Looking at today's modern streets, women have more freedom to dress, whether it is fairy skirts or sassy and smart pants, all of which show their self-confidence and excellence.
It is hard to imagine that the women comrades who did not have a high status in the past were aggrieved under various rules and regulations, and that the women of our old Chinese society also experienced a dark period when they were forced to be conservative.
And in France 224 years ago, lesbians were bound by a ridiculous rule, that is, the "ban on trousers":
Women are forbidden to wear long pants, and those who want to wear pants must first go to the hospital to get a certificate and then apply to the police station for the record, otherwise they will face imprisonment.
The incident was so outrageous that in 2013, when France repealed the ban and said that "women who wear trousers for violating the law in Paris shall not be arrested", it caused an uproar and people found it hard to believe that this was happening in a developed country.
What was the cause of this absurd regulation, and what kind of psychological damage did it cause to French women at that time?
The strange aesthetic concept of the old French society
Before talking about the "trouser ban", let's first talk about the social situation in France around the 17th century, especially the period when the patriarchal society was in power, what kind of strict regulations existed.
At that time, the men of the French upper class had a uniform dress code and took pride in it, and their suits were all the same.
And the pants are even more "special" - they do not extend to the ankles but only to the men's knees, and below the knees are stockings, called "trousers", which are very different from today's men's trousers.
And what kind of clothes did the upper-class women wear? Most of them wore very fluffy long skirts, layered on top of each other.
Although it looked noble and charming in the eyes of the aristocracy, it was a "burden" to the women themselves, because it made it very difficult for them to move.
Everyone must be curious: if it is so inconvenient, why do women still tend to pursue tutu skirts, excessively slender waists, and corsets?
In fact, this is one of the manifestations of the patriarchal society in France, for men at that time, women were their private property, and only the complicated skirts with the above obvious characteristics could reflect the weak and beautiful body of women, and they were considered "normal women" by men.
For a man with a wife, the more complicated and inconvenient the wife's dress, the better, in addition to restricting her unscrupulous activities and affecting her appearance, it also reflects the wife's dependence on her husband.
Under such standardized conventions, European girls pursued the "ultimate in beauty" at a very young age, that is, they used crazy corsets as a benchmark to cater to men to make themselves beautiful women with extremely thin waists.
This is very similar to the ancient behavior of "binding small feet" in the mainland, which will cause irreversible damage to women's bodies.
At that time, many women in Europe, especially those of the aristocratic class, suffered heavy physical injuries under this perverted aesthetic, either pelvic deformation or death in childbirth......
Men were not allowed to wear casual and flexible trousers, and if there were "troubled women" wearing trousers, they were regarded by foreigners at the time as a sign of immorality, which was considered to be an outrageous performance of the image of a lady.
In addition to aristocratic women, who were not allowed to wear men's trousers, the common French people, both men and women, had no access to the trousers worn by men, so this dress feature was also recognized by the society of the time as a sign that distinguished them from the commoners.
At that time, the French aristocracy also used the "sans-culottes group" to jokingly refer to the poor people.
Of course, this absurd class distinction underwent a dramatic shift with the advent of the French Revolution.
"Why should they wear sans-culottes and mock us for being lowly people?"
With this in mind, the revolutionaries began to rebel against the arrogant and domineering aristocracy, who became the targets of the revolution, and the "sans-culottes" became the representatives of justice in an instant, and they were basically male rebels.
The men, who later became known as the "sans-culottes", wore red conical hats that symbolized freedom, shirts and trousers, and thick clogs on their feet.
Although men played a major role in the battle for "trouser honor", female revolutionaries who were also not weak also participated.
This group of women played a crucial and important role in the revolution, and in 1789 they stormed the Palace of Versailles, France, and drove the king and the Constituent Assembly out of the palace.
At this point, the French aristocrats at that time fled to Paris like lost dogs to find another place to live.
Women's freedom to wear trousers slowly develops in the midst of hardship
It can be said that the French Revolution coincided with the beginning of the importance of women's rights.
Women in trousers, who are seen as "rebellious" by men, claim the same rights as French men, not be treated differently!
However, despite the strong role of women in the revolution, their demands were not adopted and supported.
"How can women wear trousers! While we recognize their revolutionary contributions, we will not agree that they will wear trousers as freely as we men do, and roam the streets with impunity. ”
In this way, French men feel that their position is threatened and challenged.
There are also some extreme thinkers who even disdain women in pants and say that they "exude blood."
But some women in France are still working hard without fear of power, and they have indeed won a little hope for themselves.
In 1789, France adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which emphasized that all human beings are born free and equal, and also provided for the equal status of men and women.
In 1793, there was also a women's political organization called the "Women's Citizens' Club" in France, whose members were very active in the front line, preaching equal and autonomous women's rights to the masses.
But all this still does not make men change their view of the female body, and they still despise the great women.
This is manifested in the French parliament's firm denial of women's right to vote, believing that they are nothing more than a weakling, emotional person who needs to be protected, and a subordinate property of men, so they should not be involved in the political affairs of the country.
The question of whether women can wear trousers has been the subject of debate in parliament.
Later, Napoleon's rise to power dealt another blow to French women.
Napoleon, like many French men, shared the same view of "male supremacy", so he took measures to suppress the vigorous feminist movement.
On November 17, 1799, he staged the "Coup d'état", which was forcefully suppressed by feminist advocates, and the police chief of Paris subsequently issued the absurd decree "prohibiting women from wearing trousers in Paris".
The severity of this decree has made the majority of French women even more indignant:
It stipulates that if a woman must change to wear trousers, she must obtain a permit issued by the police, and this permit is not easy to obtain, and must go through a series of certificates issued by a doctor.
If a woman wears pants without permission, she could face jail time!
Since then, French women have been completely deprived of the right to wear long pants, and all their previous efforts have been in vain, and they have to continue to wear empty skirts on the streets.
Fortunately, in the second half of the 19th century, with the invention of women's shorts, French women were able to wear intimate clothing in groups.
The change is still moving slowly at the insistence of women, and although the law is essentially imprisoning women's behavior and restricting their desire to wear long pants, it cannot stop their courageous steps in their pursuit of freedom.
For example, the French feminist writer Georges Sand, after obtaining a license for trousers, did not hesitate to disguise herself as a man to shuttle through various events, and even stepped into those gatherings where women were forbidden to participate without changing her face.
Madeleine Perle, a female psychiatrist, also deliberately dressed in men's clothes, carried a cane, wore a top hat and took handsome photos.
Another female intellectual, Emilia Janck, in the face of social pressure and countless abuses, designed a Turkish-style women's trousers so that women would no longer always wear the traditional body-threatening tunic skirts.
The absurd ban changed with the war situation
While women are brave enough to express themselves, there are also some unbelievable absurd measures against women wearing pants in French society, the most obvious is that France has arrested female celebrities who wear pants into the police station.
Of course, there have been many women who have "challenged" the outrageous law and traveled in pants, and all of them were sent to court for trial.
And the American actress Marlene Dietrich violated the "trouser ban" because she was wearing long pants and was sent to the police station by the French in 1932.
At that time, France seemed to want to announce the stern decision of "arresting violators regardless of their professional status, but only men and women" in this way, with the intention of "setting an example for chickens and monkeys" and "setting an example".
But Marlene Dietrich was not afraid of this ridiculous rule, and when she was taken away, she still held her head high, confidently showing everyone a sassy suit, which was admired by French women.
As a result, she was quickly released due to popular protests.
For women in the upper class, the "ban on trousers" may only be annoyed by "not being able to match their own clothes", but for women at the bottom of society, it is like an iron chain that imprisons the whole body.
You must know that they not only eat, drink and have fun on weekdays, but also have to work often, and wearing long pants is undoubtedly more convenient for movement.
In this way, the discontent of the masses is further stimulated.
At the time of the second industrial revolution, female workers in Europe and the United States of all occupations became more and more fond of wearing trousers.
In order to facilitate the work of this group, Brummer, a female clothing reformer from the United States, also specially designed the popular "bloomers", which are more practical and comfortable for female workers to wear.
At this time, there were still some ultra-conservatives in society, who jumped out and angrily criticized the women in the pantsuit.
However, the widespread development of industrial power has made such voices insignificant and incapable of competing with the wave of women's freedom of choice.
After the outbreak of the First World War, French women have worn trousers to adapt to the changing battlefield situation, and they are often active in the front line of war or logistics work, making great contributions, and gradually being recognized by the society as a daily behavior of wearing pants.
There is no doubt that the occurrence of the two world wars has further promoted the awakening of women's sense of autonomy.
Only in the 21st century can "dress freely", which makes people think deeply
However, the ban on trousers has not yet been lifted until this time, but the good news is that it is a dead law.
Especially after the 20th century, more independent women preferred to wear pants to work outside the home rather than stay at home and only wear skirts as housewives.
In 1968, when the "May Storm" broke out in France, the famous female historian Dubesse, who was still a student, wore American jeans in a grand manner.
Ironically, even the female police officers walk the streets of Paris with their pants on, and none of them are punished by the ban.
This means that the "trouser ban" has become a null and void, and the former opposition has turned a blind eye to it, and no longer excessively restricts women's dressing.
However, as long as the law is not lifted, it will still be a pimple in the hearts of French women, and they have repeatedly asked for the abolition of this "pendulum order", but the strange thing is that the chief of the Paris police always refuses this proposal, and the reason is impossible to guess.
In 2003, another parliamentarian wrote to a French cabinet minister asking for a complete repeal of the trouser ban, but the minister's reply was this: "Wouldn't it be more effective to stop using them than to interfere by amending the law?"
The implication is that no one is following the ban in the first place, so there is no need to waste more time on it.
That being said, the law of modern society is not a matter of time after all, it means that although women wear pants are reasonable, they are still illegal, which means that women in pants are not allowed to walk on the streets of Paris with psychological burdens.
Nine years later, in 2012, another parliamentarian persistently proposed to the Minister of Women's Rights to repeal the ban, and he even said that this matter was very serious, saying that if the law is not repealed, it will affect the process of modernization and development, and will also regress human society to a more primitive and unfavorable stage.
The Minister for Women's Rights, Belkasan, gave his final approval.
On January 31, 2013, France officially announced the abolition of the ban on trousers, and Parisian women finally ushered in the freedom to "legally wear trousers".
This unreasonable law, which has lasted for more than 200 years, was not completely repealed until the 21st century, and there have been countless twists and turns in the process, which makes people have to think deeply.
It seems to be to restrain women on the weak side in clothing, but in fact, clothing was used in the feudal era to distinguish people, and when an unreasonable regulation becomes something that people agree with and Xi observes, that is the most terrible existence.
It means that the ruling class has succeeded in "brainwashing" the common people into willingly acquiescing in this behavior.
Finally, we have to admire the pioneers who fought for the legitimate rights and interests of women, and it is because of their efforts that the status of women in France and even in the world has been effectively improved!