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Answers that were given by the majority of models who took part in the recent Miss Carnival beauty pageant won by Dananai Chipunza in Harare last week, further mystify the “beauty without brains” tag that has become synonymous with local beauty queens who always fail to articulate issues and answer questions on current issues posed to them as part of the adjudication process every year.
Although the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority this year made it mandatory that all participants needed to possess five O-Levels, as a minimum entry requirement for them to qualify for the competition, most of the girls performed dismally during the question and answer segment at the Miss Carnival beauty pageant, raising questions on whether they have the capacity to represent Zimbabwe anywhere in the world.
One of the girls who was asked to name two countries that would be co-hosting the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly confidently replied that Malawi was one of the countries, while another one failed to identify the shape of the National Heroes Acre, although the group had earlier in the week toured the national shrine.
It was also shocking when one of the models failed to clearly construct a sentence in English when she was asked to state where Zimbabwe gets its hydro-electricity from.
The responses from the models did not come as a surprise for those who have been following beauty pageants in Zimbabwe in the last 10 years.
The local beauty pageants have been characterised by mediocrity in terms of the calibre of participants, right from provincial representation up to national level on basic issues like the history of Zimbabwe and on current affairs.
If anything, from the time that Angeline Musasiwa-Hunda who was Miss Zimbabwe of 1994, competed in the national beauty pageant subsequently represented Zimbabwe at the Miss World held in Sun City, South Africa, where she came fourth, no model is yet to reach that stage, be it in physical appearance or integrity.
It appears that Angeline could have set the bar too high for the girls who have been competing for the crown in subsequent years. Having done well in the 1994 Miss World pageant, finishing in the top four, she set very high standards and clearly showed that if given the necessary deportment skills and mentoring, coupled by looks, local models are capable of achieving the same feat and even do better.
Miss Tourism Zimbabwe for 2011, the lanky Malaika Mashandu, tried to edge near Angeline’s feat , when she made it to the top 15 at the 2011 Miss World finals after her fast-track points were accounted for, earning her accolades back home, although she was not anywhere near the coveted title.
She made most of her points in three areas, mostly in the Beauty with a Purpose category where she highlighted her crusade to provide clean drinking water to areas worst affected by cholera. In her case, Malaika did not just have a beautiful face and other physical attributes to qualify as a model, but she was also an academic who was taking a gap from university where she was studying cinematography and film production.
Apart from good physical attributes, she had a good academic portfolio, something that most local models seem to be lacking, and tend to heavily rely on their beauty to win pageants of such magnitude. That is an archaic and retrogressive perception. They should work hard to change, because most beauty pageants now want a brainy beauty queen, who understands the world around her and can articulate issues.
The majority winners of the Miss World beauty pageants in the last decade boasts good academic credentials and are well versed with current affairs, giving them a competitive edge against their peers.
Online Reporter