Will We Ever See a Girl With Dread Locs Crowned Miss World?

The Grand Coronation of the  Miss World Pageant is slated for tonight. We all know hair has been traditionally linked to a woman’s beauty and in such pageants, hair and wardrobe is a big deal. In recent times we’ve seen a scattering of natural beauties in international beauty pageants but seeing one with dread locs is rare.

I’m not usually into pageants but I can recall in times past how as a little girl my eyes would be glued to the screen to see the bevy of beauties  and see if there were any with melanin in their skin and perhaps some kink in their hair.

It was usually the African nations that would send black girls. These days, Caribbean countries are making the effort to send girls that look more like the majority of the population they represent. This year Jamaica’s ambassador to the pageant is 24yr  old Medical Doctor Sanneta Myrie, who sports lush dread locs. It got me thinking, will we ever see a girl with dread locs crowned Miss World?

It’s not the first time that the nation has entered a loc’ed contestant in a beauty pageant. Back in 2007 when Zahra Redwood won the Miss Jamaica Universe title there was a buzz created by the fact that she had locs.

I can remember some of the ridiculous comments to this day. When she won there were those who thought her locs were “too way out there” and went as far as to intimate that her crowning represented “typical Jamaica arrogance.” Imagine that! (Confidence exhibited by a Jamaican usually rubs people the wrong way I guess, but that’s an entirely different cup of tea.) When all is said and done, in the entire history of the pageant, a girl with locs has never been crowned Miss World.

Anyway, I think what with the growth of the natural hair community since then that perhaps we may have a more accommodating view of dread locs? I mean, look how many celebrities have been sporting faux locs; look how many celebs have been embracing their natural to the point where international fashion moguls are supporting black models in their decision to shed their weaves on the runway. Even Kylie Jenner from the Kardashian clan was rocking some locs. On the other hand, if Giuliana Rancic’s  critique of Zendaya’s locs this February is anything to go by we still have a mighty long way to go. To think she would dare to go ahead and propagate the stereotypical view that all people sporting dread locs smell like patchouli oil* and weed is a little sad in this the age of information.