As in other walks of life, the French army practices full equality of the sexes and women can be front line troops fighting alongside their male counterparts. Todays image illustrates that women are indeed fully accepted as equals - witness this soldier who was having difficulty removing the bayonet from his assault rifle. Did he turn for help to the male colleagues on either side of him? He did not - he turned for help to the female colleague behind him.
This image was taken after the Remembrance Day mass at Paimpont Abbey and the laying of the wreath at the War Memorial: the troops were being stood down and needed to remove the bayonets from their rifles.
There's so much to study in these two images. The facial expression are so interesting. The one soldier's eye is definitely on you as you take the picture. (just above the gal's hand in the lower image)
