Europe 1 with AFP 3:22 p.m., December 17, 2022
This Saturday evening, the Miss France 2023 competition is being held near Châteauroux.
During this 93rd edition, the selection criteria were expanded for the 30 candidates, who will try to succeed Diane Leyre.
The objective of these novelties is to shatter several taboos in order to modernize the beauty contest.
Tattoos, marriage and age limit: the Miss France competition, the 93rd edition of which is being held this Saturday evening near Châteauroux, has decided this year to smash several taboos to modernize a popular but often criticized beauty contest.
Thirty regional misses will attempt to succeed Diane Leyre, winner of the 2022 edition. Aged 18 to 26, the candidates come from a variety of backgrounds: medical, tourism or business students, physiotherapists, make-up artists, nurses, etc. then, only women between 18 and 24 years old, having no children and measuring at least 1.70 m could claim the envied title of Miss France.
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New for candidates
If the minimum size remains, the competition decided this year to broaden its selection criteria.
It is now open to all women over 18, with no age limit, including married women, with or without children.
A rule that even applies to transgender women, "from the moment the candidate has a female civil status", specifies Alexia Laroche-Joubert, new president of the Miss France society.
Last June, a transgender candidate, actress Andréa Furet (20), ran for Miss Paris, where she came second runner-up.
Another innovation, visible tattoos are now allowed.
"The terms of the competition which have changed are only a reflection of current society", explains to AFP Cindy Fabre, Miss France 2005 and new director of the competition.
"Rare are the girls who are not tattooed. We had to adapt to that".
In addition, "you can also be a mother and compete. It's all a question of organization", believes Cindy Fabre.
"Dads also have a more invested role than before. We take all this into account".
An idea contested by Geneviève de Fontenay, 90, "Miss of Misses", for whom motherhood is incompatible with the schedule of a beauty queen.
A still slight revolution
The relaxation of the criteria has obviously not yet revolutionized the manners of the competition.
If two of the 30 candidates competing on Saturday are tattooed (Miss Languedoc and Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais), none is a mother and the three oldest are only 26 years old (Miss Lorraine, Miss New Caledonia and Miss Picardy).
The association "Osez le féminisme" is not more convinced by these developments, "a stroke of white paint on a moldy wall" according to its spokesperson Fabienne El Khoury.
The association has initiated proceedings before the industrial tribunal of Bobigny against the "discriminatory criteria" of the Miss France contest.
The decision is expected on January 6.
On the form, the evening, presented live on TF1 by Jean-Pierre Foucault and Sylvie Tellier, should remain the most classic, with tables inspired by the great successes of the box office, like "Titanic", James Bond or Amélie Poulain.
The 15 finalists will be announced during an Oscar-style sequence.
The jury chaired by Francis Huster will notably bring together judo champion Clarisse Agbegnenou, producer Dominique Besnehard and singer Kendji Girac.
Prevented, the singer and humorist Camille Lellouche will be replaced by the actress Bérangère Krief.
The finalists will be decided 50/50 by the viewers and the jury at the end of the evening.
Over seven million viewers watched the contest live last year.