Women In Paris Can Wear Pants After Ban From 1800 Is Lifted
From the archive: published Feb 4, 2013, 13 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Paris, France – Women in Paris can wear pants again after the French government lifted a 213-year ban. Viva la progress!
The original law banning women from wearing trousers in the French capital was recorded in the Official Journal of the French Senate on November 7, 1800. The law was introduced by French revolutionaries as a security measure to prevent women impersonating men, reports Digital Journal. Specifically, women were to ask police for special permission to “dress as men” in Paris. Failure to do so could see them taken into custody.
Down the years, slight revisions have been made to the quirky law . In 1892 and 1909, the rule was tweaked to permit women to wear trousers “if the woman is holding a bicycle handlebar or the reins of a horse.”
Since then, the law has remained rigidly in place (while obviously being widely ignored) despite numerous attempts to repeal it. Officials argued that the unenforced rule was not a priority and formed part of French “legal archaeology.”
However, as of last Thursday, the law is gone, and women in Paris can wear pants once again. On January 31, France’s minister of women’s rights Najat Vallaud-Belkacem made it officially impossible to arrest a woman for wearing trousers in the French capital.
Ms. Vallaud-Belkacem’s action followed a public request from Alain Houpert, a senator and member of the conservative UMP party, in July 2012. Mr. Houpert argued the “symbolic importance” of the law “could injure our modern sensibilities” and asked that the minister lift the ban.
Ms. Vallaud-Belkacem concurred with the request and in a January 31 statement wrote:
“This ordinance is incompatible with the principles of equality between women and men, which are listed in the Constitution, and in France’s European commitments. From that incompatibility follows the implicit abrogation of the ordinance.”
All of which means women in Paris can wear pants again without fear of imprisonment. Congrats, womankind!
NOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!! RT @ byrontau French finally repeal 1799 decree banning women from wearing pants. bit.ly/USQ1Ln
— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) February 4, 2013
THIS. CHANGES. EVERYTHING. RT @ theatlantic It just became legal for women to wear pants in Paris theatln.tc/XG7tBj
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) February 4, 2013