Paris Musée d’Orsay apologises after being accused of ‘sexism' for refusing entry to woman wearing low-cut dress

‘Your double standards should not be an obstacle to my access to culture and knowledge,’ woman writes

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The Musée d'Orsay in Paris has apologised after being accused of sexism for refusing entry to a woman wearing a low-cut dress.

On Wednesday, French literature student Jeanne shared an open letter on Twitter directed at the museum, in which she described an incident that took place the day before.

In the note, Jeanne explained how she decided to visit the world-renowned museum on Tuesday, when temperatures were near 26 degrees.

Alongside the letter, she posted a photo of herself which was taken four hours before making the trip with a friend and showed her wearing a patterned knee-length dress that featured a V-shaped neckline.

Upon arriving at the museum, Jeanne said she was told by staff that “rules are rules” and ordered her to cover her cleavage if she wanted to be allowed in.

“Arriving at the museum entrance, I didn’t even have time to get out my ticket when the sight of my breasts and low-cut dress shocked the agent in charge of checking reservations,” Jeanne wrote.

“She left, chanting ‘Oh no, that's not going to be possible, that's not allowed, that is not acceptable’.”

Jeanne added: “At this point I had no idea that my décolleté had become the cause of all this drama.”

She went on to describe how the incident made her feel shamed as she claimed staff stared at her cleavage.

“I asked what was going on but nobody replied. They stared at my breasts … I didn’t really understand what was going on,” Jeanne wrote, adding that nobody explicitly said which rule she was breaking but that one member of staff nodded to her cleavage, saying; “that”.

“At no time did anyone say my breasts are a problem,” she wrote, explaining that the friend she was visiting with was wearing a crop top showing her midriff, and that many other people were also dressed for the hot weather.

After being told that she could enter the museum if she put on her jacket, Jeanne initially refused.

“I don't want to put on my jacket as I feel beaten, compelled, I'm ashamed,” she wrote. ‘I feel everyone's looking at my breasts. All I am is my breasts; all I am is a woman they are sexualising.“

She concluded the open letter by saying she eventually put on her jacket and was allowed in but called the museum out for discriminating against her.

“I am not just a body,” Jeanne wrote. “Your double standards should not be an obstacle to my access to culture and knowledge.”

As Jeanne’s post went viral, receiving more than 37,000 likes, the museum responded with a tweet, stating that it had been made aware of the incident.

“We deeply regret it and apologise to the person involved, with whom we are getting in touch,” the statement read.

Speaking to the BBC, Jeanne said she was satisfied that the museum contacted her personally by phone”, adding that they had been “very understanding” and given her “a very sincere apology“.

However, she explained that she felt the museum's public response on Twitter failed to “recognise the sexist and discriminatory nature of the event“.

The Independent has contacted the Musée d'Orsay for comment.