Miss Universe Jamaica – She could be Black, Red, Pink, Yellow, White.. or Green With Envy
Let me state that I am NOT a Writer, just putting my view out there.
I am a Professional Photographer and have been a part of The Film, Broadcast & Pro Video Industry for over 30 years and the same criteria the Industry seeks in Models and Actors are some of the same as below.
So the usual story is that Jamaican Beauty Pageants Favour Light Skinned Beauties, yup EVERY single year we hear the same stale old story. No matter what the shade the girl’s skin is, onlookers complain about something, yes even when she is “Black”… (and yes remember Pool Side when oonu same one did a say “Whey da lilly Black one a enta fa!)
So mek we look at this.. as far as mi memory serves these are the “Black” past winners of the Miss Universe Jamaica Competition – 2011 Shakira Martin, 2007 Zahra Redwood, 2005 Raquel Wright, 99 Nicole Haughton, 97 Nadine Thomas, 96 Trudi Ferguson, 94 Angelie martin, 92 Bridgette Rhoden and April Jackson. The list probably goes on so help me and add them in the comments if there are more. Or is that these “Black” not “Black” enough?
To all those who are complaining, I beg you to train your candidate and enter her !
If they don’t enter they have no chance but note the following..
Bring a candidate who can:
1. Properly articulate themselves, (Say what they mean and mean what they say, and know where/ how the “H”, “O” & “D” is pronounced)
2. Have a good grasp of current affairs, (Read the Gleaner & other Publications to know what is going on in Jamaica & the World.. yes them need to be literate)
3. Have positive personal convictions, (Actually have a point of view that they believe in not what you tell them to say)
4. Good skin tone, (That mean no mark up mark up skin like Donkey bite them or bad rug burns and ultra visible Cellulite)
5. A proportional body, (Means no Dolly Parton Titty or Nicki Minaj B*tty)
6. With height no less than 5′ 7″, ( There are mostly tall girls in these competitions)
7. Facial features that are proportionally balanced to each other, (No Big forehead with receding hairline, cross eye or Crab eye, Joker mouth, “chakka chakka teeth” or scary eyebrows)
8. Hair that is styled to balance their body and facial features, (We know everybody wearing pin in, glue in or weave in but my goodness buy good quality and have a real Pro do the installation and styling too because many do not know what looks best on them)
9. A good, sensible and clean social background, (Can’t have your IG showing you burning a Spliff, Cockup inna dance or have rumours circulating that you are with a Married man and frequent Orgies)
10. A strong feminine look, (Mi need fi explain this? You cyaa look like a man!)
11. A personality that people readily accept as genuine and likable, (People must without you trying too hard, just naturally like you. “Diva” attitude not necessary!)
12. Possess some version of the “X” factor, (This is key, posses something we can’t put our finger on but it makes us all wish you were a sweet delicate pastry that we want to smell you up and nibble your crumbs as you are in our presence)
13. And with this package described above, judges choose a “best of” compromise, (because no one is perfect so plenty this and plenty that will make the best average)
14. Must now be able to be compared favorably against candidates from all the other countries who will send their best.
15. She must be a Jamaican (That mean sey she have a Jamaican Citizenship Paper or Birth Paper as some of you call it, no matter where they now live)
Now think on the above carefully as you think about your friend, niece, daughter, sister, aunt, female wannabe and be truthful (Because we know you lie and tell them that them “Flawless” and pretty etc but you really only wanted a “piece” or want them to feel good about themselves). Now contemplate on the women you have favored and see how well they stack up against the last 3 winners of the Miss Universe Jamaica Contest.
BTW why do any of you want to change the people them Contest? When Mitsubishi has an Evolution Race would you want to enter a Lada? If them say is a Vegetarian Restaurant, why would you quarrel that you can’t get a Steak? Have you ever seen a donkey at Caymanas Track?.
If you want an Alek Wek (BTW I think she is a beautiful Model) “look” contest then start one cause mi sure that Cindy Crawford, Heidi Klum or Kate Moss type girls won’t be fighting to change the “look” that the Organisers want.
To the persons who say “She does not represent the majority of Jamaicans because she is too light skinned” I will bet that you failed Reading & Comprehension in school. To “represent” does not mean people need to look like you, it means they assume a role that will represent us taking part in a contest! Just like Athletes, Musicians, Doctors, Students, Professionals etc. Do you think they all look like they were born in Africa? Oops but then the people of different regions of Africa can look so different, yes different from you.
For all the young women who have entered or who might enter, take some of my advice above, watch the past years of the contest and compare notes on why that young lady won.
Do train your body and mind for at least one full year before, as the time between (IMHO) the recruiting and the contest is too short to adequately prepare. The worst case is that you will have a fabulous body and awesome smarts. To those who feel they need to compromise their integrity in order to win or do not like how this or any other contest is run, you have plenty of time to quit before going too far.
BTW there is no truth that winners are selected ahead of time, that is why there are several Judges and an Auditor at the show, Interviews and evaluations are done at various intervals and then it all adds up with the final presentations at the Coronation show.
But let me finish here because mi can go on and on. I just want to let you know that mi back broad and mi not worried, whether you peeved or disagree or not, but a suh it really go and it’s the same people who keep drawing the “Black Card” who are really undermining the true development of our people, politics, business and country – not anyone else.
A suh di ting set, we know seh Bad Mind is an awful thing and with all that was written above, my greatest hurt as a Jamaican born at the Port Antonio hospital is that we pretend to be proud to be Jamaican yet we spit at our National Motto “Out of many one People” !
Wha dem sey.. “One Love”? … sigh.
Check Out Craig’s Photography website HERE
BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN
You named 9 winners who you say are black ( I don’t know what they look like). Is that all in the 50 plus years of the pageant? Re #5..no black girl with a booty? #7 no full lips and nose? Whose standards are we using?
There will always be people who disagree, but I think that black girls get sidelined all the time. If you think that you can change that story hats off to you. Jamaica’s moto is out of many one people so all the complainers are asking for here is fair play. By the way is this competition affiliated with Donald Trump…just wanna know?
Here are the cold hard facts. We have had 84 winners of the varioius Miss Jamaica pageants.
Miss Jamaica 1959 – 1974 = 15 Years
Miss Jamaica World – 1976 – 39 Years
Miss Jamaica Universe – 30 Years
(1982, 1986 – 1988, Pulse hosted – 1989 – 2015 by Pulse, Invyte Promotions, Dimitris Kosvogiannis, Uzuri International)
Hee is how the demographics break down
– 12 medium to dark complexioned winners* = 14.285%
– 4 dark complexioned winners = 0.0476%
– 4 winners of Chinese heritage = 0.0476%
* = I have been very inclusive when counting the winners of medium complexion so no one can say that there has been “under counting”.
Compare this with:
Jamaican Population Demographics
– black 92.1%
– mixed 6.1%
– Chinese 0.2% (includes Chinese and East Indian)
– White 0.2%
So the winners are drawn from 6.3% of the population.
Anyone who cannot see something wrong with this picture needs to clean their glasses
Well written. If anyone wants more than 9 winners, all that they have to do is use any search engine and look it up themself.
Beauty contests are not for the purpose of “bigging up Jamaica” , they are business ventures. The promoters had to pay for the franchise and they have to pay to send entrants to the finals, whether Miss Universe or Miss World. They are in the business to make profit, which is greatest if their entrant wins. If the rules did not dictate that they hold local contests they would not bother and just select someone who they feel can win.
The contests are not about Jamaica, they are about a business trying to make a profit. Jamaica just gets a free ride of publicity.
Rubbish! It’s an insult to our intelligence to imply that few or any dark skinned beauties meet these artifical criteria that you have created. I love dem all but we do disproportionately select lighter skin beauties. That’s a fact and yuh cyaan defend dat! We are a work in progress!
I like George D. Bobby Burns’ explanation that these competitions are just business ventures. That would explain the winners nearly always having heavy european features. These features are what have been put up by the west as the ideal for beauty. Truth be told even black people have accepted this narrative. Me? I gave up on these ‘beauty’ contests a long time ago as I see them as meaningless. Beauty to me is more than skin deep. Hey I see really beautiful women every day on the streets of Jamaica and they come in all colours, shades, height, weight and social class. I am perfectly satisfied and do not need to stay up late at nights to watch a ‘beauty contest’. The entrepreneurs of these contests need to speak up and let us know the truth. They are looking for particular features that the eurocentic world will accept as beauty so they can win and eat a food. Stop parading them as having anything to do with Jamaica or patriotism, is jus a money mekking ting.
What do you all think these Contestants, do they fit your criteria for how our Contestant lineup should look? http://www.missblackusa.org/delegates/
Craig, I understand you didn’t make up the criteria, but if they are looking for a Miss Jamaica and using the country’s name, I’m sure they can find winners from ALL groups not just the 6% mixed or 2% other. We’re not a Brazil or Columbia where they have the same look to represent their nation..We’re 92% black and there are a plethora of beautiful dark skinned black women in Jamaica. You ask why they want to change the rules..well they might as well change the name of the current one. I mentioned Trinidad which is more diverse and they crown dark skinned winners more often than Jamaica.
Craig Phang Sang stated:
“Let me state that I am NOT a Writer, just putting my view out there.”
This is ABUNDANTLY clear as did not take the time to do even MINIMUM, BASIC research before submitting his comments.
I am not sure why is making up bogus criteria. As far as I am concerned his credibility is shot.
The Facts
Directly from the websites, here are the requirements to enter Miss Jamaica Universe and Miss Jamaica World.
Miss Jamaica Universe
Criteria for Entry
The Miss Universe Jamaica Beauty, Fashion & Wellness Pageant Beauty Pageant is open to all young, single female Jamaicans and the qualification for eligibility is based on the following:
– Contestant was born in Jamaica, be the child of a Jamaican parent(s), or is a naturalized citizen of Jamaica.
– Contestant is unmarried, never been married, or divorced.
– Contestant has never given birth to a child.
– Contestant is at least 18 years and under 27 years old on February 01, of 2015.
– Contestant is of sound moral character & background and possesses natural beauty of face & figure; poise, charm, grace and a great personality.
Source: http://missuniversejamaica.org/html/meet-the-contestants/become-a-contestant
Judging Criteria here:
http://missuniversejamaica.org/html/meet-the-contestants/judging-criteria
Miss Jamaica World
Criteria for Entry
The Miss Jamaica Beauty Pageant is open to all young, single female Jamaicans and the qualification for eligibility is that all contestants shall be a person:
– Who has been born in Jamaica, be the child of a Jamaican parent, or is a naturalized citizen of Jamaica.
– Who has never been legally married
– Who has never given birth to a child
– Attained the age of 17 years on or before the 1st day of June, but shall not have attained the age of 25 years on that date.
– Be of good character and possess charm, poise, and personality and have beauty of face and figure.
– Be a person whose background is not likely to bring into disrepute the Miss Jamaica Beauty Pageant or Miss Jamaica World title or the Promoter or any person associated with them.
Source: http://missjamaicaworld.com/the-pageant/rules-criteria
The dark-sKnned Jamaican beauties do very well in the competions that really matter These are the fashion model competitions organized by Pulse Investments Ltd. and Saint International Ltd. These young beautiful black women(and men)go on to work in and perform oustandingly in the international fashion and modelling industry where their “look”, which is often described as near flawless, is in high demand among some of the world’s top fashion designers and modelling agencies. The number of these Jamacan models appearing on international fashion runways and in top-flight fashion magazines -some even gracing the covers- is truly amazing for such a small coun These are the persons just like our athletes, musicians and others who bring pride and glory the country and give it the cool, confident and almost mystical image that it has. .
In my earlier post I deliberately spoke about the competitions that really mattered – the fashion model competitions.This is because it seems to me that these are the ones that offer more long- term and meaningful benefits to the competitors. These are the competitions that have let our beautiful and talented young women (and men),most of whom happen to be black, into the world of international fashion where they feature with the very best in high fashion and commercial modelling. They can and have built careers around these and dependent on how well they continue to do, physically or otherwise, can continue to work for years. One only has to look at the inimitable fashion icon Niaomi Campbell who in a recent runway appearance outshone her younger “peers” proving that her classic beauty and style stand the test of time.
On the matter of the Miss Jamaica Universe and the Miss Jamaica World competitions, most of the darker—skinned girls who have won the national crown go on to do very well in the international competitions Two of the most recent that I presently recall are Dr Terri Karelle Griffith, now Reid, and Dr Sara Lawrence. Both young women were very popular in the international compettions and placed in the final fifteen. Dr Lawrence finished sixth and was selected the Caribbean Queen of Beauty. These ladies are well-educated, bright, articulate and beautiful and continue to behave with the dignity and decorum expected of them. So much so that Dr Lawrence was selected as the Caribbean regional “face” of L’Oreal one of the leading international cosmetic and beauty companies. As noted above a number of other darker-skinned Jamaican beauties have done well in the international competitions where they were either quite popular or shortlisted to a point. Based on what I have gathered so far it seems that proportionally the darker girls seemed to have done just as well as the lighter girls. I do not know what the final objectives of the local organizers of the competitions are when it comes to choosing the “right” person. But if it is mainly to ensure that a lighter-complexioned person usually wins,then based on the above, that would seem to be rather short-sighted.
dont see why jamaicans are following the american one drop rule not even africans follow it
as long as you dont call the winner just black but mixed race i see no problem
Dark-skinned Black girls have done very well in these contests. I think we have a fair mix of winners.
Great article! On point.
Oh my goodness. The racism is real in this one. Apparently, us pitiful black women can’t speak patois AND English, look like men, have disproportionate bodies, are unintelligent, love cock up, whine and gwaan bad (which is funny, because I saw a number of these “ideal” women who won at carnival the other day), etc. This sick man told us straight up that none of our black mothers, friends, aunts and sisters (who he also denigrated as “female wannabes”) have no chance. And it was obvious that he was targeting black women based on the stereotypes used. (The weave comment gave you away). Funny, because last time I checked, Naomi Campbell is the daughter of two Jamaican parents and is a black woman who is beautiful and articulate. So are Sara Lawrence, Terri-Karelle, Jaunel McKenzie, Krystal Tomlinson, Emprezz Golding, Alexia Palmer, and the list goes on. Since your problem is evidently with black women in general, I could go on to mention Leila Lopes, Miss Universe 2011, Wendy Fitzwilliams, Janelle Commisioning, (both black Miss Universe winners from Trinidad and Tobago, a country that has FAR more non-black and mixed Trinis than Jamaica), Agbani Darego (probably one of the most successful models to come out of Miss World), etc. All Jamaicans asked for were more black beauty queens; I don’t know how you managed to launch into a Lada, male-lookalikes, and donkey diatribe. Well, I do.
Anyways, Jamaicans just need to stop support these things all together, including and ESPECIALLY the sponsors. Even if they choose a black woman, they will deliberately choose a black woman who they think will fail to try and justify their racism, and if she had a good chance of placing they will sabotage her in one way or another. You control your money, direct it wisely. Remember the power of the dollar. Don’t waste time begging acknowledgement from people who hate us. Pay them dust.
USA President Barack Obama as far as I am concerned brought his “A” game to the Presidency and has made huge strides for the American people despite inheriting huge challenges. He has and still does face many Racism issues. Yet he has continued to be unscathed on his path and History will show the greatness that he has achieved.
There is no question that in Jamaica and all over the World there is Racism being practiced and way too much from “Black” people towards “Black” people. What we should do in this instant and as Jamaicans is to bring our own “A” game always! and in Beauty Pageants could include making changes or adapting some of the things I have listed here. Disect or find fault as one wishes but they still bear much Merit based on past Winners & participants World wide.
It is truly a sad day when we choose someone for a position solely on the color of their skin and while fighting that injustice do exactly the same from another angle.
If this type of event is not your thing you will never understand and worst if one has their own biases then the Info that I gathered from and experienced as well as my “tongue-in-cheek” commentary will never be appreciated.
It is with great hope that we will all understand our Jamaican Motto “Out of many, one people” and live with Bob Marleys song “One Love” in our hearts.
I will agree to dissagree with many of these comments and assertions, and one’s right to their opinion with respect, simply because that right as a Human Being I still have and one I cherish.
Well said and absolutely true! Every year I cheer on the winners only to read all the negative, vitriolic diatribe that is said no matter how drop down beautiful the girl is! There have been dark skinned winners and there will continue to be dark and light skinned winners. Can’t we just be happy for whoever wins? So far Jamaica has done exceptionally well in the Miss World Pageant, being in the top 5 and for such a small country, I think that that is Amazing! Isn’t that something to be proud of? For such a small country we are HUGE! The fastest man and woman in the world, the home of Reggae, Bob Marley, Dance Hall, Tessanne Chin who sang for the president of the USA, the originator of the now world famous Jerk seasoning, Ting ( International beverage winner many times over), our Arts and Crafts, Black Chiney ( world famous Jamaican music producer), our Island is second to nowhere on earth in it’s beauty and last but not least our People, who despite crushing poverty, violence and political corruptness still possess an indomitable will to live, to dance, to smile and as Miss Lou would say when all else fails ” we can tun our han and mek fashion”! As a proud Jamaican I think that we have a lot to be proud of, so let us build each other up rather than tear each other down. Because a nation divided against itself cannot stand!