The next decade....what's in store?

Interesting question, Yamfoot? Do you pick the girl who you think will do well, or do you pick the girl who best represents what Jamaican women look like?
Hmmm... ok. I say, pick the girl who will do well. After all, is it a contest about what the typical woman in each country looks like? No, its not. It is seeking to find the exceptional woman, with exceptional status being accorded based on certain criteria. Its not really about brains or typical-ness. Its looks. (Now I am not knocking nappy hair in the looks dept. There are manu nappy haired women with close cropped nappy hair that I find quite exquisite!
By the way, what do you mean that none of the dark skinned women from Jamaica did well in the Miss World. Lisa Hanna skin was dark and she won the Miss World! So her hair was not nappy... Her skin was dark though.
Guess what too? Sandra Foster's skin was dark! I doh remember what she came in the Miss World, but I believe she was in the top ten. I think she did well in the Miss Universe too. I am sure her hair was somewhat nappy. Then again, if we are talking about dark skinned, nappy haired women, there have been several who have won in recent times, from the U.S., from South Africa and from Trinidad and Tobago. That suggests that in recent times at least, there hasn't been such a bias against dark skin. If most of our dark skinned women didn't do well, maybe its just that those particular women didn't make the grade in the looks department.
Finally, who says the typical woman from Jamaica has Nappy hair. Most of them seem to process their hair in one way or the other, whether it be Jheri curl, relaxer, hot comb or this new Japanese straightener I've been hearing about recently..
Anyway, me done. What do the rest of the readers have to say.
Anyway, let me stop here and see what others have to add

when i say nappy hair, i meant hair, that if not processed, will be nappy. Lisa Hanna doesn't fall into that category since she is indian.

sandra foster was very fair, lighter than me, so I dont consider her dark skinned at all, and I knew her before her hair was processed cause we went to the same high school, it was long and curly-ish, so not nappy.

wendy fitzwilliam would probably have nappy hair (nappy hair = hair that has very tight curls and breaks the teeth of those plastic combs when you try to comb it!) if she didnt process hers.

It's funny, cause nappy hair people want to make their hair straight and straight hair people go and get curly perms! Amazing init.

Well, one of the things you mentioned was dark skinned, and Lisa is dark skinned. So is Sandra. She may be lighter than you, but in slavery days she would have been a slave. Is a black woman that! But even say I accepted your argument, what about Erica Aquart? Black woman, good candidate for nappy hair, Miss Jamaica 1990, sixth place in the Miss World?

What about Cathy Levy? Miss Jamaica 1983, dark and Lovely, good nappy hair candidate, 4th in the Miss World?

I don't know the women you are referring to, but I would tend to agree with El Toro on the point about the contest. I don't think the contest is to find a woman that represents how the majority of people look in the country. I can tell you, I go to Wal-Mart at least once a week, and that's wahat "regular America" looks like and I rarely see the people who shop there on the Miss America pagent.

Michelle, I think you also stumbled on to another point though. These contest used to be called "Beauty" pagents. I think they are evolving to be something a little more that just looks. Don't get me wrong, I am sure it's still mostly about looks, but now, these pagent contestants have to be fairly well spoken and articulate, and also have some substance to them (at least for Miss USA). Sure you still have to be a hottie, but seems like you have to have some intelligence as well.

I'd have to say though, I would think it wouldn't be as much fun to get naked with one of them just to watch them read. Ha!

Lawks....beauty contests...used to follow them, but in recent years they really don't matter to me. As I have said before, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

'Nappy' is a new term for me Mich. Thanks for the information. (How often have I said that blogging can be educational?)

Regarding the 'beautiful brown' issue, there are many factors that impinge on it. I agree with you, the lighter skinned girls with the 'tall' hair are indeed favoured in beauty contests here and abroad. Whether Sandra Foster or Cathy Levy were of a darker hue, if they did have 'nappy' (you must let me in how that term means what does) hair, they certainly did not decide to enter the contest with the hair in its natural state of 'nappiness'...it did well cream. Are we to assume that 'nappy' equates to unattractive or lacking in beauty?

I fully agree with you also about the colonial influence here. It does impinge on what many Jamaican/Caribbean people view as attractive. From the days of slavery blackness and anything associated with it was equated to being unfavourable. 'Nappy' hair = 'Bad' hair. I know of women who cream their hair and refer to it jokingly as 'hiding the cousins'. Straight or Caucasiod or 'Indian' hair equates to good.

The same factors account for why numerous Jamaican/Caribbean/African and Indian women use and abuse bleaching creams as part of their normal daily beauty regimes. As a dermatologist I see the side effects all the time, have written articles and spoken about this problem ad nauseum. It is not going going to change. Dem naw stop...dem want to be brown, 'tone down' dem skin. The Dance Hall DJs favour a 'browning'. Some say if you brown, it is easier to find a mate.

Being light skinned myself and having so called 'good' hair (on account of my Father's genes) many people would think that I am offended by this discussion. I am not in any way. The issue of 'representative' also warrants discussion. Looking the way I do, many people may not consider me representative of Jamaica....as my hair is not 'nappy', I am not of a black complexion, I don't smoke ganja etc etc. The fact of the matter is, this is a country where just about every race is represented, regardless of the fact that our populace is vastly black skinned. The truth is that many so called 'black' Jamaicans are indeed just as mixed as I am. So, form my point of view, we are all 'representative' of a multiracial country. Then again, some may say that I am biassed because of my skin colour, but, I am not and try to remain as open minded here (or whenever this colour discussion comes up) as possible.

There was chat about this at work on Friday. A guy working in my Unit...black American (cool dude), was saying that the caucasoid girl in the contest (have no idea of names...I really ent following it)....should not be allowed to enter Miss Jamaica as she is not representative of our country. I had to correct him and remind him of our national motto, which I have heard some Jamaicans say dem nuh defend! (These folks claim that since we have a black majority, that black rules.) The 'white' girl has just as much place in the contest as the 'nappy' haired one IMHO. I asked him in that case if it was proper for Miss USA to be a black woman....hailing from a country where African Americans are in the minority. His answer which I found quite lame was that he felt so because black people helped to build the USA. (I rolled my eyes.) I told him that we in Jamaica cannot forget that Blacks, Whites, Chinese, Indians, Syrians/Jews (whatever) have helped to build Jamaica to what it is today... good, bad or indifferent. The same can be said of the US which is now the cultural melting pot of this side of the world.

Albeit, this is a discussion that could go on for eons. I have seen pictures of the girls, and they all look like they (save the 'nappy' one were a product of the same mold). I find some of them nice looking, and all of them have pretty nice bodies, I selected a winner myself, but forgot the name. Whoever wins, I hope she will do well. If she does well in the Miss World, that is just icing on the cake really.

The time has long come for people not to judge and stereotype people based on the colour of their skin and more for what values thay have. As the wikidskindoc, as much as I like to see nice looking skin, there is a hell of a lot more to people than black, brown, yellow, pink, blue...whatever! Me done talk. :-))

I watched it with MB while we downed some VX. I thought the Yapp girl would have won, but I suppose her body wasn't shocking. Whatever.

As a former contestant of the Miss Jamaica contests I have to add my two cents.

The year that I was in the contest we had one contestant that was very vocal about the dark skinned, nappy headed point of view. Needless to say, although many of us were lighter skinned (or as I was frequently referred to in my days in Jamaica - Red!) most of us had creamed or straightened hair.
even Miss vocal, I might add!!!

The girl who eventually won - Debbie Campbell was by no means the most beautiful girl in the contest. That title belonged to Audi Moore - ONE TRULY BEAUTIFUL BLACK, NAPPY HEADED WOMAN let me tell you! She had a small 'fro and a fantastic body and face. I think that most of us in the contest thought that Audi would win. She came second.

At first we were a little amazed, although all through the contest there had been rumours that Debbie Campbell had been picked from the beginning and had been thusly groomed for the position. I have never known or cared whether that was true, however, after see Debbie at a party as Miss Jamaica I realized why they had picked her. She had the personality for it! Plain and simple. she could talk to anyone, smile on cue and she had the ability to make you feel she was only interested in what you were saying while talking to you. so, I'd say that it is definitely the person most likely to be able to contend with the other girls that are sent to the Miss World or Miss University! Not the one who is necessarily even the most beautiful or most representative of Jamaica.

Jamaican women are among the most beautiful in the world, no matter if they are light skinned, dark skinned, nappy headed or (not as common) blond. If we are born in Jamaica and of Jamaican parents we have a right to be there to represent our country, which we do every day of our lives.

I am not sure what people have against our motto. I think it is one of the most true and meaningful and peaceful mottos of the world.

"OUT OF MANY, ONE PEOPLE"!!!!

PS. Alot of the Miss World and Miss Universe seems to be very political...have you ever noticed that!?

PPS...I was in the contest about 21-22 years ago.
YIKES.....Now I feel old :-)

Yes, Ciya, I agree with you big time. Audi Moore was one pretty pretty pretty girl! Suweet!