Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi discusses the significance of representing women ‘who look like me’
Article By Octavia Leonard // EEW Magazine // Beauty
Millions watched as South Africa's Zozibini Tunzi was crowned Miss Universe 2019, fulfilling her dream of showing black girls everywhere a different standard of beauty.
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Even if she had not won the crown, the naturally gorgeous, melanated beauty queen told “Good Morning America” co-host Michael Strahan, “I think I would have accomplished it either way just by being on that stage and representing women who look like me.”
During the contest held at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, GA, the 26-year-old said, “I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was never considered beautiful. I think it is time that stops today. I want children to look at me and see my face, and I want them to see their faces reflected in mine.”
Tunzi, who is helping broaden beauty standards and positively influence black and brown girls everywhere, said of her win on GMA, “It feels fantastic,” noting that, we “come from such a racially-divided world,” but slowly, we are “moving forward in unity.”
Tunzi’s recent crowning marks the first time in history that black women simultaneously held the top prize in four of the major beauty pageants: Miss Universe, Miss America, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. “I’m so happy to be a part of this trio, because I’ve been following them for a while, and it was such a beautiful thing to watch,” said Miss Universe, beaming.
It is indeed a major milestone, because earlier in history, many well-known pageants did not allow minorities and women of color to complete. Though there have been black winners in the past like Vanessa Williams who was crowned the first black Miss America in 1984, there has never been a time historically that this many black women simultaneously held titles.
Tunzi said on morning television that black women “haven’t really been celebrated in the past, and now, finally people are starting to see the greatness that is within us.”
The new Miss Universe is a gender violence activist who was forced to abandon her studies for a year because of her family's economic difficulties, but her modeling work allowed her to continue her education. She studied public relations at Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Now, the whole world has opened up for her, and she wears her crown as a symbol of pride and evolution in our culture that is celebrating melanin magic—and we love it.
