
Miss India came under scrutiny, too, in 2019 for perpetuating colorism by exclusively choosing fair-skinned contestants.

In 2018, model Veronika Didusenko had her Miss Ukraine title revoked when organizers found out she was a mother. But few countries followed suit, despite an accruing number of petitions. In 2013, France decided to ban competitions for children under 16 over concerns of promoting the hyper-sexualization of minors. This is not the first time in recent years that the pageant world has been criticized for its outdated codes of conduct and culture. Suzanne Angly, Miss France 1969, posing in a bathing suit. The three applicants involved in the lawsuit against Miss France were rejected from the competition for their “age, height, drinking and smoking in public and having tattoos,” Ahrabare told CNN. “The competition rules are discriminatory: marital status, age, attitudes, choices of women, everything is subject to injunctions from another time! Candidates must be single and respect the rules of “elegance”, stop these sexist rules!” she added. Miss France and Endemol Productions have not responded to CNN’s request for comment.Īlyssa Ahrabare, the head of Osez le féminisme, wrote on social media that Miss France currently “feeds stereotypes that stand in the way of equality.” “It is high time Endemol Production finally removes all sexist clauses from its regulations.” “Beyond exploiting women for economic gain, this contest, through the violations of the law of which it is guilty, has a negative and retrograde impact on the whole of society,” wrote Osez le féminisme in its news statement. While the mission statement of the competition is to find “the young woman most representative of beauty and elegance,” the strict registration requirements mean contenders for the crown are somewhat limited. Failing to comply could land the contestant with a 5,000-euro ($5,822) fine, according to Miss France’s terms and conditions. The application also asks for clothing size, and it requests that prospective beauty queens do not undergo any major physical changes after they are accepted into the competition.


Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Imagesįurther disqualifiers for potential contestants include wearing weaves or hair extensions, having tattoos and smoking. Miss Guadeloupe Clemence Botino is crowned Miss France 2020.
