Labor Court in France decides Miss pageant is not discriminatory

French justice rejected this Friday (6) the lawsuit of a feminist association that took the Miss France pageant to a labor court for considering “discriminatory” the conditions of recruitment of candidates.

The association Osez le féminisme (‘Dare feminism’, in free translation) denounced the organization of the pageant in October 2021 for the clauses that were then imposed on candidates, such as measuring at least 1.70 meters, being single or representing “beauty”. “.

Although the court declared itself competent to study the process, the case was dismissed, informed the association, which considered the decision “intolerable”, capable of “perpetuating a discriminatory and illegal hiring process.”

Osez le feminisme, which does not rule out appealing the decision, has also contested the legal link between the contest and the candidates, who since last year have signed an employment contract as “models.”

For activists, contracts should start from the regional selection of candidates, not just three days before the national election.

In its 2019 annual report on sexism in France, the Higher Council for Equality between Women and Men, a government advisory body, called the pageant an “archaic caricature”.

In November, the president of the Miss France Society, Alexia Laroche-Joubert, denied to journalists that the election of Miss France could be considered “sexist” and denounced an attempt at “censorship.”

Although the height criterion is maintained, the last edition, in 2022, brought changes: the maximum age limit of 24 years disappeared, candidates can be married and transgender women can also participate.