You can't yell theater in a crowded fire...

Neat-o. Seriously, great article; I just couldn't resist pointing that out because I found it to be hilarious.

Do we really want the gov't to protect us from feeling uncomfortable in public?

Because the old ladies who dash into the train holding their umbrellas like a lance, the crackheads, the people who had scotch and fried onions for breakfast, the preachers and the rest of the stoners and losers, well they just come with the scenery. I have a female relative who either is insane or just acts insane and she rides the train growling at people and talking to herself. The fact that she's a well dressed attorney is just more disconcerting.

Love it!

It tends to insure that people will leave you alone--maybe not the truly crazy (who are not pretending to talk to themselves), but the annoying ones who want to tell you about Jesus or grope you.

Anyway, I find a brazen stare right back helps. Anyone?

"jokes about airport security while going through a hijacking"

Yeah after a few minutes of those jokes, I'd just push the guy out in the aisle and see what happened. Come on, I'm trying to get religion here before I die and I don't need you cracking jokes about minimum wage guys working the checkpoint.

The usefulness of comparing Italy's laws with those of the US is limited.

Believe it or not, Italy has a different culture than we do. Just because some people might find that a hostile stare back at an ogling man is a good tactic here, doesn't mean you should try it in Italy.

(I wouldn't try that, by the way. Italian men tend to take any kind of attention at all as an encouraging signal.)

It's very clear that many laws are written for the comfort of women. Look at the sexual harrassment laws....outside of quid pro quo, the laws were written for female comfort.

It's worth noting that that 10 day jail sentence was suspended.

Of course, that 40 euro fine is really going to hurt.

I could have lots of gay guys arrested for giving me the gay "stare."

does anyone have the right to tell someone else where they can point their eyes? Maybe in the future everyone should wear portable brain monitors so that their thoughts can be monitored and corrected. After all thoughts have consequences and can affect other people indirectly.

I have a female relative who either is insane or just acts insane and she rides the train growling at people and talking to herself. The fact that she's a well dressed attorney is just more disconcerting.

One of my best friends from college grew up in the Bronx and she told me her strategy for keeping safe on the subway was to use body language to convince everyone around her that she was way, way crazier than them.

He was testing her boundaries by staring. He wanted to see if he could make her act afraid. If she did act fearfully, he'd move in.

I find that big sharpened knitting needles usually runs off those kind of mashers.Yeah, I've jabbed some bus and DC-Metro mashers with sharpened knitting needles before. They are legal. They are also very effective. Seriously, how can anyone sane claim that knitting a scarf is enticing?

It's not about comfort. It's about safety.

All the comedy aside, the arrest of anyone for looking at someone too much or too long is a dangerous precedent and no one should be supporting it in even the mildest way.

Of course Mr. Hannaham does try and justify the arrest at the same time he doubts its rightfulness by suggesting that the arrested man may have been sending telepathic messages with his eyes along the lines of 'I will kill you' or 'I will rape you', but those are some rather absurd hypothetical thoughts to be placing in the mind of a man none of us knows anything about. Golly, why are men constantly being painted in such barbarous terms?

Perhaps the woman who was being looked at could have just asked the man what he was looking at, why he was looking at it and if he wanted anything from her, but any of those actions might have actually solved the problem -of course, once again, somehow we all consider it normal and appropriate that the woman's reaction should instead be irrational fear, even hysteria. Isn't it terrible that we are not surprised that the woman would become scared out of her mind instead of just ignoring the man or asking him what he wanted?

I just hope people being afraid does not eventually lead to others being prosecuted for thought crimes, because that is what we're talking about here. How awful that it might some day be illegal to "maybe be thinking about raping or killing".

Are you or Manjoo planning to ever make a Broadsheet post asking when the other Broadsheet contributors-- not to mention the ladies on the Broadsheet blogroll-- are planning to make-good on their "equality" agitation by trying to sign-up for Selective Service?

I agree with many of the posters here--people can look at me all they want, long as they don't touch. After all, I look too. Omigod, what if my female gaze suggests to delicate men, "I want to use your sperm to impregnate myself and take half your paycheck forever." Terrifying! But let's agree to give up some "comfort" for mutual freedom.

Ladies and gentleman, I give you the winner of this week's No Shit, Sherlock? Award

Rasheed Wallace was ejected from Game 1 of the 2000 NBA Finals for LOOKING AT THE REFEREE.

When looking is a crime, only criminals will have eyeballs. Dude... wait, what?

Just wondering about the fact this case took place in Italy, where superstitions about the evil eye have had surprising longevity, since Roman times. Of course, it's no longer literal, but wonder about an atavistic aversion to an unwanted gaze. And of course, it's very creepy and rude, esp threatening to a woman, of course.

Reminded of the injunction recently against another superstitious tradition- the very old gesture of an Italian man groping himself at the mention of death is now subject to a fine if done in public. Interesting.