Laura Maggi, Lauren Odes and the prudes

Some people need to get a life: their excess of prudery must play havoc with their digestion and other vital bodily functions. Two heartrending stories caused me to take another look at what seems to become a problem even in the so called enlightened societies. To start with, the story of Lauren Odes:

This pure and innocent woman (I wonder whether she is a natural blonde) has gone through an serious ordeal, just for being... er... full figured:

A woman is suing the lingerie company where she used to work over claims she was fired for being 'too hot'. Lauren Odes, 29, said today that managers at Native Intimates - which is owned by Orthodox Jews - told her to wear baggy clothes and suggested she tape down her breasts.

But the prudes who fired her will get their legal comeuppance:



Well, at least Ms Odes wasn't hired for her photography talents, because her self-portrait attempts are somewhat lacking in quality, as could be seen:

Maybe, after all, she is a natural blonde... no matter, with time and fame her skills will surely improve.

A somewhat similar case is tearing apart a peaceful Italian town:

Now women in the small northern Italian town of Bagnolo Mella have declared Le Cafe out of bounds to their menfolk – and 34-year-old Miss Maggi has become a national celebrity.

Yesterday she was a guest on the Italian equivalent of This Morning and said: "I don’t see what the problem is – it’s just a bit of harmless fun. If the guys come here what can I do? I know I have upset the women but that’s not my problem. It’s not my fault if guys want to come and have a drink in my bar."

Here is the delicious delightful Ms Maggi:

Now you can easily see the logic of her statement, I hope.

But of course, prudes are not amiss in Italy, too:

Bagnolo’s mayor Cristina Almici said: ‘We have received several complaints from women about the bar and we are looking at what we can do with regard to public order.

‘There has been a huge influx of traffic into the town since the news of Laura started to spread and this has led to incidents of bad parking and some minor acts of vandalism.

‘We can’t stop people from going to her bar and I know it is very popular with men in the town – personally I don’t see any problem with how she looks or dresses.

'If anything, it’s the men who go there who have a problem.’

Now take this:

She added, however: ‘My husband is certainly not allowed to go there.’

Emphasis mine. Of course. Here is the Bagnolo’s mayor Hon Cristina Almici:

Yeah, well, we report, you... er ... disport. For a more in-depth investigation of Laura Maggi - related issues, check out this.

So, we have seen two kinds of prudes and hypocrites who make the life of Ms Maggi, Ms Odes and many others difficult: religious righteous males and jealous married women.

Isn't there a match made in heaven that was missed by fates?