In a week the annual Beauty Pageant for Miss France will be held for the 88th time. The future Miss France will succeed to Maeva Coucke. The pageant will be held in Lille, which is the city of origin of Miss Universe 2017, Iris Mittenaere.

The pageant is followed by millions of viewers and regulated by very strict rules. What are those rules and how much different are they from Miss America Pageant?

Let’s start with the common points between both national pageants. There is actually only one exact common rule: To never have been married, divorced or to not be a widow, with no kids. Then, the age range for the 2 countries is almost the same, 18-24 for France and 17-25 for the United States.

In France, the women have to be born with the French Nationality but in USA, they only have to be a citizen at the time of the pageant.

Regarding the physical aspects, we simply ask American candidates to be in good shape and good health. In France, the rules are stricter. The ladies must be taller than 1.70m (5ft 6in), they can’t have any tattoos, piercings and more importantly, must never have had plastic surgery.

Another rule that is different between France and the United States is that the past of the contestants is verified. She can’t have any criminal record and must not have taken part of any explicit photo shoots. Also, they can never have been associated to a political party or religious movement.

Miss France has many more constraints than Miss America. What do you think about that? Do you believe the rules are too strict in France or are the rules too flexible in the US?