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Don't Touch
Italy's highest court of appeal has ruled that it is a criminal offence for men to touch their genitals in public.
This, naturally, is of great concern for guys in the republicana italiano. We do not have to go way back in time to discover in the city of Naples when it was not considered untoward to show a mark of demonstration to the opposite sex that everything was all right.
It is not clear whether women in Italia are in agreement or disagreement with this judicial verdict. (It may depend on which cantina. There has been no national poll so far).
Superstitious or not, it is known that men of Italian origin believe that it is traditional to ward off bad luck with a quick grab at what are called their 'attributi'. (English translation: Family jewels). Especially when they see a hearse before them in the street.
There is a scene in the film 'The Godfather Part III' where the actor Andy Garcia portraying an Italian-origin mini-Mafioso has a clutch at his nether region.
All we can say is that it has been a judement day for an age-old tradition.
