Eve Gilles is 20 years old, studies mathematics in Lille and has just been voted the most beautiful woman in France. However, not everyone likes that because she wears her hair short. In the event’s 103-year history, no woman whose hair was not long had ever been honored.
Many of the approximately 7.5 million viewers who watched the election on television feel cheated out of a “classic” beauty queen and are bothered by the “androgynous” appearance. Gilles is said to be far too feminine, “the opposite of a beautiful woman.”
She is also ridiculed on social networks: one picture shows French President Emmanuel Macron (45) with Gilles’ photoshopped hairstyle.
The 20-year-old, who grew up near Dunkirk and whose parents come from La Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean that belongs to France, is clearly taking the excitement in stride. In her performances she wants to promote the “image of the diverse woman”: “I want to be a woman who dares to break the codes.” And: The crown would also look “very good” on her short hair.
Valerie Hader
