In the years leading up to the adoption of the July 11, 1975, law on amicable divorce, the family model in France underwent profound changes. “We started moving away from a very rigid vision of gender roles – the father at work, the mother at home – that had been well established since the 1930s,” explained sociologist François de Singly, a specialist in family and couple dynamics at Université Paris Cité. “Women, including mothers, were entering the workforce en masse. It was the beginning of the consumer society, with a dual-income family model.”
Marriage became more egalitarian, and the constraints of married life loosened. Legislation that amended matrimonial regimes in July 1965 – finally allowing married women to manage their own assets and employment contracts as they saw fit, without needing their husband’s consent – had only been in place for 10 years.
“Before this law, marriage was an entirely patriarchal institution,” said Céline Bessière, a family sociologist at Université Paris-Dauphine. “This shift did not happen without friction. Since mothers began working, journalists spoke about children being ‘orphans’ during the day,” said de Singly.
‘The judge had to assign blame’
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