Child beauty contests face ban in France

A provocative French Vogue fashion feature three years ago that featured a 10-year-old girl in makeup and high heels has led to a move to ban child beauty competitions in France.

Parents trying to enter their children in such pageants could end up in jail for up to two years.

Vogue defended the pictures, saying that they merely portrayed a common fantasy among young girls - to dress like their mothers.

The Vogue shoot initially failed to rouse anger in France, but it sparked outrage in the US and later prompted the French government to launch an inquiry. A conservative French senator, Chantal Jouanno, was one of those especially concerned about the magazine's cover when it appeared in 2010.

"Let us not make our girls believe from a very young age that their worth is only judged by their appearance," she said.

This week, Jouanno proposed an amendment to a law on women's rights, which was passed by 196 votes to 146 in the senate. The amendment forbids beauty contests for girls who are younger than 16.

The Vogue photoshoot in 2010 had 10-year-old Thylane Loubry Blondeau on the cover. She and two other unnamed young girls were shown wearing makeup, tight dresses, high heels and designer jewellery.

Michel le Parmentier, who has been organising "mini-Miss" pageants in France since 1989, said he was disappointed that the law involved an overall ban. He said that he had been in discussions with legislators about regulating such pageants, but he was not expecting such strong language.

In the same debate, the senate rejected an amendment that would have restricted the use of models younger than 16 to model for products or services destined for children.

Child beauty pageants have traditionally been mostly an American phenomenon and competitions across the US are regularly filmed for down-market reality shows such as Toddlers and Tiaras . Similar shows are becoming increasingly common in Europe.

The trend has attracted criticism from parenting groups and children's charities over the sexualisation of children. Advertising and marketing campaigns have been accused of promoting children as sexual objects, and some designers even sell lingerie for girls as young as four.

The controversies are not confined to child beauty contests. The new Miss America, Nina Davuluri, was subject this week to numerous cruel and racial taunts on social media platforms based on her physical appearance. She was the first woman of Indian descent to win the pageant.

And the Vogue cover from 2010 is not the only controversy regarding beauty contests in France. In August, the Miss Roussillon contest was shrouded in mystery when one of the favourites disappeared along with her mother.

Norma Julia was crowned Miss Roussillon in a contest that was given added media attention after the disappearance of Allison Benitez, 19, and her mother Marie-Josée. Weeks after their disappearance, Allison's father, Francisco Benitez, a soldier in the French Foreign Legion, hanged himself at his barracks. The two women are still missing.

Despite leaving a note claiming he had nothing to do with their disappearance, suspicions have grown that Benitez may have been involved. The suspicions grew when it emerged that a former mistress disappeared in similar circumstances years earlier.

France's media descended on Roussillon to cover a competition that was suddenly thrust into the spotlight. Because of the extra press attention, Julia's face appeared across France in newspapers and on websites.

Julia was set to represent Roussillon in the Miss France competition later this year, but has been disqualified for posing for semi-naked pictures, which is against competition rules.

The pictures "were not pornographic or erotic", according to Miss France organiser Thierry Mazars. He said the rules were strict and "must be respected".

Miss France 2008, Valerie Begue, lost her title after the publication of suggestive photos in a magazine.

Laury Thilleman, crowned Miss France in 2011, was also stripped of her title for posing for semi-naked pictures in Paris Match magazine.