Mexican men are widely known as being sexist swine, and they have a history of tormenting Mexican women on public transportation: the government reports that 65 percent of women in the capital city have been sexually harassed on buses or trains

The latest foray into civilizing the lecherous Mexican man is the installation of “penis seats” on the Mexico City Metro, which is supposed to send a message of awareness, or something.

Below, Mexico City commuters find the penis seat to be. . . odd.

The current social experiment is not the first. I reported in 2006 that the Mexican government produced TV spots showing sex dolls in the workplace to make the point that women are not sex objects (Sex dolls fight Mexican machismo, BBC). That media campaign seemed rather unclear in its message, to be kind.

My understanding of psychology is that edgy art presentations don’t change behavior, but immediate negative reinforcement does. Why couldn’t the Mexican government give women commuters free pepper spray and tasers? There’s nothing like associating an unwanted behavior with a swift pain: that sort of training works.

Women-only buses were gratefully received in Mexico when introduced in 2008, but there were only a few, and having a separate safe bus system for women is probably unworkable.

Unfortunately for America, Mexico is the largest contributor by far to our diverse gaggle of immigrants, particularly the illegal variety. Twelve million was the number of actual immigrants as of 2014, and that doesn’t count the many millions of cultural descendants.

The BBC reports that the new seat “sparks debate” but debate doesn’t normally change behavior, does it?