Breeding Beauty

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what happens when the beholder has an eye for a very specific type of beauty?

African nations have long struggled to seriously compete at international beauty pageants. This could be because the international audience is accustomed to a certain type of beauty, a South American tan or long, silky locks that speak volumes. Namibia is no exception in this ongoing struggle.

While Miss Universe 2012, Leila Lopez, hailed from our northern neighbour, Angola, her looks were not distinctly African but rather had a strong resemblance to the ‘mainstream beauties’ that may be more at home in South America.

The South Americans have, over the years, dominated the international pageants and are known for investing much time and resources into these pursuits, grooming young ladies from an early stage and even using plastic surgery as though it were a visit to the gym or beauty salon. This investment and grooming has clearly paid off.

While Namibia has only managed to win an international title once, countries like Venezuela have secured the title more than five times.

Venezuela, in particular, is known for taking the beauty pageant industry ultra seriously. With a sense of extreme importance surrounding this decades old competition and a lot of money invested in grooming the young lady who will represent the South American country, hopefully returning with the prestigious title.

The last time the Land of the Brave made a noticeable impact was in 2010 when Odile Gertze (now Muller) made it to the top 25 in the Miss World competition that year.

Paulina Malulu, current Miss Namibia managed to, in 2012, make it to the top 15 at the lesser known Miss International pageant.

Ndapewa Alfons in 2003 made it to the top ten in the Miss Universe pageant, while Anna Nashandi secured the 17th spot in the Miss World pageant in 2006.

Michelle McLean-Bailey remains the only Miss Namibia title holder to ever wear the Miss Universe crown which she won in 1992 and what many may not know is that she was the fourth runner up in the Miss World competition the following year.

A number of times,when asked why they entered, the Miss Namibia title holders respond that they stumbled upon the entry form.

Either a friend dragged them along or a family member encouraged them to enter, which is a clear indication and evidence that beauty pageants are not considered of much importance here, but rather a chance for a beautiful young lady with the acceptable height to take a chance at being named the representative of Namibian beauty, essence and intelligence.

This says a lot about the grooming culture in the country in that there doesn’t seem to be much of one, which would account for the limited number of professional beauty queens in the country.

National Director of the Miss Namibia pageant, Conny Maritz, said that although she is not in support of beauty contests for toddlers, she believes it is helpful for girls in their teens to be groomed in photographic and ramp modeling, fashion trends, social etiquette, communication skills, general knowledge, personal hygiene and general grooming.

Admitting that more grooming is needed in some areas, Maritz feels that the Miss Namibia pageant is undoubtedly very serious and can be considered as one of the top three pageants in Africa. She also pointed out that Namibian beauties compete with ladies from other countries who’ve had surgical enhancements.

“If one considers that our ‘natural beauties’ often compete against surgically augmented beauties from other countries, the perspectives of our achievements are even more spectacular. Hopefully stricter guidelines will be introduced soon by international pageant organisations concerning this issue,” Maritz said.

She added that while other beauty pageants may focus more on the entertainment part and where beauty pageants have become an industry, Namibian beauty queens contribute more towards charitable purposes and the goodwill of the country.

“The title is not only about winning the prizes. The title is associated with charitable responsibilities towards the less privileged in our society. The winners will have to use their beauty for charity. Our sponsors recognise this and see it as an effective means to discharge their social responsibilities for the betterment of our country,” she said

The culture surrounding beauty pageants in Namibia plays an important role in the product the nation sends to the international pageants. Various figures in the industry agreed that limited availability of resources to properly prepare Namibian representatives, play a major role in how the ladies perform at the international platforms.

Former Miss Namibia, Odile Muller said that the the reason why our beauty queens do not fare very well at the international beauty pageants may be because it is difficult work and competition is very tough. She added that the fact that Namibia does not take beauty pageants as seriously as other countries may also be a contributing factor to the country not doing very well, she emphasised that in order to change the current state for the better, the ladies have to be willing to learn from previous title holders.

“There are many reasons, but we have to remember that we send a different girl every year. And every year the game changes and judges look for something new. Our beauty queens are competing against over 100 ladies who all have the same dream. It is difficult work,” she said.

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