Friday, December 14, 2012

France too eternal?

The Miss France competition has just taken place. There were 32 contestants, 8 of them from immigrant backgrounds. But this year the contest was won by an ethnic Frenchwoman, Marine Lorphelin:

Miss France, Marine Lorphelin

 
The decision hasn't pleased everyone. A group calling itself the Representative Council of Black Associations complained that there weren't enough immigrant competitors and that:
Miss France is as white as the end of year snow on the steeples of an eternal France.

Which I find extraordinary. Imagine migrating to a country and complaining that its very essence - its eternality - is still too present. I say that as someone who has lived in a foreign country (Japan); I wanted to experience the eternal Japan and not kick it to the curb as an offence against my presence there.

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