Do beauty pageants empower girls or encourage objectification of women? 

Listen to our podcast Rwanda Check-in, a conversation between Miss Jolly Mutesi and Our host Jade Natacha IRIZA

Questions: 1. You could start by sharing your journey as a beauty queen, Jolly why did you decide to join Miss Rwanda in the first place?

2. You mentioned that the girls’ mandate was more about what they would do once crowned Miss Rwanda, yet one of my colleagues believes that there is no tangible impact Miss Rwanda has achieved so far and that there is no positive way it has empowered girls except that it is a waste of money according to him. How would you respond to him?

You just talked about this also being a way to Empower themselves, yet some girls experience a severe drop in their confidence and self-esteem because of all the pressure and the critics they go through throughout the process. Basically, people are looking for the bad than the good in them.   3. Would you share with us one of the cruelest things someone ever said to you? How did you manage it?

4. Jolly, that was your experience! But for the rest of the girls, in addition to all these hardships contestants have to go through, that takes a toll on their mental health, they are also highly judged on the basis of their physical appearance, don’t you think it is a form of women objectifying?

5. Let’s take a look at the case of Divine Nshuti Muheto, some said that she only passed because the judges were impressed by her beauty and nothing else, that her project wasn’t the best let alone the way she presented it. Does that show any possible bias in your judging methods? 

6. So Jolly as a conclusion, do Beauty Pageants empower girls or encourage objectification of women? Why?

7. What would be your message to the girls that choose to participate in beauty contests like Miss Rwanda and others?