{"id":761257,"date":"2025-09-09T09:22:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T09:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/?p=761257"},"modified":"2025-09-09T09:29:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T09:29:04","slug":"lebanese-mp-wants-to-officially-decriminalize-shorts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/en\/761257\/lebanese-mp-wants-to-officially-decriminalize-shorts\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanese MP Wants to Officially Decriminalize\u2026 Shorts"},"content":{"rendered":"

In case you needed a reminder that Lebanon is full of bizarre laws collecting dust in the archives, here\u2019s a gem: back in 1941, under the French Mandate, a decree was issued banning women from wearing shorts and other \u201crevealing\u201d clothes in public. <\/p>

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Can you imagine if this was enforced? They\u2019d have to free up four Roumiehs to lock us all up.<\/p>

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The law went further than just shorts. It also banned two-piece swimsuits and required clothing to cover from the neck\/chest down to the legs. Violators faced a fine of 250 Lebanese-Syrian pounds<\/strong>, a defunct colonial currency.<\/p>

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Fast forward 84 years later, and MP Mark Daou has just proposed scrapping that colonial-era decision altogether. Because technically, on paper, Lebanese women are still prohibited from wearing a pair of denim cutoffs. Though some of the ripped shorts on the market can only be described as criminal…<\/p>

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