For Le Parmentier, American culture is to blame for spoiling the fun of young French girls. The concept of beauty contests over there is different to ours and that’s what the French government wanted to block,” he told The Local on Monday. They are dressed up in high heels, given false wigs, fake tan, fake teeth and transformed into Barbie dolls.' “Over there everything is exaggerated, where mums try to make their daughters look like themselves. Le Parmentier accepts that these kind of competitions have been mimicked in parts of France and that it is a good idea to either ban them or regulate them. He says the concept of his own Mini Miss contests that he began 25 years ago will have to be altered to avoid breaking the law. “We will take out the part where the girls are judged on their appearance.

Instead the judges will only look at talent,' he said. “It’s a shame for the little girls that they won’t be able to dress up like a princess. It’s a good idea to protect against excesses but the children don’t understand why they can’t dress up,” he added. 'Child beauty contests can help girls in later life'įrench Minister for Women’s Rights Najat Vallaud-Belkacem initially thought the ban was too severe but has since decided action needs to be taken. “There is a subject of hyper-sexualisation of little girls and there is a necessity to give authorities the means to control it,” she has previously said.