It just got ugly for the Mrs. World beauty pageant, thanks to Nomalanga Mhlauli-Moses, Mrs. Botswana, who claims the annual competition is guilty of racial discrimination.
The Mrs. World pageant, which is specifically for married women, was held in Orlando, Fla., this past week where 58 beauty queens from around the world gathered to compete for the coveted crown and title.
Mhlauli-Moses, decided to write a letter to the pageant owner, David Marmel, on behalf of herself and several other black contestants to express their disappointment in the lack of diversity both in the pageant's selection of judges as well as their selection of the top 14 finalists.
Although Mhluali-Moses writes in the letter that participating in the pageant was one of the most amazing experiences in her life, she quickly launches into her feelings of discontent over the pageant's alleged disregard for black beauty.
She writes that because there has never been a black women crowned or even selected for the top three in the history of the pageant, "it says that no African woman is beautiful enough to be Mrs World; it says that our foundations, charities and the causes that we are passionate about are not important enough; it says that the Mrs World organization has such a narrow definition of beauty that we have no hope of ever fitting into it."
A bold claim to say the least. Although she affirms that the letter is "not angry ramblings of a discontented woman who is sour she did not win," her comments seem to contradict that. This sounds less like an issue of racism and more like a personal problem.
The miffed Mrs. Botswana would like Marmel to issue a statement assuring that the omission of black finalists at the pageant was not intentional. There has been no response from Marmel or the pageant yet.
We believe Mhlauli-Mose's biggest mistake is looking to a beauty pageant and a small group of people for validation of beauty and worth for black women. What do you think?
Feast your eyes on these black beauty queens, past and present...
