February 1, 1966 marked the entry into force of the “Loi Foyer” (Household Law) of July 13, 1965, through which France finally broke with centuries of marital guardianship by allowing married women to open a bank account without their husband’s permission. This milestone was not just about opening a checkbook: it marked the legal birth of the modern woman. Let’s take a look back at an emancipation that transformed the face of the world, from Paris to New York to developing countries.
While the figure of the housewife became dominant in the 1950s, the 1960s blew up the shackles of the traditional wife of the time. In 1965, this liberation of women in France came about through the possibility for the “weaker sex” to open a bank account without their husband’s consent. This was a real revolution for women who were confined to domestic tasks at a time when the contemporary Pater Familias (a legacy of ancient Rome) ruled the household with an iron fist.
1965: the end of “obedience” and the triumph of the Law of the Home
Before this turning point, the daily lives of French women were governed by the Napoleonic Civil Code of 1804. Article 213 was unequivocal: “The husband owes protection to his wife, the wife obedience to her husband.” Married women were effectively legally incapacitated, treated as minors incapable of managing their own affairs without the veto of their husbands, the “head and administrator” of the joint estate.
Under the impetus of Jean Foyer, then Minister of Justice, and thanks to the pen of jurist Jean Carbonnier, the law of July 13, 1965, blew up these old pillars. It brought about three major revolutions. First, banking and salary autonomy: women could finally open an account in their own name and hold a salaried job without their husband’s permission. Second, the reform of matrimonial regimes: the system changed from “community of property and acquisitions” to “community reduced to acquisitions.” The dowry system, a vestige of an era when husbands enjoyed their wives’ property, was abolished. And finally, commercial independence: women could now run a business separate from that of their spouse without the latter being able to oppose it.
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Featured photo: © Todd Trapani
