the sun is totally irrelevant as with this law women have impunity.

[AqD]

Seriously, so if anyone says "go make me a sandwich", he gets arrested for 1 year and gets fined 1000 Euros?

Yes? I couldn't imagine any well-educated person would say something like that, treating others like servants.

[Phier]

Yes? I couldn't imagine any well-educated person would say something like that, treating others like servants.

I'm very well educated and I like a good sandwich myself.

why are you defending the killing of your stepchildren?

¿argle bargle glop glyf?

[AqD]

I'm very well educated and I like a good sandwich myself.

It's the way people ask.

[Phier]

It's the way people ask.

Actually, no, its the way people react.

The trick to ending sexism isn't to "educate" males on to not do something. The way to end it is to educate the females on how to handle it. Words only have power if you let them have power over you. Thats why as a white male, its rather hard to insult me over my white maleness. I might get angry that someone is trying to insult/offend me, but only for the effort, not for what they actually say. There is no N word for us white devil cracker honkies, because we don't react to it.

Its a juvenile insult followed by a juvenile reaction to said insult.