Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Archaic laws
Britain still has a number of archaic laws on the statute book so it ill-beholds us to mock others for their own out-dated statutes. Still, I was not aware that it was until recently illegal for women in Paris to wear trousers and nor it seems did the many women who have been unwittingly disobeying this law for decades.
The Independent says that after 213 years, it is now official, the most disobeyed law in the French capital, except stopping for red lights, has been declared null and void:
Since 7 November 1800, it has been technically illegal for a woman to wear trousers in Paris without a police permit. Just over a century ago, exceptions were introduced for women riding horses or bicycles. Otherwise, the by-law remained in force. Any woman wearing slacks, a trouser suit or jeans could, in theory, be “arrested and taken to police headquarters”.
The ministry of women’s rights has finally proclaimed that the edict – applicable in Paris, not the rest of France – is unconstitutional.
The ministry said in a written statement: “Ruling Number 22 of Chief of Police Dubois of the 16th Brumaire of the year nine (7 November 1800 in the revolutionary calendar), entitled ‘ruling on women cross-dressing’, is incompatible with the principle of equality between men and women enshrined in the constitution.”
The by-law appears to have been introduced because French revolutionary women started to take “liberty” too seriously and demand the right to perform men’s jobs and wear men’s clothes. The law was last applied in the 1930s when the French Olympic committee stripped the French athlete Violette Morris of her medals because she insisted on wearing trousers.
Apparently, the law whereby you can shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside Chester city walls after midnight has also been rescinded.
The Independent says that after 213 years, it is now official, the most disobeyed law in the French capital, except stopping for red lights, has been declared null and void:
Since 7 November 1800, it has been technically illegal for a woman to wear trousers in Paris without a police permit. Just over a century ago, exceptions were introduced for women riding horses or bicycles. Otherwise, the by-law remained in force. Any woman wearing slacks, a trouser suit or jeans could, in theory, be “arrested and taken to police headquarters”.
The ministry of women’s rights has finally proclaimed that the edict – applicable in Paris, not the rest of France – is unconstitutional.
The ministry said in a written statement: “Ruling Number 22 of Chief of Police Dubois of the 16th Brumaire of the year nine (7 November 1800 in the revolutionary calendar), entitled ‘ruling on women cross-dressing’, is incompatible with the principle of equality between men and women enshrined in the constitution.”
The by-law appears to have been introduced because French revolutionary women started to take “liberty” too seriously and demand the right to perform men’s jobs and wear men’s clothes. The law was last applied in the 1930s when the French Olympic committee stripped the French athlete Violette Morris of her medals because she insisted on wearing trousers.
Apparently, the law whereby you can shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside Chester city walls after midnight has also been rescinded.
