Miss France Eve Gilles receives backlash for sporting pixie haircut, says ‘every woman is different’

Newly crowned Miss France Eve Gilles has responded to the criticism she has received for her pixie cut. Certain sectionon social media called out Eve's win accusing the judges of supporting 'wokeness' and choosing someone with an 'androgynous' look as the pageant winner.

The 20-year-old from Nord-pas-de-Calais sported a pixie cut hairstyle as she was crowned, making her the first contestant in the pageant’s 103-year history to not have long hair.

Days later, Eve Gilles responded to the backlash and stated that everyone is different.

"We’re used to seeing beautiful Misses with long hair, but I chose an androgynous look with short hair," she said following her win. "No one should dictate who you are... every woman is different, we’re all unique."

A spokesperson for the Miss Universe pageant also defended Eve in a statement to People Magazine.

"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," the statement read.

The spokesperson also added that the recently concluded Miss Universe pageant featured contestants sporting different hairstyles and that the winner, Sheynnis Palacios also had short hair.

Miss France is decided by a combination of a public vote and a jury of seven women. Though Eve placed third in the public vote, the jury’s vote allowed her to shoot up to first place.

While speaking to Euronews, the beauty queen added, “I want to be a strong woman, I want to make people realise that no matter where you start, no matter what path you take, you can achieve your goals. I want to show people that women are diverse, that we’re all beautiful, and that we’re all different and unique. I’m not unique because of my hair, I’m unique because I’m Eve.”

This year’s pageant marked the second year of the Miss France competition to have relaxed restrictions on rules and criteria to allow greater diversity among contestants. The pageant no longer has an age limit and does not bar women who are married or have children or visible tattoos.