MISS CURVY BEAUTY PAGEANT - UGANDA

                

By Lawrence Sunday Ogwang

A truth universally acknowledged is that in this world, anything is possible even the most unthinkable. The caution is to be on the lookout and watch possibilities unfold to the world while we put our brains to task, ransacking it to find which possibility is best and so fall for it.

With a wide range of possibilities before us, others would prefer to fall for what they think is a better option but I would personally say, better is not better where best is expected. Uganda is not any exception when it comes to possibilities. Before the excitement of Miss Uganda Quinn Abenakyo making it to the top five at the Miss World and thereby emerging Miss World-Africa dies out, another opportunity is out for grabs for better or worse. Another beauty pageant, is on in Kampala –Miss Curvy Uganda, spearheaded by talent management agency.

The big question here is ‘what is Miss curvy?’

According to the Marketing Director of Brand Ambassadors, Miss Curvy is a unique beauty Pageant out there to represent the true Ugandan beauty.  Unlike other beauty contests that come with taglines of someone having to be slim and of a certain height, this beauty pageant allows people to maintain their actual natural bodies and bring out their confidence.

Albeit the Marketing Director of Brand Ambassadors says that in the Ugandan context, the pageant won’t feature only curvy Ugandan ladies, explaining that they borrowed the word curvy as a catchment area, still names don’t lie, and it would seem that the major focus of this pageant will be ‘curves don’t lie.’ Even the pictures on the pageant’s advertising posters indicate that the pageant will be heavily oriented towards ‘curves’.

The general opinion about this pageant however is contentious. The majority of people are disenchanted with the idea calling it names basing on the fact that the minister for tourism is quoted to have said that these curvy women can be used to attract tourism in the country. “Tourism is not just about animals, it’s about our food, the way we walk, the way we were created, our curves,” he said during the launch of the pageant in Kampala, Uganda’s capital.

The religious leaders are condemning the move and calling for its cancellation. Talking on their behalf the Arch Bishop Ntahali said "It is a disgusting display of exploitation and brings shame upon our families and our country. The government is promoting trafficking to increase tourism. To present such a programme is to demonstrate how low we have fallen as a country. We cannot accept it and we insist that it be cancelled," reads Ntagali's statement.

A handful of the proponents to this pageant including the minister for tourism and Ms. Anne Mungoma, the chief executive officer of Miss Curvy Uganda however, are left wondering whether this contention is called for claiming that the whole issue has been misunderstood.

Notwithstanding the aforesaid argument of the proponents however, I dare say that tourism as a separate entity is good because it boost the economy of the country and so do beauty of a woman good and worth appreciating. It would only be barbaric, humiliating, dehumanizing, archaic, disingenuous, and perhaps preposterous to use the bodies of women as commodities and objects to boost tourism in the country. This would only sexualize them and make them less human. Above all, focusing on beauty does not add any value to a woman since beauty is the natural endowment by God.

 Consider the following arguments:

One of the reasons why I strongly detest this Miss curvy Beauty pageant is because it objectifies women. Treating a human being as an object is one of the most offensive thing. We clearly haven’t done much as a human race when even in the 21st century we still continue to treat women as objects despite numerous calls for it to not be the case.  This is what the former leader of opposition in parliament condemned on behalf of women in parliament.

 “Together with my colleagues of Uganda Women Parliamentary Association, we condemn acts of objectifying women. The minister should have known that women are more than just bodies, and so we should be treated with honor and respect,” said Winnie Kiiza.

As if that is not enough, Miss curvy beauty pageant places emphasis on beauty over talent.
Although it is true that this contest can make significant changes to the beauty pageant format, experience has shown that there is still no getting around the fact that these events are based on society’s perceptions of beauty. It creates a distinction in the society which reinforces the idea of the “haves” and the “have-nots.”

To the average person (man or woman), the physical requirements of beauty pageants are not obtainable. They either don’t have access to needed resources, family responsibilities, or don’t meet the public standards of “beauty.”

 Sexualizing women in ways that are inappropriate, makes this pageant even more objectionable.
Beauty pageants format of displaying the curvy hips has got sexual connotation, stimulating and wetting the minds of their male counterparts that leaves them either wanting or thirsty. No wonder then that Rita Aciro, the executive director of the Uganda Women’s Network immediately demanded that Mr. Kiwanda apologizes to Ugandan women.

“He should stop using women’s bodies as sex objects. We are not. Not Ugandan women, not any African woman, not any woman in the world,” she said. “Our bodies are not sex objects. We have equal brains, we have equal abilities, and we just need equal opportunities”, Aciro said.

There is also no doubt that this Miss curvy beauty pageant will promote unhealthy physical habits.
Women, especially young women, are always striving to be the next hottest thing. Being curvy is a must for this beauty pageants, which is why such a high percentage of contestants suffer from eating disorders. Others will resort to treating themselves with acidic substance just to make them look curvy.

Along with the body image problems, these women will also typically suffer from depression. The pressure and stress of constantly being judged for you appearance takes a large psychological toll. This therefore, impacts a lot on a woman.

Another dark side of this Miss curvy pageant is that it lowers the dignity of women.

 One of the Zambian writers called Binwell Senyangwe in his book A Cowry of Hope, says that dignity is one thing that should not be taken away from you. Even after everything has been taken away from you, dignity should remain. Meaning that the dignity of women should be respected.

In his response to this dehumanizing contest, the minister for Ethics said “It’s shameful. I strongly condemn it. It demeans women and completely destroys their integrity. You can’t bring people from abroad to come and see the physiognomy of your people”, Lokodo said.

It is also worth mentioning that this Miss Curvy beauty pageant can damage Self Image.
Experience has shown that, for women, being accepted and attractive is important to them. No woman wants to parade herself in front of a crowd of people and judges, only to be told that she isn’t the prettiest, or the second, or third, or so on. This can deeply wound the self-image that women have for their entire life hence, damaging the self-image of the most ‘unfortunate’.

The discriminative nature of the Miss curvy pageant is one thing we cannot close our eyes from. The pageant seems to be more bent towards only those women with curves although the organizers say that it is open to all women. This should be a sugarcoated truth because the title of the pageant tells it all and above all, the photos being used to advertise this contest are those of curvy women. Hence, no body actually needs a second brain to know that the pageant is discriminative.

In reaction to this evil of discrimination, the executive director of Human Rights Defenders Uganda said “Miss Curvy contest is discriminative, degrading and a shameful to the country's culture and heritage”, Gedion Tugume speaks out, adding that it should be cancelled out by the magistrates.

Having exposed all these vises of the Miss curvy beauty pageant nevertheless, I would be acting in sheer blindness and prejudice if I don’t point out some positive points hidden therein:

It is a good thing to know that the curvy pageant can in a way encourage self-confidence.
The modern beauty pageant does more than celebrate outward beauty for the women who compete in them. They encourage personal self-confidence, wanting competitors to get to know their true selves.

You must therefore be authentic to be successful in today’s world. Pretending to be someone or something you’re not does create an impassable ceiling that limits success. Getting to know the “real you” allows competitors to pursue whatever opportunities they wish in life – whether they win the pageant or not.

More to the above, its away of appreciating beauty as a natural endowment of God. And so, acknowledging and celebrating it in bona fide causes no harm after all, every creature is unique in their own ways. For this, we must all be happy and give this natural endowment the praise and honor it deserves. It would only be undesirable if the pageant takes a different trend as some of the views already attest.

There is no doubt that this Miss curvy pageant can create a big opportunity in the field of tourism. This can be possible as the Central Executive Officer of the pageant Ms. Mungoma said, by providing a platform for curvaceous women to compete, the winner of Miss Curvy Uganda will have the opportunity to participate in Miss Curvy Africa and finally Miss Curvy World, just as Quinn Abenakyo made Uganda proud by participating in the just concluded Miss World beauty contest.

The CEO added that if a Ugandan participant wins the Miss Curvy World contest, this will help promote the country’s image and get the world to know Uganda more.  If this dream comes true, it’s well and good.

Another truth that cannot be denied is that this Miss Curvy pageant can promote cultural coexistence. It is in order to say that culturally, we are endowed differently and we need to appreciate this. As the CEO said “All the way from West Nile down to Southern Uganda, we have naturally endowed women. We need to tell the story about the cultures where these women come from. That is how we shall market our country,” she said, adding that it will also promote cultural endowment.

Finally, when all is done and said, the one truth that remains is that although Miss Curvy beauty pageant throws some positive coins into the bargain including the promotion of tourism, it would only be barbaric, humiliating, dehumanizing, archaic, disingenuous, and perhaps preposterous to use the bodies of women as commodities and objects to boost tourism in the country. This would only sexualize them and make them less human.  Women must be allowed to be women with their dignity intact.