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 After the jump, some more archaic lady laws that need to be repealed pronto.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]

After hearing the appeal of a man who was caught using his mobile phone while driving and fined $350, a German judge is making the argument that this shouldn’t be illegal in the first place. In his ruling, Judge Albert Bartz wrote that if it is against the law to use a phone while driving, shouldn’t other dangerous activities be illegal, too? Examples he cited included masturbating or typing on a computer that’s sitting on the passenger’s seat. Sure, there have been studies proving telephone use while driving, especially texting, can lead to accidents, but there are a lot of other dangerous activities we engage in behind the wheel that aren’t illegal unless they distract you and cause an accident. After the jump, 10 things that aren’t illegal to do while driving but should be. [Spiegel Online]

Laws are supposed to protects us, but when the government decides to get in our pants, some crazy stuff goes down!  Here are some actual sex laws truly for the record books!

After last week’s post about proposed legislation in San Francisco that would decriminalize prostitution and our poll that indicated that 73% of you not only supported decriminalization but legalization as well, we decided to take a more in-depth look at both. After the jump, we break down the differences and the pros and cons of both. There may be a soap box moment from yours truly as well.

Storytime! Over at Feministing’s newly relaunched site, a teenage user on their new community board recounts a story of trying to buy a pregnancy test with her best friend at a drug store and being refused because of her age. When the teen presents the fact that she legally has the right to buy a pregnancy test despite being “underage”, the drugstore teller tells her she shouldn’t be having sex in the first place. After much back and forth the teens were finally able to procure the test, but only after a teller in his late-teens allowed them. This is why a person’s personal beliefs on sexual activity shouldn’t be a factor when they’re on the job. Oh and the teen wasn’t pregnant in the end, thank goodness. [Feministing]

Jenn Thompson at Mental Floss is on a roll! After yesterday’s “Origin of Wedding Traditions” article, today she’s got a follow-up on wedding laws that are still on the books. Would be guilty or not guilty of these ridiculous crimes?
1. In North Carolina, it’s against the law to check into a hotel room pretending you’re married. But what about all the harmless husband and wife role-playing games? Verdict: GUILTY.

By now you’ve probably heard about Michael Buday, the guy who wanted to take the last name of his wife, Diana Bijon, when they married in California. It took two years, a sexual discrimination suit, and a change in California law before he was able to do so. While women have an easy time taking their husband’s last name, there is no place on the marriage license application, and driver’s license, for the groom to choose the bride’s surname. Clearly, this is ridiculous and there’s not much more to say about that, except good for Mr. and Mrs. Bijon for taking their fight all the way. But it got me thinking about the notion of changing your last name in marriage anyway—is this something guys would actually consider? I posed the question to the guys on my IM and, needless to say, they probably won’t be taking your last name anytime soon. Check their responses, after the jump.

Australia has always seemed like a cool place to me, and now, in the gay community, it’s going to be a little bit more awesome (but just a little). The government said today that it plans to remove discrimination against same-sex couples from 100 or so laws. Under the proposed changes, gay couples in long-term relationships will be treated the same as other couples, as far as taxation, welfare and employment entitlements, and other areas, Attorney General Robert McClelland said. However, there are no plans to allow same-sex marriages. Come on, mate, why not? [Bloomberg]