French nightclub gives women free drinks for wearing short skirts

The Local

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@thelocalfrance

21 August 2017
13:18 CEST

nightlife sexism

French nightclub gives women free drinks for wearing short skirts

File photo: pressmaster/Depositphotos

The Local

[email protected]
@thelocalfrance

21 August 2017
13:18 CEST

A French nightclub has prompted outrage over an unusual pricing policy, which rewarded girls in short skirts with cheaper drinks.

“The shorter it is, the more you get in return!” promised the L'Annexe club in Saint-Laurent-du-Var on the French Riviera.

All women attending the club on Friday night in a skirt measuring less than 25cm were allowed in for free, according to a publicity video.

Skirts between 18cm and 23cm long would entitle the wearer to one free drink, while those wearing a skirt less than 18cm long would be ‘rewarded’ with a bottle of Rosé wine.

The nightclub included some conditions on the deal: it was only valid before 2:30am, and “skirts worn over leggings, opaque tights, trousers, etc.” were excluded from the offer.

The offer was advertised in a video (above) which showed women in short, tight skirts and tops, one of them covered in water.

The club's Facebook post quickly went viral, with the video viewed over 33,000 times.

“Shocked! Such class!” wrote one person on Facebook. “I think in the end the event will be full … but only with men! Girls will be dancing and partying elsewhere, where they won't be asked to get naked!”

Another commenter, Lucille Venne, said the offer “made her want to puke”.

“It's because of people like you that we are in a society that treats women as objects, which does not respect them and where there are so many assaults and rapes,” she wrote.

In 2015, statistics showed that an act of sexual assault or rape was reported every 40 minutes in France.

And a separate study released last year showed that more than a quarter French people believe victims of such attacks should be “at least partly blamed” if they were wearing “sexy clothes” at the time, including short skirts and low cut tops.

Not everyone saw the nightclub's stunt as sexist, however, with one person commenting that the stunt was “a beautiful initiative”.

“Everyone is free to dress like he/she wants because we are in Europe and there is freedom and here women can choose to be free,” wrote American Anne Jhonson.

Another Facebook user pointed out that the video didn't specify whether the offer was limited to women. “Come in your kilts, guys!” he wrote.

The club itself was unrepentant, posting a video of Friday's event, with the comment: “Thanks to those who made a fuss, we had new customers tonight.”

That video showed customers drinking and dancing, with male staff pouring drinks into the mouths of female customers and several shots of women dancing in short skirts.

Earlier this year, the Paris city council announced a ban on “sexist adverts” in the French capital, just weeks after a “porno chic” ad campaign by fashion giant Yves Saint Laurent was ordered to be removed by France's advertising regulator ARPP after it drew hundreds of complaints.