Via The Daily Bell,

A Belgian court fined a man €3,000 ($3,700) for telling a female police officer that she should do a job more “adapted to women.”

It is the first time that anyone has been convicted of sexism under a new Belgian law.

The driver was found guilty of three charges: contempt of a police officer, making threats and sexist remarks in public, and a serious violation of another person’s dignity because of her gender. He was warned that if he failed to pay the fine, a prison term of a month would be imposed. “This is the first time we have used this law to prosecute someone,” said Gilles Blondeau, spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office. “It is quite common for people arrested by the police to insult and threaten. But to personally blame a policewoman because of her sex is different.” … Under the law, any behaviour expressing “contempt towards a person, because of their sexuality” or treating a person as “inferior or as reduced essentially to their sexual dimension“, which entails a serious attack on their dignity is punishable by up to a year in prison and/or a fine.

Some men are rude. Some men say mean things. They shouldn’t do that.

[ZH: we strongly suggest Silvio Berlusconi avoid Belgium]

But how weak must people be when they need a law to protect their feelings? It is almost as if some women think they need the state and their guns to protect them because women are unable to protect themselves.

That is an actual sexist attitude. It seems to suggest women are too frail to fend off mere words.

A strong self-assured woman would not need the law to retaliate against men who insult or offend her.

The fact that this criminalizes speech against a public official is even more concerning.

It doesn’t matter how rude, nasty, or offensive someone is, the right to free speech is more important.

You don’t have to play by the rules of the corrupt politicians, manipulative media, and brainwashed peers.