November 24, 2009
Guru doesn't have a lot of time for our Gallic cousins across the Channel. Or as Grounds Keeper Willie from The Simpsons calls them, 'cheese-eating surrender monkeys'.
But Yours Truly has warmed to them slightly after it emerged a law banning Parisian ladies from wearing trousers is still in existence. The rule was first introduced in 1800 by Paris' police chief and has survived repeated attempts to repeal it.
In 1892 it was slightly relaxed thanks to an amendment which said trousers were permitted "as long as the woman is holding the reins of a horse". Very sensible. Then in 1909, further watered down to allow women in trousers on condition they were "on a bicycle or holding it by the handlebars".
Guru believes this is just another excuse for old-school bosses to force those fruity French mademoiselles to wear a dress or a skirt to work and show off their legs. Ooh la la, c'est bon!
However, as Evelyne Pisier, a law professor whose book Le Droit des Femmes (The Rights of Women) unearthed the legal oddity points out, given that trousers are compulsory for Parisian policewoman, they are all breaking the law.
But Yours Truly has warmed to them slightly after it emerged a law banning Parisian ladies from wearing trousers is still in existence. The rule was first introduced in 1800 by Paris' police chief and has survived repeated attempts to repeal it.
In 1892 it was slightly relaxed thanks to an amendment which said trousers were permitted "as long as the woman is holding the reins of a horse". Very sensible. Then in 1909, further watered down to allow women in trousers on condition they were "on a bicycle or holding it by the handlebars".
Guru believes this is just another excuse for old-school bosses to force those fruity French mademoiselles to wear a dress or a skirt to work and show off their legs. Ooh la la, c'est bon!
However, as Evelyne Pisier, a law professor whose book Le Droit des Femmes (The Rights of Women) unearthed the legal oddity points out, given that trousers are compulsory for Parisian policewoman, they are all breaking the law.
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