France's National Assembly on Thursday approved legislation against a form of discrimination that's often overlooked: prejudicial treatment on the basis of hair. The bill, which still faces a vote in the Senate, is inspired by laws in the United States, where anti-racism campaigners have long argued that black people face unfair pressure to modify their natural hair.
"They called me into the office and said, 'we know you care about your hair ...' And I said, 'oh and you don't?'"
Fanta, a former police officer, is black. She says she's experienced what's been dubbed in France discrimination capillaire – hair discrimination.
"They asked me to straighten it because it wasn't professional. My hair, even if I straighten it, the minute I take a shower it'll go curly again. So they were telling me: 'we don't accept you as you are'."
The message doesn't have to be said out loud to get through, says Louis, a student in his early 20s.
"There have been certain times when I've had interviews for internships and I've realised that my hair was a problem for them, and that people prefer a, how shall I put it, straighter style – no braids, short back and sides."
Listen to this story on the Spotlight on France podcast:
World first
Such pressure is arguably already illegal in France, where the law bans discrimination on the basis of physical appearance as well as ethnicity.
But a new bill wants to make it explicit: any distinction made between individuals based on "the cut, colour, length or texture of their hair" constitutes discrimination, either in the workplace or more broadly.
The proposal to add that wording to France's existing criminal and labour codes went before the lower house of parliament on Thursday, where it passed by 44 votes to two. To become law, it now needs the approval of the conservative-led upper house – no easy feat.
If it gets it, France will become the first country in the world to pass national legislation against hair discrimination. Even the US, where laws on the issue were pioneered at the state level, hasn't yet managed to pass a federal equivalent.
Pressure to straighten
"Yes, we have a law in France against discrimination, but it's a global law and it doesn't talk about hair discrimination," says Guylaine Conquet.
Formerly a journalist from the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, she's now an artist and activist based in the US. She is the impetus for France's hair discrimination bill, which she asked Guadeloupe MP Olivier Serva to put forward in 2022.
"The law is so vague, people don't see themselves in this law," she tells RFI. "So that's why we need to be more precise and say, 'you cannot prevent a girl from going to school with braids, with cornrows'."
She too has her own examples to give. Working for French television in Guadeloupe, she says, "people had always told me that to look professional, I had to wear straightened hair".
For years she straightened her naturally curly hair – an expensive, laborious process involving chemicals that have been linked to a higher risk of cancer – until it began falling out.
"In 2015 I decided to go back to natural, which was very hard for me. Because I wasn't used to my natural hair, which is weird," she says. Nor were her viewers.
"The audience, they were looking at me, they were sending me messages – you know, it's not attractive, why am I doing that... So there was a lot of pressure."
Colour-blind?
Conquet, who now lives in Atlanta, says she was inspired by efforts to resist hair discrimination in the US.
To date 24 states have passed versions of the Crown Act ("Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair"), which protects the right to wear hairstyles such as afros, braids, locks and twists in places of work or education.
Yet while the US legislation explicitly links hair discrimination to racism, given that it predominantly affects people of African descent, France's version is supposedly colour-blind.
Citing universalism, its founding value, the country refuses to design public policies for specific groups on the grounds that racial differences don't – or shouldn't – exist.
As a result, the wording in the hair discrimination bill does not specify which type or styles of hair are protected – which means, in theory, that it applies equally to white blonds or redheads as to black people.
"This law is more inclusive in France and more people will be protected," insists Conquet, who says she's heard from blonds who complain they're not taken seriously because of their hair colour.
But Rokhaya Diallo, a journalist and author who writes extensively about racism in France, says complaining about certain hairstyles and textures is deeply racially coded.
"It’s really a form of implicit discrimination, where people won't say straight out that the problem is that you're black or of African descent, but they'll say, 'your hair doesn't match the image that our business wants to present'."
Tough case to win
Even if the bill passes, legal experts say discrimination cases – of any kind – are notoriously hard to win.
France's public rights watchdog received 6,703 complaints of discrimination in 2023, according to its annual report, 2 percent of which related to physical appearance.
One of the judgements it issued last year related to a 4-year-old boy whose teachers repeatedly asked his parents to cut or fasten his long afro hair on the grounds that school rules forbade "fanciful" styles.
The watchdog found the incident, which took place in 2018, constituted discrimination on the grounds of "physical appearance in relation to gender" and "real or presumed ethnic origin".
It recommended a review of the rules at that and other schools, as well as anti-discrimination training – but has no power to impose sanctions.
Court cases, which could result in fines or other penalties, remain rare.
Starting a conversation
"Of course things are not going to change from today to tomorrow if the law is voted," acknowledges Conquet.
"But at least people are talking about it ... This law, I hope, will make people talk more about this issue, and not be complexed anymore about their hair."
Her next campaign, she says, will be to push for French hairdressers to be trained on curly and coiled hair as part of their professional certification, not just straight hair – another step towards encouraging people of colour to embrace their natural hair.
"We should not be forced to conform to the European style. It’s like you're asking me to look like you, and I'm not like you," she says.
"France is diverse. France is not just French in Paris, France is all over the world. I'm Caribbean, I'm French Caribbean... So they have to acknowledge my difference and accept it."
RFI's Sylvie Koffi provided additional reporting for this story.
Find an audio version on the Spotlight on France podcast, episode 109.
