“If beauty has a purpose, then the stage around that beauty must also have purpose.”
When I was 11 years old, I asked my father, Roger Boka, if I could enter a modelling competition. He said no. At the time, I didn’t understand. He was a man who celebrated image, branding and public life. Yet he ended the conversation with words that stayed with me: “You are too intelligent to be doing that anyway.” Four months later, he passed away.
By Samantha Boka
For years, I wondered what he meant. Was he dismissing modelling, protecting me, or responding to a world that too often separates beauty from intelligence? That memory returned as I watched the Miss Universe Zimbabwe pageant and reflected on its theme, Beauty With a Purpose.
It is a powerful phrase, but purpose cannot rest solely on the women competing. The hosting, judging, sponsorship, media coverage and male support surrounding pageantry must also reflect that purpose.
One of the evening’s highlights was Honourable Monica Mutsvangwa’s speech, which placed pageantry within the broader conversation on tourism, entrepreneurship, culture, women’s empowerment and national development. That framing challenged everyone involved, especially the men, to rise to the same level of responsibility.
Modern pageantry is no longer simply about appearance. Today’s contestants champion education, health, climate action, business, community development and advocacy. Beauty may open the door, but intellect, discipline, emotional intelligence and purpose are what sustain success.
Yet some moments during the evening reminded me that the culture around pageantry still has room to grow. Humour centred on men’s reactions to the contestants’ bodies and jokes about accomplished women returning to marriage stereotypes shifted attention away from the women themselves. Even when intended as light entertainment, such moments can unintentionally reduce women rather than celebrate them.
The crowning of Miss Universe Zimbabwe 2026 should have belonged entirely to the winner. Instead, public attention shifted after cash was thrown onto the stage in celebration. While such gestures may carry positive cultural intentions in some contexts, timing and setting matter. The visual language overshadowed a moment that should have highlighted preparation, advocacy and achievement.
This is not about excluding men from pageantry. Quite the opposite. Pageantry needs men who sponsor professionally, mentor respectfully, celebrate without overshadowing, and protect the dignity of the women on stage. Supporting women should never mean competing with their spotlight.
As artificial intelligence reshapes how beauty is created and presented, authentic human presence may become even more valuable. Pageantry, at its best, is not about perfection but about real women standing before real audiences, representing their stories, cultures and communities.
I often return to my father’s words. Today, I understand the protection behind them, but I also understand the question they left me with: What kind of world makes a father feel that beauty and intelligence cannot safely stand on the same stage?
That is the world we must change.
Because when beauty truly has a purpose, masculinity must have purpose too. The future of pageantry is not anti-men. It is anti-objectification. And the best men will understand the difference.
Extracted from a personal reflection by Samantha Boka
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