Paris 2024 Mascots, Two Liberty-Seeking Hats, Are Being Likened To The Clitoris
By Mikelle Leow, 16 Nov 2022
The French are deriving great pleasure from the appearance of Paris 2024’s official mascots. Earlier this week, the Paris Olympics commission presented the ‘Phyrges’ (pronounced “fri-jee-uhs”), two red hats that are now tickling people in unexpected ways.
The characters pay homage to the Phyrgian cap, a symbol of freedom worn by liberated slaves in Rome throughout history. Following the French Revolution, it has taken on the meaning of the French spirit.
Here, the Phyrges are shown wearing sneakers, and despite their similar appearances, each bears a different personality. The Phyrge on the left, representing the Olympics, is supposedly “the smart one.”
Meanwhile, the other cap, who has a prosthetic, is the face of the 2024 Paralympics and is described as a “real party animal.”
“Phryges have been around for more than a thousand years,” explains Julie Matikhine, Paris 2024’s Chief Brand Officer, in a news release. “Generations and generations of Phryges have accompanied the French people in all the major events that we have had in our history since the 10th century. In France, they were present at all kinds of revolutions, in every era. During each of these major events, during each of these revolutions, the Phryges were there.”
“Today it is a new generation of Phryges that you see. Wearing trainers, these are sports Phryges that have come back because we have a new major event coming up, the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This is an occasion to lead our next revolution, the revolution for sport,” Matikhine elaborates.
The mascots might also remind spectators of the red caps worn by The Smurfs too. But ooh la la, there’s more. French newspaper Libération (via The Guardian) draws likenesses between the Phyrges and the clitoris, and it even commends the symbols for helping the city separate itself from the traditionally phallic icon that is the Eiffel Tower.
The Paris 2024 motifs have been something of a strange squad. If you recall, the Games’ official logo portraying a gold medal with the face of a woman has a “Karen” haircut.
As for the Phyrges, they’ve been likened to sneaker-wearing clitorises. The comparison isn’t too far-fetched, seeing as how the public’s memory is still fresh from the installation of a giant clitoris facing the Eiffel Tower on International Women’s Day last year.
The inflatable structure, put up by feminist activist group Gangduclito to call for further education and research surrounding the mysterious sexual organ, was also red in color.
The clitoris, a small, pea-shaped structure above the vaginal opening, exists for the sole purpose of helping women orgasm. For feminists, the fact that the characters are reminding people of the organ is a victory.
Feminist writer Julia Petri says it was only four years ago, when she campaigned to educate the public about the clitoris, that only a few could recognize the body part. The jokes validate the fact that the clitoris has wedged itself into popular culture, she adds.
Quentin Girard of Libération quips that “it’s not a bad thing” Paris now has room for a “revolutionary and feminist” clitoris to succeed the “eternal phallic Eiffel Tower.”
It is the city of romance, after all.
[via The Guardian and Hypebeast, images via various sources]