Parisian Women Can Put On Pants
Published: February 6, 2013 (Issue # 1745)
French Minister for Women’s Rights Najat Vallaud-Belkacem has repealed a law dating from 1800 banning Parisian women from wearing trousers in public places, Interfax reported, citing French media.
The minister said the rule was “incompatible with the principles of equality between men and women that are written into the constitution, as well as France’s European engagements.”
The historical law allowed women to wear trousers only upon obtaining special permission from the city, or in the event that they were riding a horse or a bike.
Under the law, women wearing trousers could in theory be detained by the police. Although the law has not been enforced in recent decades, women’s rights activists have been attempting to have it revoked for some time.