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MISS FRANCE

‘Sexist, corny…’ but the French love Miss France

Despite being labelled sexist and corny around eight million French TV viewers tuned in to watch the annual Miss France beauty pageant at the weekend, with the winner once again heralding from the north.

'Sexist, corny...' but the French love Miss France
Photo: AFP

France’s second regional election of December was not quite as controversial as the first, but almost certainly more popular.

While the first poll was all about Marine Le Pen wooing a record number of voters wearing her National Front sash, the second was all about 22-year-old Iris Mittenaere (see photo below).

Heralding from the north of the country Mittenaere, a dentistry student, was crowned Miss France 2016, making it the second year in a succession that an entrant from Nord-Pas-de-Calais has scooped the title.

The beauty pageant attracted eight million TV viewers on Saturday, proving it remains as popular as ever, although some have voiced opposition.

In an editorial on the Nouvel Observateur website, celeb journalist Caroline Parlanti said: “Seriously, how can we allow such a sexist and misogynistic contest to be broadcast on prime time television on Europe’s top TV channel?”

“No really, Miss France is so corny.”

The longevity of Miss France is in contrast to the story of beauty pageants in other countries which were either ditched after TV ratings plummeted or after they were slammed for being sexist and outdated. 

There have been some recent controversies that have dogged the competition, such as when a black community rights group accused it of being “too white”.

So why is it that so many French people are drawn to a beauty contest that objectifies women in a country where “égalité” is supposed to be a fundamental principle?

There is the fact that it's essentially reality TV, a format that always seems to guarantee a certain amount of success these days, but another argument is that many in France can simply relate to the young women taking part.

“The contestants are often from modest rural backgrounds, they represent a certain simplicity and authenticity,” Paris university professor François Jost, a media specialist, told L'Express magazine.

Michel Le Parmentier who organized the Mini Miss contests for teenage girls, which were recently banned in France, rejects the idea the competitions are sexist.

“Beauty pageants are a way of giving someone back the confidence they may have lost,” Le Parmentier said.

“There’s no chauvinism behind the competitions, there are even feminist groups that organize pageants,” he said.

Sylvie Tellier, former contestant and now director general of Miss France said: “Miss France is a reflection of the French people. She will be invited to a lot of television shows and it would not serve us well if we elected someone who does not at least know what's going on around her.”

Muriel Trueba, president of Comité Miss France, an annual non-televised beauty pageant, told The Local that part of the attraction of Miss France was that the competition stirred feelings of regional pride, that run deep in the country.

“The French are very attached to traditions and especially to their regions,” said Trueba. “The competition is mostly for entertainment, but people want to support the girl competing for their region and want to see her win.”

As for the winner, well Miss France will now get to tour the word as the “ambassador of French elegance” as one website put it.

Last year’s winner Camille Serf travelled around 200,000 kilometres to show off her crown and at the same time picked up a salary of around €3,000 a month.

She’s also be given an apartment in the chic 17th arrondissement of Paris, not far from the Arc de Triomphe.

She’ll also be bestowed with gifts worth around €100,000 from various sponsors, including an electric car, dresses and jewellery.

And she will also fly the flag for France in next year’s Miss World and Miss Universe contests.

It might be corny but the French are still in love with Miss France.

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MISS FRANCE

OPINION: In the year of #MeToo it’s time for the French to switch off Miss France

Eight million French people will watch Miss France on Saturday night but surely in the year that Harvey Weinstein's scandalous behaviour emerged and the #MeToo hashtag took over Twitter, it's time the annual degrading beauty pageant was confined to history, writes The Local's Evie Burrows-Taylor.

OPINION: In the year of #MeToo it's time for the French to switch off Miss France
Photo: AFP
Every year the Miss France contest draws in an astounding eight million viewers.  
 
And the final for Miss France 2018, which will air on Saturday night, is set to attract just as large an audience as previous years despite the spotlight on feminism in 2017 thanks in no small part to the women who exposed Harvey Weinstein.
 
Somewhat worryingly, the longevity of the French competition, now in its 88th edition, is in stark contrast to the story of beauty pageants in other countries, which have either been ditched after TV ratings plummeted or after they were slammed for being sexist and outdated.
 
But it isn't just the competition that's the problem, after all the people behind it aren't forcing millions of people to tune in. 
 
READ ALSO:
Miss France contest ridiculed for dedicating beauty pageant to women's rights Photo: AFP
 
One of the most bizarre aspects of the Miss France phenomenon is how much coverage it gets in the mainstream press. 
 
Some of France's most respected publications and news sites — including those that proudly exposed the stories of sexually abused and harassed women who came forward as part of the #MeToo and #BalanceTonPorc (Squeal on your pig) campaigns — dedicate article after article to the contest.
 
It's not just the articles that make you feel like you have travelled back to the 1950s, but also the photo galleries published in almost every media site that give readers a chance to check out each contestant.
 
This year these slideshows of swimsuit wearing women with beaming smiles sit alongside stories of French actresses accusing Harvey Weinstein of abuse and rape, exposés on harassment in the workplace and articles with stats on the number of women who expect to be groped when they get on the Paris Metro or who have died under at the hands of their partners. 
 
One of France's two newspapers of record saw fit to do a gallery on the contestants in their swimsuit (see below). 
 
 
And another of the country's major newspapers Le Parisien somehow thought it was a good idea to put their gallery of the contestants in the women's section La Parisienne
 
Who knows? Perhaps the people running these sites are choosing not to see the link between the way Miss France reduces its contestants to objects to be pitted against one another and the way women are regularly reduced to sex objects in their everyday lives. But it's more likely they don't care.  
 
One group in France that has drawn a connection between Miss France and the position of women in society at large are the organisers themselves. 
 
Miss France: Why 8.5 million French tuned in
Photo: AFP
 
National director of the competition Sylvie Tellier, who won the title herself in 2002, provoked ridicule when she said this year's “ceremony will be an opportunity to denounce violence against women during an hour of prime time television.” 
 
But this is nothing short of a cynical attempt to offer a salve to a problem that they themselves are contributing to. Trying to legitimise what is essentially a chance to watch women strut around in swimwear and judge them on their appearance with a nod to feminism is laughable.  
 
Unsurprisingly French feminist group Osez le Feminisme is no fan of the competition either.
 
“Sexism against women is still in the majority and its is supported in many ways including this way of valuing women as objects rather than subjects,” spokesperson for the group Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu told The Local. 
 
To find out just how backward the pageant is, look no further than the guidelines contestants must adhere to if they want to compete. 
 
Contestants should never have been married and have no children. They should not have had any plastic surgery, visible tattoos or piercings and they should not have ever posed partially or completely naked. Several contestants have fallen foul of  that rule in the past and have lost their crowns as a result.
 
Miss France: Are we really still doing this?
Photo: AFP
 
So it seems the ideal “role model” for women should be someone who is untouched and unblemished and hasn't been sullied by previous ogling eyes, that way they're fresh for the audience of Miss France. How modern!
 
 
Clearly there are issues to be addressed in terms of how France sees its women. 
 
And in a year that has seen a wave of women around the world, including in France, show strength and solidarity in coming forward to denounce the aggressors in their lives, the country needs to acknowledge that Miss France is a part of its past, not future.