The activists of “Osez le féminisme” began legal proceedings in October 2021, from a labor law perspective, against the election of Miss France, which they consider “sexist”.
After a first hearing in June, which did not lead to any decision because the industrial tribunal advisers could not agree, the arguments of the two parties were again presented on Friday during a “deciding hearing ” (presided over by a magistrate).
“Osez le féminisme” maintains that the criteria for participation in this show – broadcast this year on December 17 on TF1 – are discriminatory with regard to labor law, because they require candidates to be at least 1.70 m tall and to be “representatives of beauty”.
The association also disputes the nature of the legal link between the organizers and the candidates: since last year, they have signed an employment contract with the production of the show, as “models”.
The activists believe that this contract should begin not three days before the election, but from the regional selections.
Before the judges, the president of the Miss France Society, Alexia Laroche-Joubert, maintained that this question did not fall within her competence because she was only responsible for the national election.
She also justified the size criterion imposed on candidates by the fact that they must wear “designer dresses” not designed for small sizes.
After the hearing, Ms. Laroche-Joubert refuted in front of the journalists that the election of Miss France could be qualified as “sexist”. It is thus no longer required of candidates that they be single and childless, because “it is their personal life”, she underlined.
Those who criticize the competition “want to be talked about”, she castigated. “They don’t have to govern morality. When you think you can decide for women, I find that unacceptable, I call it censorship,” she added.
For Fabienne El Khoury, one of the spokespersons for “Dare feminism”, it is necessary on the contrary “to open a debate” on the election of Miss France. “Can we still put women in competition on sexist criteria, on unrealistic diktats and injunctions in 2022? Society no longer wants that, it’s getting old-fashioned,” she told AFP. the AFP.
The outgoing director of the Miss France society, Sylvie Tellier for her part judged maternity once again on Friday “incompatible with the agenda of a Miss France”, during a press conference of the Miss France society in Paris.
However, the rules of the competition have evolved under the leadership of Ms. Laroche-Joubert, the competition now being open to women over 18, with no maximum age limit, including those married and/or with children. Visible tattoos are also now allowed.
The beauty contest welcomed for the first time this year a transgender candidate in Ile-de-France and a young married mother in Alsace. None was selected for the final election, which will be held in Châteauroux.
Of the 30 contenders for the title, three are 26 years old, the highest age in the history of the beauty pageant.
