Amid a month of public strikes, French women are cheering a pair of announcements that seem less than revolutionary. President Jacques Chirac says he is going to close their gender pay gap and for the first time women can give their child their surname.
So what's taken France so long? Is this proof that the French are behind the times when it comes to Equality?
French journalist Cathrine Guilyardi and Dr Hanna Diamond, senior lecturer of French History and European Politics at Bath University look at the issue.
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