Every year, scores of women around the world participate in beauty pageants at community, national and international level, culminating in Miss World and Miss Universe contests.

When I was younger, I watched many of these shows and always hoped my country’s representative would do well but none won the ultimate crown, Miss Universe. Following the event, some radio DJs and talkshow hosts would say unflattering things about whoever had represented us that year, going as far as pointing out how she wasn’t as smart or pretty as the other girls. 

Now that I’m a lot older and hopefully wiser, I frown upon anyone who trash talks these girls. First of all, we have different standards of beauty. A woman considered beautiful in Kenya or Rwanda may not be seen as such in Venezuela or Costa Rica and vice versa although like one of my guy friends argues, "Beautiful is beautiful” regardless of one’s place of birth. 

Personally, I think we’re not "equal” when it comes to looks. I’ll give you some examples. We African girls go through hell to straighten our hair when South American and European women have this beautiful long hair they don’t have to stress about. Add blue, grey or green eyes and the odds are already favouring certain races, so to lump women from different ethnicities together kind of doesn’t make sense. 

I think continental contests would be more fair. Let there be Miss Europe, Miss Africa or something like that. But why do we even have to have these contests? Just another excuse to objectify women in my opinion. I know doors have opened for some of the girls, many of whom go on to become spokeswomen for various causes while others get jobs in entertainment or hospitality sectors but still, I don’t think we have the right approach. 

It’s ridiculous to have dozens of girls strut around half naked, be asked a couple of questions and then choose a winner. The girls who don’t win go away thinking they’re not pretty enough when that is not the case. 

Women naturally are insecure and that is why you see even good-looking women covered in layers of makeup or spending most of their money on surgeries they don’t need so we don’t need more reasons to make women feel insecure. I didn’t watch last Sunday’s Miss Universe but woke up to news the following day about a mishap that saw the host, Steve Harvey announce the wrong winner who happened to be Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo who then had to forfeit the crown to Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach seconds later. 

That was so brutal to both girls. One thought she had lost and the other breathed a sigh of relief thinking she had won only to be told moments later that she had actually lost. I hope both girls don’t have esteem issues, especially Miss Colombia because that is something that can hurt your confidence. 

Miss Philippines may have won the crown but she also needs support as some nasty comments have been directed her way. I won’t even get into the vitriol to Steve Harvey. The good thing is that he has spent a good number of years in Showbiz and must have developed a thick skin. Imagine if that crown had gone to a woman of colour!