Paris: for policewomen, little makeup and flesh-colored tights

In the police, can a woman on duty wear black tights? The answer is no. Brown ? The answer is no. Striped ? The answer is tirelessly no.

Another question: in the police, can a woman go to the hairdresser for a balayage with bluish highlights? Trendy “tie and dye” hair color? A gradient in the neck, Iroquois style? The answer is no...

In recent days, a note from the Prefecture of Police (PP) irritates. It comes from the DSPAP (Direction de la sécurité de near de la agglomération Parisienne), the largest service in the PP, which brings together 18,900 police officers. Rather mostly men because there are only some 27% women.

A new note that takes up an old order

In this note that we were able to consult, the director of the DSPAP, Valérie Martineau, brought out a sixteen-year-old decree (July 23, 2004) fixing the composition and the description of the service uniform of the agents of the national police in Paris. and in the three departments of the inner suburbs (Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne).

Valérie Martineau, patron of the DSPAP, and the police chief Didier Lallement. LP / CC  

This dress code mainly targets women even if the male gender is subject to a few instructions including one on “plain, black or navy blue” socks and the other on the hairy side: “Mustaches and beards must be carefully trimmed. and maintained. ”

Earrings yes, but discreet

Among these instructions for women, there is the jewelry component: "Only small discreet earrings, pinched or pierced, not dangling, are tolerated."

For the hair, make-up and nail polish part, "fanciful colored hair should be avoided" and "make-up of the face and nails can only be tolerated if it remains sober".

Finally, it was the tights that moved the most: "Women wearing skirts can only wear transparent, flesh-colored tights." "We are not flight attendants", Nathalie gets angry (the first names have been changed) , police officer of the DSPAP.

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“We do not know why this note is coming out now, annoys his side Natacha, another peacekeeper from a Paris police station, aged 30. We are no longer in 1950! It's downright old fashioned! ”

"We embody the institution"

"When you wear the uniform, defends on the contrary a police commissioner, on condition of anonymity, you have to embody the institution." The senior woman official, who rejects the sexist dimension of the subject, puts forward safety instructions. "Dangling earrings during an arrest is not a good idea."

And defends "the dignity of the office. Everything is codified. Not long ago, I ran into a policewoman on duty wearing pink quilts: it's not serious. ”

For the Parisian feminist lawyer Caroline Mecary, who pleads on issues of sex discrimination and intervenes at the European Court of Human Rights, “the world of law enforcement is a manly world, where the feminine is perceived as an intrusion ”.

Recruitment poster from 1979: 51 women join the National Police Instruction Center to gain access to "a man's job". DR  

In France, it was not until 1960 - against 1914 in Great Britain - to see the first female cops. And 1978 so that the competition of peacekeepers is open to them.

"These instructions are from another time," continues the lawyer. It is out of step with current society, completely above ground. ” And to wonder: "What does it mean in 2020 to give makeup instructions to women?" ! We ask them not to disturb the men? Does that imply that they are provocative? What are flesh tights on black skin? "

"Republican authority"

At the police headquarters, we defend this "reminder of the rules already in force". "Impeccable and uniform dress is part of the requirement that is expected of the police officers who represent the republican authority."

If the PP puts the focus on “rules legitimately justified by the safety of the police officers during their interventions”, on the other hand, it does not pipe a word on instructions considered, in its ranks, discriminatory for the women.

Recruitment poster of the police headquarters from 1970. At that time, the police headquarters recruited women for parking not too old (40 years maximum) and not too small (1m55 minimum). DR  

“This umpteenth reminder of the rules is quite simply infantilizing, tackle for his part Yvan Assioma, head of the union Alliance police nationale pour l'Ile-de-France. At the moment, in the police station, we need more support from our hierarchy than instructions on sticky and make-up. ”