Journey | Not Your Typical Beauty Queen
by Gail Mitchell
In 2007, Zahra Redwood, 25, won the coveted title of Miss Jamaica.
What’s so interesting about this accomplishment is not just the fact that Redwood beat out hundreds of women competing with her. She is the first Rastafarian to win in her home country. Flowing, down the back dreadlocks, and a beautiful smile, and a socially conscious attitude won the competition and challenged stereotypical images of beauty in the islands and internationally. Redwood went on to compete in the Miss Universe pageant. Alas, she didn’t win Miss Universe, but the fact that she has a Wikipedia page says something.
Her length defying locs are getting all of the attention, but as India.Arie says Zahra is more than just her hair. She has a degree in biotechnology and zoology from the University of the West Indies. She’s mature, intelligent, and completely self-determined — exactly what the winner should be. And besides, Zahra’s victory makes a statement about how far natural beauty has come.
In an interview with Yard Flex, she was asked if she had any fears or was nervous about entering the Miss Universe pageant. She replied, “I have no fears and I don't entertain any negativity or challenges representing Jamaica. I see it as a phenomenon to be the first Rastafarian beauty queen.”
Rastafarians - who worship the late Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie as a God they call "Jah" - stress peace, love, spiritual goals and natural living. In another interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Redwood denied there is a clash between Rasta culture and being a beauty queen.
"The Rastafarian culture and beauty pageants have a great deal in common because they both promote decorum in the attitude of the female and the female as a role model in society. You're looking at beauty of the mind, body and soul," she said.
And what attention her locs have received. I found various pages asking readers to challenge if her locs are real. Her trademark style of locs twisted up into a bun or twisted in a knot and freely flowing down her back. Her roots are left unloc’d, so to the untrained (or jealous eye) it looks like a pin on style. Her hair is real.
She’s challenged a lot. Not only the notions of her own culture but many of the views of African or African American beauty that made the trip to Jamaica and left loads of baggage women all over the island still carry.
Redwood has also smashed stereotypes that Rastas are only interested in reggae and marijuana. She went on in the Herald interview, "Not all Rastafarians smoke [marijuana]. People criticise what they don't know or understand and develop preconceptions, and so given that, I have gone against what they've developed as a stereotype.”