Sep 30, 2009

Paris: Pervert Capital of the World?


And they say New Yorkers are rude...check this out from the London Telegraph

Paris may be the city of love but it is also the capital of perverts. To experience this, you simply need to be female and walk down the street. You’re almost guaranteed to get your daily dose of dirty old men and if you live on the Left Bank, you really don’t need to go far.
In the space of a few weeks, I have been propositioned by at least a dozen men. As I wait to cross the road, at Saint Michel, a man old enough to be my grandfather leans over towards me and whispers seductively in my ear: "Jolies fesses" (nice bum).
They reveal themselves in broad daylight, in public places. Strolling through the Jardin du Luxembourg on a sunny day, surrounded by pushchair-wheeling mothers and playing children, a middle-aged man standing by the open-air public pissoires, is having a quick one off the wrist.
Now you might suppose, or hope, that this is out of the ordinary behaviour yet my eyes are graced by a similar vision just a few days later. A girlfriend is in mid flow describing the "special" dance scene from Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest film, Bruno, when lo and behold, we get our own show right there on the Boulevard Saint Germain.
A respectable looking middle-aged man wearing a suit unzips himself right in front of us and pulls it out. Several similar episodes later, I start to think that maybe this is the norm here in Paris. Or is it me? Do I attract "les vieux cochons"?
I question female friends and colleagues and sure enough they all have similar stories to tell. Perhaps it’s simply that Paris is the pervert capital of the world?


Read the rest here and especially gander at one of France's male responses to this. As a man, I'm somewhat appalled and wonder how such attitudes develop? Maybe this is why the Pope likes America so much?

2 comments:

Fran said...

Hmmm... I have been to Paris 5 times in almost 30 years. I did not find it any better or worse than anywhere else.

I will say that I recall being in the Metro (Paris subway)on my first visit there in 1979 and having a bad crowded subway car incident. That said - I had similar incidents on the NYC subway in the early 80's, but not since.

I will say that my return to the RC Church (of which today is the 19th anniversary and today is the 18th anniversary of my mother Rose's death) was very much influenced by a visit to Paris in 1989. Go figure!

Ginny said...

I lived in Paris twice: once in college, once after college.

Sounds like it hasn't changed.

I have a few pretty awful stories of creepy guys who couldn't keep their hands (or other things) to themselves. It's pretty sick. The only -- ONLY! -- time I've ever said "F off" to another person was to a guy in the subway there. I won't go into the gory details but trust me: he deserved it. Worse, actually.

In spite of that, I do love the city ... too bad we can't do a pervert purge.

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