(Flickr Neon Tommy/Bonafide Supernova)

During the voting on Tuesday, the proposal was supported by 196 legislators, and opposed by 146 - it will become law after passing the scrutiny of the National Assembly.

The proposal is  to prevent what the parliamentary report "Against Hyper-Sexualization: A New Fight For Equality" calls the "hyper-sexualization" of children.

"Let us not make our girls believe from a very young age that their worth is only judged by their appearance," said the former sports minister Chantal Jouanno, one of the strongest advocates of the proposal.

The proposal enforces serious consequences for beauty pageant organizers that work with underage contestants: offenders could serve up to 2 years in jail, and pay up to 30,000 euros (40,000 USD) in fines.

The amendment was inspired by the controversy surrounding the inappropriate photographical portrayal of 10-year-old Thylane Loubry Blondeau on Vogue magazine.

The Parisian adolescent, barely hitting puberty, is depicted posing on a bed covered with leopard-skin bedsheets, matched with a sultry stare and revealing clothing.

The image did not only ignite public outrage in France, but also across the world, speaking to those concerned about the ever-apparent "hypersexualization" of women's images everywhere.

Jouanno, the architect of the proposal, explains that her proposed law is meant to protect little girls from being exposed to things detrimental to their development:

"When I asked an organizer why there were no mini-boy contests, I heard him respond that boys would not lower themselves like that."

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