10 Ridiculous Lady Laws That Are Still On The Books

Posted by: Ami Angelowicz Filed in: news
3:30PM, Wednesday November 18th 2009

Comments (40)

Even though Paris is the fashion capitol of the world, it is still technically against the law for a woman to wear pants there. Someone should tell the police quick … they could have made a killing during Fashion Week. But seriously, how crazy is that? This ridiculous law has survived years of attempted upheaval. In 1892, the law was amended to say that trousers were permitted “as long as the woman is holding the reins of a horse.” In 1909, female cyclists were declared exempt. After a couple more attempts over the ages, I guess the ladies (and police) forgot the law even existed and went right on ahead breaking it by proudly rocking their pants. That got me thinking. What other crazy kinds of laws are there that we don’t even know about? Wait for this one. I discovered that here in New York a woman can incur $25 fine for flirting! Oops … I broke that law like a million times. After the jump, some more archaic lady laws that need to be repealed pronto. [Newser, Dumblaws]

Are you a chocolate lover like me? Well, don’t ever go to the U.K. It is illegal for a lady to eat chocolates on a public conveyance. Anyone know what a conveyance is?
In Kentucky, a woman may not buy a hat without her husband’s permission. In the home state of the Kentucky Derby? An outrage!
Hide your vibrator if you live in Georgia. All sex toys are banned. Banned I tell you!
We all know it is rather impolite to leave your housecoat on while driving. That’s why it’s illegal in California.
Mothers in Ohio, you may want to stay home all the time if you have a hungry baby. It’s against the law to breastfeed in public.
It pays to stay single in Turkey, where all married women must get their husbands’ permission if they wish to have a job. They must also live wherever the husband wishes to reside, and they must forfeit all jointly held assets upon divorce from their husbands. Sign me up!
The kind people of Oklahoma don’t want your hair to look like crap. That’s why females are forbidden from doing their own hair without being licensed by the state.
The state of Massachusetts supports sex … as long as it’s done missionary-style. A woman cannot be on top during sexual activities. Wait … can they sneak into your bedroom and arrest you? Now that should be illegal.

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Tags: feminism, paris, laws, pants

Comments (40)

comments

lostrun
wrote on November 18 2009 @ 03:34 pm: [report]

Public conveyance = train, bus, cab..

jambadreamer07
wrote on November 18 2009 @ 03:40 pm: [report]

How about this one:

In New Orleans it is illegal for more than 5 unrelated females to live together. This law, which is still enforced, was meant as an obstacle to brothels, which are still a problem in New Orleans. But it is now most notably the law that outlaws sorority houses and prevents more than 5 college friends from living off campus together. I know this because I go to Tulane and I hear my friends bitch about housing discrimination in the University part of town.

ohhfoggylullaby
wrote on November 18 2009 @ 03:44 pm: [report]

I thought they repealed the law against women wearing pants (and men wearing dresses) in the 70s, when it was rediscovered on the books and quickly taken off. Apparently they simply forgot it was there and stopped enforcing it a while ago, but i could be mistaken

lalaland
wrote on November 18 2009 @ 04:45 pm: [report]

Georgia would have that law still on the books… Someone should tell the Atlanta police!

Lynn
wrote on November 18 2009 @ 05:31 pm: [report]

Sorry, that law about not being able to buy a hat in KY isn’t true! I read that too but when I mentioned it to my family at a bridal shower everyone shot me down. A couple people had read an article in the paper about it not being true and why it became a rumor in the first place (I forget why) and my cousin was also in law school at the time and they discussed the fact that it wasn’t true in one of her classes (this was a couple weeks before Derby time so it was on everyone’s minds!)

mrcash
wrote on November 18 2009 @ 05:41 pm: [report]

@jambadreamer07

So Tulane doesn’t have dorms? Or women can’t live in them? I see you said off campus so maybe you just mean off campus sorority housing, either way a dumb law which does more harm than good.

oppositeofzen
wrote on November 18 2009 @ 05:42 pm: [report]

All of the sex shops in Georgia get by on a small technicality. On every wall there is a sign saying that all of the toys are novelties and are not meant to beuse. I think it might say that only a physician or medical person can use one as well, but I can’t remember.

Sphinx
wrote on November 18 2009 @ 06:29 pm: [report]

Jam-its the same in Kenosha, WI

theattack
wrote on November 18 2009 @ 08:05 pm: [report]

Tennessee has the same law about women living together, but I don’t know how many women constitute a “brothel” by their definitions. Women’s dorms are okay for some reason, but not sorority houses. I’m not sure how that works.

In Dyersburg, TN it’s also illegal for a woman to call a man for a date.

karmine
wrote on November 18 2009 @ 09:27 pm: [report]

lmfao, these are really messed up!

Lexington
wrote on November 18 2009 @ 11:20 pm: [report]

I think there’s a reverse one for men in New York, where if they get caught hitting on/checking out a woman 3+ times, they have to wear blinders in the streets. No joke.

sjnkwtz
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 12:27 am: [report]

In D.C. there is a law stating more than 6 women can’t live together because then it would constitute a brothel…

40yrolddad
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 06:20 am: [report]

I don’t know if this one’s still on the books but I remember an issue of Tennis magazine from the 80s had a little article on strange tennis-related laws some places had & it said it was illegal for a woman > 200 lbs to wear a tennis skirt in Athens, GA. personally, if I were such a woman I’d LOVE to get cited for that one just for the lawsuit you could file!!!

fireflyeyes
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 06:42 am: [report]

Many of those are funny in a “oh, that’s so old fashioned and silly” kind of way because they aren’t really enforced. Mostly they are clearly outdated and just were never repealed. I really don’t think the one in Turkey goes with the others though, since its something that really happens to women there all the time and ruins their lives and isn’t funny at all. The Ohio breastfeeding law isn’t funny either, if enforced.

This list should either be just for fun, outdated old fashioned laws, OR seriously terrible sexist laws that actually currently impact women’s lives. Mixing the two is just confusing and seems to make light of the really bad ones!

bogart4017
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 09:12 am: [report]

These are interesting conversation pieces but totally unenforceable. How are Boston police going to arrest you? Do they just happen by your bedroom window one night when your wife is riding your pony?

Perceptible
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 10:48 am: [report]

I was reading some old NY laws that say it is illegal and punishable by law for a woman to cheat on her husband, but not for a husband to cheat on his wife! (I believe cheating was defined as “having an affair.”)

It would be an interesting exercise for each state to “scrub” their existing laws to get rid of these ridiculous ones. In the meantime, they’re very amusing. I’d love to see someone get arrested for a consensual (non-missionary) sexual position! That’s a riot!

indianagirl
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 11:05 am: [report]

Kentucky isnt REALLY a state anyways, its a Commonwealth… Those people are touchy when you say “in the state of Kentucky” they say. NO NO NO Commonwealth….

Kai29
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 04:30 pm: [report]

Good point fireflyeyes!

aquamarine
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 05:01 pm: [report]

@jambadreamer & others: the brothel-sorority legend is one of the oldest and most widespread on campus. It happens to be untrue though. Snopes debunks it with a special mention to Tulane. http://www.snopes.com/college/halls/brothel.asp

DancingGeek
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 07:10 pm: [report]

Note to self- Don’t move to Boston.

Legal Eagle
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 07:27 pm: [report]

In the state of Missouri it is illegal to have oral sex.

Legal Eagle
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 07:33 pm: [report]

Two doozies from the state of Arkansas according to dumb laws dot com:

1. A school teacher who bobs her hair cannot get a raise.

2. A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month.

tigerstripe
wrote on November 19 2009 @ 11:03 pm: [report]

No joke, my boyfriend actually did just move to Boston. Guess I’ll just make a mental note to close the blinds.

Mystere
wrote on November 20 2009 @ 01:47 pm: [report]

Any position that isn’t missionary is illegal in Alabama!

And they obviously don’t enforce the sex toy law in Georgia - my roommate knows the guy who owns a big chain of sex shops. Anyone heard of Starship?

bronzebuttercup
wrote on November 20 2009 @ 04:34 pm: [report]

@jambadreamer07

There is a law like that in Pennsylvania - and presents a real problem with sorority houses… although if the sorority was established before the law was passed then they can remain and the girls can be housed together. I don’t know if the number is the same but it’s the same idea.

powplz
wrote on November 20 2009 @ 04:43 pm: [report]

@bronze - yep, I don’t think they really enforce it there though. My brother’s ex and her roommates’ landlord made them sign separate leases because of it, and there were only 4 of it. Stupid stuff!

However, after having lived by myself, in the dorms, with one roommate, and with 5 roommates (plus me, 6 people total), I wouldn’t recommend having that many roommates regardless of whatever archaic laws on the books may or may not present a problem.

dawnie999
wrote on November 21 2009 @ 12:08 pm: [report]

In the UK if a pregnant woman is in the town center and needs to pee she is legally allowed to pee in a police mans hat.

CJ1432
wrote on November 21 2009 @ 04:52 pm: [report]

In my town their was a law that said women couldn’t cross the street by themselves. It got taken of the books a couple of years ago when someone discovered it. My friends and I teased a cop friend of ours at a party when it was still around. We kept running across the street a dared him to try to catch us all.

Anna12
wrote on November 21 2009 @ 05:26 pm: [report]

@jambadreamer07 - I go to school in Connecticut and we have that law too! Its so annoying. Although I think the law here is phrased no more than 5 females living together in a house that contains alcohol. But still, that means there aren’t any sororities, and yes, we too cannot have more than 5 female friends living together off campus. In my home state, Michigan, you cannot have more than two unrelated parties living together in a house. Gahhh all so ridiculous.

Barbara
wrote on November 23 2009 @ 11:48 am: [report]

In Boulder, CO it is illegal to wear a Red Dress on the Pearl Street mall.

NotSoTweetOne
wrote on November 24 2009 @ 02:13 am: [report]

So now I need to make a list of states etc… that I can’t visit or better yet maybe I will visit just so I can break the law…Hmmm Missouri isn’t that far away…lol

Here’s 3 really dumb laws from towns in Illinois:

1. Kirkland,IL = Bees are not allowed to fly over the village or through any of Kirkland’s streets. (how on earth do you explain this to the bees? I may just go ask the village President since I live less than 10min away and my sis lives there…)

2. Champaign,IL = One may not pee in his neighbor’s mouth.(eeewww!How much of a prob was this that it’s even on the law books?)

3. Chicago,IL = It is forbidden to fish while sitting on a giraffe’s neck. (I again wonder how much of a prob this was…lmao)

Have a good one!

evinJane
wrote on November 24 2009 @ 07:02 am: [report]

every dorm room is a separate residence, thus excluding them from that law. not sure why a sorority house counts as one residence, since they sign the same kind of contracts that dorms use.

323Felicity
wrote on November 24 2009 @ 12:28 pm: [report]

You can’t have sex in Florida:

800.02 Unnatural and lascivious act.

A person who commits any unnatural and lascivious act with another person commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. (from idiotlaws.com)

Guess I’m in trouble, then.

elizajane
wrote on November 24 2009 @ 04:54 pm: [report]

Until 2003, most states had laws that made sodomy illegal, which is defined as anything that is not straight up female-male intercourse, i.e.,oral sex was illegal. The Supreme Court saved the day in 2003 with Lawrence v. Texas.
In Virginia, adultery is still a crime.

Lynn
wrote on November 25 2009 @ 01:46 pm: [report]

@323Felicity - I’m pretty sure sex is natural, so it is not unnatural AND lascivious, so hump away!

develange
wrote on November 27 2009 @ 11:57 am: [report]

For some reason, MA has held on to all these crazed Puritan laws and attitudes. But apparently, so have many other states.

I heard that until a few years ago, it was illegal to get tattooed here. Now pretty much everyone here is tattooed.

Well, let’s just say that I’ve broken MA laws many, many times, and have yet to be caught…

Countess Mariska
wrote on November 27 2009 @ 08:32 pm: [report]

I just want to hear the session in the Massachusetts legislature when they were debating that missionary style law…

symone
wrote on December 9 2009 @ 09:38 pm: [report]

@jambadreamer07: That law where a certain amount of women can’t live together is valid in AZ too, except you only need three unrelated women instead of five to be considered running a “house of ill refute” (or a whore house).

No sorority houses on ASU campuses…just sorority apartments. Strange…isnt it?

spark
wrote on December 9 2009 @ 09:43 pm: [report]

That last one isn’t on the books anymore! It is invalid after Griswald v. CN, Eisenstadt v. Baird, and Lawrence v. TX! They CAN’T just come in your bedroom and arrest you!