Miss France pageant accused of going ‘woke’ for crowning beauty queen with short hair

They weren’t feeling like Miss Congeniality. 

A bizarre argument broke out at the Miss France beauty pageant, after an “androgynous” contestant with short hair won for the first time on Sunday night.

Eve Gilles, 20, from Nord-Pas-de-Calais in France was crowned by previous winner Indira Ampiot as 7.5 million TV viewers tuned in over the weekend.

The Dunkirk-born Gillies made history as the first winner in the pageant’s 103-year history who does not have long hair, since she sports a pixie cut.  

However, not all viewers agreed with this choice. 

After the judges chose Gilles as Miss France 2024, there was an uproar. 

“Miss France is no longer a beauty contest but a woke contest which is based on inclusiveness,” one user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“She doesn’t look anything like a Miss France,” another angry viewer slammed, according to the Daily Mail.

“We don’t care about her haircut but the ­androgynous body is obviously there to serve as woke,” another person said. 

The pageant winner is chosen half by a public vote and half by a jury. Gilles came in third in the public vote, but she was pushed into first place thanks to the panel of judges.

Politicians even got involved in the argument. 

According to the outlet, MP Sandrinne Rousseau said, “So, in France, in 2023, we measure the progress of respect for women by the length of their hair?”

Another MP, Karima Delli, wrote: “Big support for Ève Gilles, #MissFrance2024, in the face of hateful tweets on social networks of incredible violence! Swallow your venom, she is not only superb, Miss Nord pas de Calais is intelligent in embracing her diversity!”

Far-right politician Marine Le Pen also posted, “Congratulations to Eve Gilles, Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais who becomes our new Miss France!”

“We’re used to seeing beautiful Misses with long hair, but I chose an androgynous look with short hair,” Gilles said, according to the outlet.

“No one should dictate who you are. Every woman is different, we’re all unique,” she said. 

She also told a local paper that she’s used to being “body-shamed,” and initially was “too small” to meet the Miss France requirements – since contestants are required to be at least 5.57ft (1.7m) but she was only 5.56ft.

She claimed she “regained the missing millimeters through stretching.”

A picture first published in her local paper, La Voix du Nord (Voice of the North), shows her dressed up as a beauty queen as a child. 

“I dreamed of being a Miss since I was little,” she said. However, when photos were published of her in a swimsuit during a location shoot in Guyana, she noted: “I was hit by a wave of body-shaming.”

“I stopped looking at these comments saying that I am thin, that I have no shape, this thing, that thing. Being criticized about my hair doesn’t bother me, I chose it like that and I can change it.”

French-American actress Beatrice Rosen, 46, also defended Gilles. She posted on social media.

“I understand that there is a real ambient fed up with the wokism that they are trying to make us swallow 24/7, BUT, in the same way that we can criticize a religion but NOT the faithful, I find the sometimes nasty criticisms regarding Eve unfair and counterproductive. I was and still am an admirer of the singular beauty of Audrey Hepburn, Linda Evangelista, or Jean Seberg, all 3 very thin with short hair, and who nevertheless are female icons who have been adored in the whole world,” she said, sharing photos of Hepburn, Evangelista, and Seberg. 

Other viewers shared photos of short-haired icons from earlier decades, such as Hepburn and ‘60s model Twiggy, sarcastically remarking, “Short hair: ‘woke’ since at least the sixties,” and “Audrey Hepburn 1953. Woke.”

“There’s a backlash against the winner of Miss France because she has short hair which apparently is “woke.” Wtf is that about, women having short hair is fine and doesn’t make them any less attractive and isn’t a new thing either!” one viewer commented, concluding, “World has gone mad.”