Packing for Paris? Old law bans pants for women
PARIS (AP) - If it isn't already daunting enough to pack for a trip to fashionable Paris, female visitors, beware: It's illegal to wear pants.
So says a law dating from 1800 that has never been taken off the books - only relaxed to allow women the comfort of two legs when riding bicycles or horses.
French parliamentarians have occasionally pushed for the law to be set aside, and a senator from the opposition UMP party recently asked again for the government to do just that.
The Ministry for Women's Rights said what everyone was thinking last week: This law has been superseded by other laws, including the Constitution's commitment to equal rights.
But the ministry said it remains on the books "as an element of the archives kept by the Paris police."
So says a law dating from 1800 that has never been taken off the books - only relaxed to allow women the comfort of two legs when riding bicycles or horses.
French parliamentarians have occasionally pushed for the law to be set aside, and a senator from the opposition UMP party recently asked again for the government to do just that.
The Ministry for Women's Rights said what everyone was thinking last week: This law has been superseded by other laws, including the Constitution's commitment to equal rights.
But the ministry said it remains on the books "as an element of the archives kept by the Paris police."
The French are funny.
I'm all for it! I want to see them remove their pants. Â *leer*
That's funny, Paris and I have something in common - women aren't allowed to wear pants in my house, either!
Ive always said if men cant wear skirts women shouldnt be wearing pants...
 @Andy Pollow Kilts, sarongs and thawbs aside, there is no law saying that men can't wear a skirt.  It is just our Western mores that dicate that it is not "masculine" to do so.
@wsmith_84     I've always thought kilts were very masculine.....especially when the wind blows. ; )
 @The WA Mama  In other words, it's a privilege, not a right. :D
@The WA Mama That's a visual I didn't need.
@achoo2 .....depends who's wearing it! Channing Tatum - Yes! Rush Limbaugh - No!
@Andy Pollow Men can wear kilts, which are skirts! ;-)