The French are proud of Madame Liberty who can be found in most French towns alongside the inevitable Place de la Revolution and the Place de la Republique an interesting contrast to the UK where I am yet to find a ‘Constitutional Monarchy Square’!
Madame Liberty represents the spirit of the French Revolution (various revolutions actually, 1789, 1830, 1848, 1871, 1968) and I have always thought how magnificent it would be if England could have a more exciting national symbol instead of the frumpy Britannia! It’s an interesting fact however that when the French built the Statue of Liberty for the USA they made sure that she was more discreetly attired!
Have Bag, Will Travel 
I love the idea of woman/lady/female symbolising liberty – I think every country should have it 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Can you just imagine what our modern day Fundamentalists would be doing to the poor lady if she hadn’t been more modestly attired? Seems our Puritan heritage lives on.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh heavens, yes. If Lady Liberty had shown up topless, the Americans would have even more reasons to complain about the French. They complain enough as it is, so I’m glad for the bolts of cloth.
LikeLike
The French revel in their liberty but interestingly although exposed breasts were considered acceptable trousers were not.
A law prohibiting women wearing trousers was introduced in 1800 because French revolutionary women started to take the whole ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ thing far 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.
The ministry of women’s rights only finally proclaimed the edict unconstitutional in February 2013 when it declared:
“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.”
LikeLike