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The Miss France 2024 pageant has ended in bizarre controversy after the contest chose a winner with short hair for the first time in its 103-year history.
Pixie cut-sporting contestant Eve Gilles, 20, from Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern France was crowned the winner of the pageant on Saturday night, and declared that it was a positive result for “diversity” in the competition.
“We’re used to seeing beautiful Misses with long hair, but I chose an androgynous look with short hair,” she said. “No one should dictate who you are… every woman is different, we’re all unique.”
There were plenty of people celebrating the choice of winner online, pointing out the Ms Gilles follows in a rich tradition of short-haired French fashion, from Mistinguett to Coco Chanel.
But others called it a “woke” choice on the part of the contest’s jury, with one user on X attempting to argue that the result was based “no longer [on] beauty……
