Miss France 2024 pageant winner Eva Gilles fired back at critics after being the first woman to win the competition with a short hairstyle.
In an interview with The Independent, Gilles, 20, from Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern France, defended her appearance following her victory on Saturday.
“We’re used to seeing beautiful Misses with long hair, but I chose an androgynous look with short hair,” she told the U.K. newspaper.
Additionally, Gilles declared, “No one should dictate who you are.”
“Every woman is different, we’re all unique,” she continued.
This came after users on X, formerly known as Twitter, expressed their disapproval of Gilles’ pixie cut in French.
“Did we just have a woke Miss France or what?” one user wrote in the caption of a video of Gilles being crowned.
Another user wrote, “From now on Miss France must be tasteless, not necessarily ugly but above all not too beautiful, so as not to embarrass or even complexify Miss everyone. Woke universalism still on the move to expand the desert.”
“Sad decadent era,” the user added.
However, one user defended Gilles and applauded the judges for their decision.
“Eve Gilles, a woman with short hair wins miss france (sic) and the tabloids get angry saying the judges have gone ‘woke’ as her hair isn’t long. i (sic) feel they’ve gone with a fabulous 80/90 vibe and a look that is strikingly different from the other woman,” the user shared.
French politician Sandrine Rousseau also came to Gilles’ defense.
“So, in France, in 2023, we measure the progress of respect for women by the length of their hair? That I understand,” she stated.
A spokesperson for Miss Universe issued a statement to People regarding the pageant’s diversity.
“There is no one way to be Miss Universe or Miss France, and we embrace every look that comes across our stage. We represent the times, and being your confident unique self is the one thing we see being reflected in all of our winners,” they said.