Impotent until proven guilty

As thousands of spectators shrieked with laughter, the Marquis de Langey struggled with every fiber of his being to develop an erection. He was not having fun; this sex was a test of his manhood, not a joyful romp. The Marquis de Langey knew that if he was unable to get aroused at this exact moment, everyone would find out about it: Not just the crowd howling raucously at his humiliation, but his family, his friends... every single person he knew, in fact, plus the entire nation of France on top of that. With his very identity as a man on the line, the Marquis de Langey tried as hard as he could to become aroused.

If a man was permanently impotent, it "raised doubts about whether such a person should or could benefit from the privileges and prerogatives that men enjoyed in a patriarchal society."

He failed.