According to Conservative mayor, Gabor Mitynan, it’s a “yes,” but the condition attached is that you must have “perfect” legs.

Mitynan, who runs a wealthy district of Budapest in Hungary, reckons only female City Hall staff with “pretty legs” should be allowed to wear short skirts. He also wants the city to legislate on stocking thickness, depending on the time of year. The men, meanwhile, would have to swelter in blazers all year round.

The mind boggles at how it would be decided whether a person’s legs were good enough. Would Mitynan be personally designing the barometer of “prettiness”? Personally, I think the workers should all band together (regardless of gender or the state of their legs, according to Mitynan) and stage a mini-skirted protest.

I originally found this story on Netscape and feministing. The last I heard about the issue was that Mitynan’s proposals were to be discussed this month but unlikely to be passed by the city assembly because most of Budapest’s 23 districts are Liberal or Socialist. Since then, nothing has been reported. Does anyone out there have a link that sheds any light on the subsequent discussion?

Posted by Holly Combe on 30 September 2005, at 11:50 AM