missjamaica
By Sesali B. • @BadFatBlackGirl • 9 years ago

QUICK HIT: MEET MISS JAMAICA, THE FIRST EVER MISS WORLD PAGEANT CONTESTANT WITH LOCS

The Miss World 2015 Pageant is about to witness something it has never seen before.

Black hair politics can get messy. Not even little Black girls are granted immunity from the scrutiny of classist expectations about the way their hair should look. At school our hair can get us in trouble. And as an adult, our hair can get us fired from our jobs. Even the United States army has a say so in which Black styles are appropriate. Within a system that has standardized whiteness by way of devaluing and erasing Black aesthetics, locs (a shortened and less derogatory form of the word ‘dreadlocks’) are on the “no” list of hairstyles, for the army and beyond. Locs are often branded as unprofessional, dirty, criminal, and unattractive, especially for women.

The feminine beauty standards that dominate the pageant world also reflect a bias towards whiteness, especially in regards to hair. So it’s a big deal to know that Dr. Sanneta Myrie, Miss Jamaica, is the first ever competitor to don locs for this 64 year old competition. She says “I lock my hair because I identify with it. I am very much rooted in that Afro-centric nature, where we as Jamaicans are rooted. It’s my expression.” Read more about Miss Jamaica World and her platforms below!

Header image via.

Feministing's resident "sexpert", Sesali is a published writer and professional shit talker. She is a queer Black girl, fat girl, and trainer. She was the former Training Director at the United States Student Association and later a member of the Youth Organizing team at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She received her bachelors in Women's and Gender Studies from Depaul University in 2012 and is currently pursuing a master's in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality studies at Georgia State University in Atlanta. A self identified "trap" feminist, and trained with a reproductive justice background, her interests include the intersections of feminism and: pop culture, youth culture, social media, hip hop, girlhood, sexuality, race, gender, and Beyonce. Sesali joined the team in 2010 as one of the winners of our So You Think You Can Blog contest.

is Feministing's resident sexpert and cynic.

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