"Les Phryges" or "clitoris mascots" launch the preliminaries of the Paris 2024 Olympics with fanfare

They were designed in the form of a Phrygian cap, the headgear worn by Marianne and a symbol of the Republic.

Unveiled on Monday, November 14, the two new mascots of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, baptized "the Phryges", have however since been parodied on social networks, causing as much laughter and discomfort as excitement.

In question, many do not see the emblematic headdress of the character represented by Eugène Delacroix in his painting

, but rather... a clitoris!

Read also"It's crazy that we walked on the Moon before mapping the clitoris": Cara Delevingne explores the couple and sexuality in

"What a catastrophe"

Matilde Meslin, a journalist at

France

was one of the first to make fun of the shape of the two stuffed animals.

"Do we agree that it's not a Phrygian cap at all but a whole clitoris?" She wrote on Twitter.

On

, the editors too struggled to contain their “big laughs”.

"No, it's not Patrick, SpongeBob's friend.

No, it's not a couple of clits.

These are… The mascots of the Paris Olympics”, quipped an article.

In addition, much more virulent comments abounded under the official publication of the Paris 2024 committee on Twitter: “but what horror”, “what a disaster”.

“The Phrygian cap has always been ridiculous, was it worth adding a layer?” Pointed out one user.

And another: “Infinite sadness.

Sonic is so deep in the hole that he agrees to dress up as the 2024 Olympics mascot.

Read also“Guaranteed orgasm donor”: here is the most effective female sex toy, according to

Acknowledgement

But the fact that we identify the mascot, and therefore France, with a clitoris, is not a problem for everyone.

has indeed described this misunderstanding as “good news”, quoting a sentence from political scientist Robert Kagan: “The Americans come from Mars and the Europeans from Venus.”

After centuries of invisibilization and ignorance about pleasure and female anatomy, journalist Quentin Girard hailed what this controversy brings to light in spite of itself: the recognition of this female organ.

"By dint of books, testimonials, documentaries (...) it seems that, collectively, we have finally understood what it looks like," reads his text.

Ditto for the comedian and influencer Miss Augine: "C'

In video, a giant inflatable clitoris installed at the Trocadero for International Women's Rights Day

Read alsoThe boom in female sexual well-being, between revolution and injunctions

"Instead of an animal, an ideal"

Asked by

, Joachim Roncin, design director of Paris 2024, also said he was satisfied with the double meaning of his emblem.

“A mascot is a drawing or something new, and it's always a Rorschach test: everyone will see what they want.

If people see a clitoris there, so much the better.

If it makes the clitoris known, we are delighted, ”he said.

Tony Estanguet, chairman of the committee, for his part explained the genesis of this idea.

"Instead of an animal, we wanted to represent an ideal, and convey a message," he said.

The bet is more than successful.