A Miss France contestant has hit back at the ‘wave of racist hate’ she’s received on social media after her north African origins were revealed.
Sabah Aib, 18, a second-year law student whose father is of Algerian descent and mother is of Moroccan origin, was crowned Miss Nord Pas-de-Calais last weekend.
Following her victory, organisers of the beauty contest highlighted how she could go on to become the first Miss France of north African origin.
However the teenage beauty, who was born in France to her French-born parents, faced ‘a wave of racist hate’ on social media afterwards, according to The Times.
Sabah, whose mother teaches French and philosophy at a school in a Lille suburb, snapped back at the trolls on her Instagram, reportedly saying it’s nothing but a ‘reflection of ignorance and jealousy’.
Sabah Aib, 18, a second-year law student, who was crowned Miss Nord Pas-de-Calais last weekend has hit back at racist trolls after receiving abuse on social media
She said: ‘My name is part of my identity and it has nothing to do with my nationality. France is a multicultural country and having a name that comes from elsewhere does not in any way change the fact that I am French.’
‘We consider ourselves French above all. My origins are part of my history but they do not define who I am,’ Aib said. She later added that her success, ‘was a victory for diversity’.
Miss France official,Anne-Sophie Sevrette told the publication: ‘Unfortunately, there are still a lot of racist people. Today, it’s easy to criticise on social media and people think they have the right to say anything. The important thing is to stand firm.’
Unfortunately Sabah is not the first contestant to experience controversy as last year’s winner Eve Gilles was caught up in a bizarre ‘woke row’.
The debate erupted after Eve won the contest donning a pixie cut hairstyle for the first time in the pageant’s history.
Eve, 20, from Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern part of the country was crowned by previous winner Indira Ampiot in front of 7.5 million TV viewers in 2023.
But the beauty pageant faced peculiar backlash that it had gone ‘woke’ after the judges chose ‘androgynous’ Ms Gilles as Miss France 2024 after all previous winners featured more supposedly ‘traditional’ long, flowing hair and curves.
‘We’re used to seeing beautiful Misses with long hair, but I chose an androgynous look with short hair,’ a defiant Ms Gilles said.
Organisers of the beauty contest highlighted how she could go on to become the first Miss France of north African origin
The beauty queen’s mother, who teaches French and philosophy at a school in Lille suburb, is of Moroccan origin and her father is of Algerian descent
She also praised her win as a win for ‘diversity’ and added: ‘No one should dictate who you are,’ she said after her victory, adding that every ‘woman is different, we’re all unique.
The pageant winner is chosen half by a public vote and half by a jury. While Ms Gilles only came third in the public vote, the panel of judges pushed her into first place.
But Ms Gilles, who wants to be a statistician, was the first winner in the 103-year history of the pageant who doesn’t have long hair – much to the dismay of some viewers.
‘Miss France is no longer a beauty contest but a woke contest which is based on inclusiveness,’ one user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This was echoed by some others on Twitter, with one accusing Ms Gilles of ‘instilling wokist values into society’.
Other negative comments included one who said that she ‘doesn’t look anything like Miss France’ and that ‘we don’t care about her haircut but the androgynous body is obviously there to serve as woke’.
However, the critical voices were soon drowned out by a wave of support for the newly crowned Miss France, who is studying Maths and Computer Science at Lille University.
One fan wrote: ‘Maybe the new #MissFrance isn’t gorgeous in your eyes, but seeing wokeism in her because she has short hair…. It’s just ridiculous.’
Another added: ‘Eve Gilles is the new Miss France 2024, your malicious and useless criticisms won’t change that, she’s sublime.’
Sabah snapped back at the trolls on her Instagram, according to The Times, saying it’s nothing but a ‘reflection of ignorance and jealousy’
MP Sandrinne Rousseau also came to Ms Gilles’ defence and said: ‘So, in France, in 2023, we measure the progress of respect for women by the length of their hair?’
Ms Rousseau also wears her hair in a pixie cut, which has become an important symbol as part of France’s MeToo movement.
In November, she told French news outlet BFM Grand Lille: ‘I would especially like to defend the image of women, that they can do what they want, that they can be what whatever she likes.
‘I want to break the codes, to show that women can be diverse, that we don’t need to be put in boxes. That’s what I want to show.’
Ms Gilles, who was born in Dunkirk and has an Instagram page for her cat Princess Heidi, is the youngest of three sisters and said it was her grandfather who encouraged her to enter the competition.
‘My family is really very important. It’s my little cocoon. We are very close, we did everything together,’ she said.
Ms Gilles is studying Maths and Computer Science at Lille University and travels back to her family in Quaëdypre, near Dunkirk, every weekend.
Eve Gilles (pictured), 21, from Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern part of the country was crowned Miss France last year in front of 7.5 million TV viewers
She performed in a black costume with red embellishments during the final of the beauty pageant
Eve was crowned Miss France 2024 by Miss France 2023 Indira Ampiot (right), at the Miss France 2024 beauty pageant in Dijon
She had first started studying medicine ‘so as not to regret it later’ but ‘didn’t like it’, Ms Gilles said, adding that she worked in a factory to earn money.
But during the Miss France competition, Ms Gilles was criticised for her hair, her ‘lack of shape’ and ‘thinness’ online.
Ms Gilles, who was already criticised for her look before being crowned, said that she ‘didn’t want to look like a little girl anymore’ and that she wanted to set an example. ‘But I’m not at all a tomboy. I feel like a woman,’ she added.
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