Mrs. Botswana Pens Letter on Lack of Diversity in Mrs. World Pageant

December 19th, 2011 - By Brande Victorian

Nomalanga Mhlauli-Moses, the reigning Mrs. Botswana 2010/2011, recently wrote an open letter to David Marmel, owner of the Mrs World Pageant, to express her disapproval with the lack of black or African women named as top 14 contestants in the competition, as well as the lack of diversity among judges on the panel. The women recently wrapped up the competition in Orlando, but the experience left a troubling impression in Nomalanga’s mind.

On behalf of the women in the competition she writes:

I will not assume that you are as aware as we all were that there was not a single black woman or a woman of African descent/heritage amongst the top 14 contestants and I am writing to bring this shocking detail to your attention.  On the night of the finals at Mrs World 2011, shortly after the announcement of the top 14, several women voiced their disappointment at the way they were so grossly insulted by the blatant disregard of their presence in the pageant as well as the lack of acknowledgment that black women are beautiful, accomplished and worthy of consideration of the Mrs World crown. My suggestion was that upon our arrival back home, we should take a dignified approach to making you aware of our concerns regarding the issue of the top 14 not including any woman who is either African, black or identifies herself as having African heritage. That is the purpose of this letter.

Mr. Marmel, the omission of the above mentioned women in the top 14 makes such a strong statement that I feel that I would be remiss if I did not bring it to your attention; 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.

My research has found that in the history of the Mrs World pageant, no African woman or woman of African descent has ever won the pageant and to my knowledge, they have never even been in the top 3. I was told that the reasoning for this was that the pageant historically did not draw a large enough pool of women of color but I was present this year and I saw for myself that there was a large enough pool! I had the pleasure of meeting some of the most beautiful women that I have ever seen and amongst them were some intelligent, accomplished, passionate and gorgeous women of color!

Nomalanga made it a point to say her thoughts are “not the angry ramblings of a discontented woman (or group of women) who feel(s) sour that she or they did not win,” but rather an effort to bring a serious issue to owner’s intention. That can be a hard point to prove when it comes to competitions.

Check out the rest of Nomalanga’s letter on Your Black World and tell us what you think. Is she right about the message the pageant judges are sending?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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  • Anon

    Kudos to you Mrs Botswana for speaking about your experience! Change can only happen when people like you speak up!

  • Vee Wa Mampela

    I made the mistake of thinking it was Miss and not Mrs World. No one cares about you decrepit old women trying to act young. I am from Botswana i have never heard of you or this pageant. And as people have already mentioned please look at more mainstream Pageants before you start sprouting about inequalities. I can forgive your for having missed the fact Miss Trinidad or Miss Nigeria won Miss World and Miss Universe respectively BUT how dare you not mention that Mpule Kwelagobe your own fellow country woman won Miss Universe in 1999(first black woman to do since we are bragging) and of course Leila Lopes our neighbours and Emma Wareus who was 2nd Princess just last year in Miss World. Please for someone yo o ipitsang Mmagwe motho tlhe o thabisa dithong kana ke go nyala lekgoa o tla ka go re claimela, RE TLA GO TLATSA mma..!

    • Motswana Tota

      Vee-I am also a Motswana and I stand by her 100%. She is a Motswana and she has the right to talk about her experience. You keep talking about MISS-this is about MRS! Get you facts right!

    • Mongwato

      This has nothing to do with Miss pageants or any other pageant for that matter-it is about MRS WORLD 2011. Please don’t call yourself a Motswana and then write things that show your lack of comprehension of the issue at hand. Ga se wena fela you itseng go tlatsa! Other Batswana (and non-Batswana) are standing behind Nomalanga’s courageous letter!

    • Mongwato tota

      Mcheri o ga bua sepe. Ke na le wena Vee Wa Mampeezy. Why focus on Mvela League go na le PSL?

  • Mosetsanandlovu

    point of correction, the person who wrote that letter is not Ms Botswana. I don’t know where they are from but they are NOT from Botswana. please check your facts  before posting stories about our countries.

    • http://www.successfulblackwoman.com/ Nomalanga

      Mosetsana-Mma, ke Motswana. Ke tshotswe ke batsadi ba Batswana.(Translation: I am  mostwana born to batswna parents.)

      • Thato Un

        Wa yaka.. ha go na motswana yo o ka bitsang ngwana wa gagwe Nomalanga.. o mo South Africa and wa iponatsa. Le nna le akantse apartheid gongwe le gongwe ko le yang teng. Le a bora.!

  • Marshagillster

    wait…i just realised…MRS World???

    • Treacle23

      I have never heard of MRS World competition before.

  • Marshagillster

    Miss Trinidad and Tobago won at one time in the eighties…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=75002227 Carolyn Simon

    I don’t believe that black women are entitled to a spot in the Top 14 of any competition just to have diversity. We have seen countless black women place in the top 10 in the more mainstream competitions such as Miss Universe and Miss World. We even have black women who have won these competitions including the beautiful Leila Lopes who is the reigning Miss Universe. This was the first title for her country. I come from a small Caribbean country that has done really well in pageants. Two of the 4 black Miss Universe winners are from my country and many girls have placed in the top 10, the top 5 and some have been runners up. My country can even boast of the 1st black Miss World. 
    I have been watching these pageants from since I was a child (they are big in my country lol) and I can say if you shine at these competitions then you will place. It is as simple as that. No one who saw the Miss Universe pageant can deny the Leila outshone those other girls. She walked on that stage and you said “Wow”. The judges saw it and it didn’t matter if she was black or white or purple. She was shining. It is not an easy thing to stand out amongts a bevy of beauties. Everyone has a charity, a foundation, a cause etc. At the end of the day you need the wow factor to get in those top slots. Some of these girls are pretty but they are forgettable and it is wrong to ask that there should be a representative from each region in the top slot.

  • Guest

    She’s wrong. Agbani Darego from Nigeria won in 2001.

    • GUEST

      Agbani Darego was Miss World, I believe the author is writing about Mrs World, married women.

  • Gmarie

    as much as I’d like to see more diversity in well…almost everything mainstream, I’m pretty much tired of us begging to be included. We have to start paving our own avenues and stop looking for recognition from everywhere but within ourselves

    • WanderingDreamer

      I absolutely agree!  In 2011, why continue to beg for acceptance.  

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