So someone called Nicole Flint is our new Miss South Africa. Do you care? Does anyone?
I remember the halcyon days of a pageant that enjoyed real cultural power. Anneline Kriel was a bit before my time (she was in the process of divorcing Sol when she starred on page 3 of the Sunday Times during my childhood). But there were others who stood out. Remember when Michelle Bruce dated Tony Leon and advertised condoms? Andrea Steltzer, who managed to be both Miss South Africa and Miss Germany?
Miss South Africas in those days were genuine celebrities and they had real star power. To this day we remember them. Remember Kerishnie Naiker, who got trapped speeding in her Hyundai Tiburon, Peggy-Sue Khumalo and Jacqui Mofokeng who were so controversial at the time and, more recently, Claudia Henkel and her Veet ads.
Some Miss South Africas went on to achieve even greater fame after their reign: Basetsana Kumalo is perhaps the best example of a woman who turned her celebrity into a business opportunity; Joanne Strauss followed her stiletto footsteps onto the swish sets of Top Billing. Amy Kleinhans is still a regular feature of social columns and slightly dodgy TV promos while Cindy Nell — perhaps best known for meeting her intellectual match in Jacques Kallis — is promoting some fake tan product. The website assures readers that she is “working together with Cosmetix on some new exiting editions to the range for Summer 2009″ (sic).
(Then there’s Diana Tilden-Davis, who briefly courted fame again after being attacked by a hippo in the Okavango a couple of years ago.)
In more recent years, however, all the Miss South Africas seemed to have blended into a sort of vague amalgamation of long legs, dazzling smiles and lots of hair. They show up at launches and fashion shows, but they make no impact. Why is that? What has happened?
Maybe it is because in an age where everyone can be a celebrity thanks to the ubiquity of reality TV and new media, beauty pageants seem oddly anachronistic. The prestige conferred upon one young woman who now somehow represents an entire nation has been undermined by competition from other forms of media and, I would guess, by a certain cynicism. We’re just not impressed by beauty pageants any more, and the winner is just one more pair of boobs amidst all the others.
Nonetheless, South Africans still seem to care who wins, if only on the night. I did not watch the pageant on TV — my grandmother was watching Midsomer Murders on Hallmark at the time — so I followed it, as one does, on Twitter. This was the first year that Miss South Africa has featured so strongly on Twitter (I am of course making a huge assumption here, since I was not on Twitter this time last year, but neither were most of my fellow South African tweeters). As Clive Simpkins observed, “Ain’t twitter amazing? You can be doing something else but by proxy attend all sorts of events as a virtual participant”.
It certainly revealed the power of Twitter as a medium to facilitate a nation’s conversation with itself. A conversation that is largely restricted to the tweet elite, granted, but nonetheless revealing of many of our current concerns.
And yes, we’re still obsessed with race. Many people were not at all happy that a white woman won.
“Eugene Terblanch is celebrating with Helen Zille whereever they are” wrote one. Or, in this charming example of the ability of social media to facilitate intelligent discussion: “Fuck every judge! Hope ur roof falls in on ur head! How the fuck is ths stupid lookin dutchmangirl gon rep us in miss world? Fokof”
Granted, others were more conciliatory, arguing that the judges were merely rotating the winners between races. The comedian Tshepo Mogale argued, “Its often disappointing when people bring in race when they don’t get what they want … in all realms: sports, jobs; pageants or whatever”.
Still, it strikes me how divisive this all was. A friend of mine who was in the Superbowl at the time commented on how excited the entire audience was, that it was the real rainbow nation in there. But from where I was sitting, the pageant seemed only to fuel our peculiarly South African obsession with racial categories.
Miss South Africa still matters, it seems. But not necessarily for the right reasons.
Oh, heavens. How I laughed at that “Dutchmangirl” slur. I didn’t realise ‘Dutchman’ was an insult…
I am cynical about any beauty pageant. As you say, these girls are just another pair of boobs. Of course they are nice to look at, but that’s not really a good enough reason to make someone a spokesperson for a country. It’s obviously all about exploiting women for a profit.
Once upon a long time ago I didn’t realise that using the arabic word for infidel was offensive either. So “dutchmangirl” really IS offensive and the autocensor needs to add it to the banned list.
But Miss SA has always been all about the great icing on top of a plaster-of-paris cake, hasn’t it?
Just a thought: Back in the ‘halcyon’ days of Miss SA, pre-1994 to be fair, the standard for what was considered beautiful was pretty clear cut. White, long hair (pref blonde), big boobs, etc. The possibility that someone who wasn’t white would win, was non-existent.
Another point is that back in the day, there were very few ways to become famous, one of them being crowned Miss SA. In 2009, you can do nothing except party hard and spend money you don’t have and be famous?
Now, SA prides itself on its diversity plus we (women)are constantly told that it doesn’t matter what your height, shape, clothing size, hair type, color, etc – anyone and everyone is (or can be) beautiful.
Maybe thats why the pageant is irrelevant. It can and never will be truly reflective of SA women.
The interesting thing for me is how many women watch MSA. My wife and daughters all watched and commented continuously on the physical features of each contestant: ‘She’s pretty’, ‘She’s got a large nose’, etc. I didn’t watch it as usual – it’s about as riveting as watching paint dry to see a collection of glossy but bland women walk across a stage. In fact I don’t know any men who watch MSA at all!
So what is with women and this need to watch MSA and comment on the contestants? I have tried raised my daughters to value education and shun vacuous celebrity programmes, but they’re still drawn to MSA and similar celebrity rubbish. All the women in my house are regular watchers of the E! channel, which must be the most mind-bogglingly bland wallpaper-TV ever produced! I just don’t get it!
i’m shocked by the shallowness of this article. I guess, really the same can be said for journalism these days, where heart and soul could be read in truth and words. I have heard of Nicole over a year ago, and i’ve seen her passionately making sure that those less privileged get blankets, without title dealers watch over her or grading her. I think it’s damn right that nicole won, as for once in a very long time, the rightful meaning behind a title like this can be shown, by someone who does not deem her title a popularity beacon, but a tool to actually make more of a difference than has been made in the last couple of years. Nicole, i am proud of you. Well done!
I totally agree that miss SA matters, but I also want to know why should race matter??? Nicole is beautiful!! And she represents South Africa, our rainbow nation, so lets support her, we owe her that! I have also heard comments that some think she has the best chance to win Miss World since Annelien Kriel. And I aggree 100%. Nicole can compare with the current Miss Universe, which is from Venezuela and last year’s Miss World from Russia, and none of the most recent Miss SA’s was able to do that. The reason?? – It is simple, they’re just not that pretty. Finally, WHY do we have to bring race in every equation? Why can’t we make peace with the past and move forward?? People it has been almost 15 years now! Mr Nelson Mandela is a real example to live by…
The arrogance of some entrants is also breathtaking. Matapa Maila, after being first princess for the second time had this to say in The Times; “I don’t want to sound arrogant but I really thought I had it this time. I gave it my whole heart and the results really took me aback,” Maila said.
“I was shocked, I know I shone throughout the night. I don’t think I even needed to prove myself.”
Maila also told The Times that she was “hurting and bruised” after her loss but refuses to be a “sour loser”.
“I am not a robot, I have feelings, and I must say it hurts and it doesn’t make sense to me why I didn’t win,” she said. “But Nicole is there now, and that is maybe what God’s plan was.” Maila said her loss should “raise awareness of how the judging is done and why the public has no say in the pageant”.
Some people really do start believing their own PR..
Is Miss World any more relevant? The top 3 didn’t lokk particularly better than most of the other entrants, to me…
When one outgrows the interest, the relevance pales, that’s all.
This 2009 production was ghastly. The girls marched about like show horses, the lighting was crude and shocking, there were no interesting clips of the girls and I literally got sore feet from watching them parade.
UGH!
The reality is that the Hudges decide days before the final night who will be the winner. No judging is done on the night. It is all smoke and mirrors to make the public believe that judging is taking place. Ever seen a SA pagent judge write on a score sheet? You never will becuse they are not used on the final night.
There is nothing like the pagentry of a Miss USA. They judge through out. Ours is just the exploitation of SA women for monetary gain and some advertising for the sponsors.
Celebrities of any kind should be put in concentration camps where they can be put to some use for the community. Madonna, for instance, need never worry about her personal trainer again. Good, hard physical labour will set her straight. As for the Miss World’s, no make-up, Botox or false boobs. Peeling potatoes, my girls.
A bunch of look-alike skinny-minnies did not impress at all.
@Sipho
The only reason why “dutchman” might not be a racial insult it because Afrikaners don’t take things like that seriously.
The intention is there though, and as we all know intention is everything!
Sassa, learn some history — pre 94 we had Amy Kleynhans, Basetsane, etc as fully-fledged, sole Miss SAs. (And during the distant days of Vorster’s rule there was even a “Miss Africa South” with ladies like Pearl Jansen in the Miss World pageant alongside her white counterpart.)
And 1970 Miss Africa South, Pearl Jansen came 2nd in the Miss World pageant, whereas her white counterpart, Jillian Jessup, only came fifth…