Controversial film director Roman Polanski has claimed that the birth control pill has had a ''masculinising'' effect on women, reported The Daily Telegraph.
Polanski also said that the levelling of the sexes was ''idiotic'', a report on the British newspaper's website said.
The 79-year-old director made the comments on Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival.
He told reporters that the contraceptive pill had ''changed the place of women in our times'' and complained that ''offering flowers to a lady'' had become ''indecent''.
Polanski was convicted of having sex with a minor in the US in 1977.
He was initially indicted on six felony counts but pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse. He later fled the US, fearing additional prosecution.
Polanski is restricted in travel by an Interpol arrest warrant in effect in 188 countries, but moves freely between Switzerland and France.
He was released from Swiss house arrest in 2010 after the government refused a request by the US that he be deported.
On Saturday, Polanski attended the premiere of Venus in Fur, which examines the subject of gender and stars his wife, Emmanuelle Seigner.
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