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Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi Is Not a ‘Diversity Win’


In the pageant community, many fans have been at odds with the Miss Universe Organization’s direction since WME/IMG bought the pageant from Donald Trump is 2015. The pageant is “no longer about beauty” is a common refrain when a Black woman wins.

“MUO is going through an identity crisis. When Gretchen Carlson [former Miss America and Fox News host] turned last year’s Miss America pageant into a platform speaking tournament, MUO had a great opportunity to serve as a foil,” another disgruntled fan responded. “Instead, they bowed to the whim of the ultra left and are now pandering to snowflakes by promoting victim culture every chance they can get.”

Miss America, which is not affiliated with Miss Universe, has long been seen as the more conservative of the major pageants, putting a higher emphasis on education and platform. Miss Universe has historically been the more glamorous competition.

But in recent years, the pageant has shifted focus from a pure emphasis on beauty and glitz and widened its lens; contestants speak vocally and candidly about issues like race, LGBTQ issues, abortion, and climate change.

Progress is slow, but Miss USA and Miss Universe are now more than glamazons; they’re spokespeople for critical issues. But for some fans, this shift is unwelcome. In competition parlance, it has meant that a woman who is “not pageant pretty” can win if she’s a good public speaker and has the right “credentials.” It’s no surprise that Black women face the brunt of this backlash.

Racism wrapped up in critique still permeates the pageant industry. A Black woman’s win is never just her own personal accomplishment and triumph. It is at worst a “political statement,” or otherwise framed in coded language. She’s a “diverse winner” or a “sign of the times.” Tunzi’s hard work, beauty, and grace is disappointedly — but unsurprisingly — being reduced to a marketing ploy. And that is the conundrum Black women not just in pageants but in most other industries face: Why can’t we ever just win?



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With Miss Universe's Win, Black Women Hold Every Major Pageant Title in the World Right Now


Pageants often get a bad rap for being regressive leftovers from a different time. While some of that criticism is fair, the organizations that run them have made changes in recent years to become more modern. (Case and point: the elimination of the swimsuit competition at Miss America.) And there’s no question that their reach is still enormous, with competitions running in all 50 states and in countries around the world.

Now, for the first time ever, all four major pageant titles—Miss America, Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Universe—are held by black women. Last night, the newly-crowned Miss Universe, Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa, joined Miss America Nia Franklin, Miss USA Cheslie Kryst, and Miss Teen USA Kaliegh Garris to become the fourth black woman to currently wear a major pageant crown.

“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 to be beautiful,” Tunzi said, according to the BBC. “I think that it is time that that stops today.”

“It is important to little brown and black girls to see three strong figures, three strong women, African-American women that are doing so much great work,” Ms. Franklin told the New York Times in May. “People will argue that race doesn’t matter. But race does matter in America, because of the history, because of slavery.”

“Nia, Cheslie, and Kaliegh: you are trailblazers, creating your own path on your own terms. Congratulations,” Senator Kamala Harris tweeted in May. Now, Tunzi joins the group (defeating Kryst).

None of the women are the first black woman to wear their particular crown. Vanessa Williams was the first black Miss America in 1984; Carole Gist won Miss USA in 1990; Janel Bishop won Miss Teen USA in 1991; and Janelle Commissiong was crowned Miss Universe in 1977. But on social media, enthusiasm for this particular clean sweep was undeniable.

Even Oprah weighed in, tweeting, “Congratulations Miss South Africa, the new Miss Universe @zozitunzi! Agree with you…leadership is the most powerful thing we should be teaching young women today. We welcome your visit to #OWLAG, our Leadership Academy for Girls ??????.”

The significance of all four women wearing the crowns at the same time was also a much-discussed topic.

This is yet another example of how much representation matters—in the world of pageants and beyond.



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If You’re Going Through a Breakup, You Could Win This Trip Inspired by ‘The Holiday’


Remember The Holiday, the 2006 romantic comedy starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz as two women who agree to swap their equally gorgeous homes over Christmas? Of course you do, it’s a classic (if, admittedly, kind of flawed). In it, both women are motivated to travel for the holiday after a big breakup; Winslet’s character, Iris, heads to sunny Los Angeles, while Diaz’s Amanda relocates to a cozy cottage in Surrey, England.

It sounds like the kind of dream situation that could work out only in a rom-com…but what if we told you there’s a chance it could become a reality? A U.K. company called Independent Cottages is hosting a contest for anyone going through a breakup who’d like to channel The Holiday for a few nights.

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Entering is easy, but there is one big rule: You can enter the competition only if you’ve “had your heart broken” this year. “Whether you’ve been dumped, ended a relationship that wasn’t working out, or realised you were lusting after someone who didn’t feel the same way, take a leaf out of Cameron Diaz’s book and mend your heart with a cottage stay in the glorious English countryside this winter,” the website reads. If this applies to you, all you have to do is go to independentcottages.co.uk and share your breakup story.

This could be you.

©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

A romance with Jude Law isn’t included, according to Independent Cottages, but the winner will receive a three-night stay at Farthing Cottage in the Cotswolds (which looks remarkably like the one Iris owns in the film), a “bottle of fizz,” and a box of chocolate. Sounds delightful. Bonus: The cottage will be decorated for Christmas and includes a log-burning fire (because of course there needs to be one), a four-poster bed, stone walls, and “heaps of old English character.”

THE HOLIDAY Cameron Diaz

Pack your winter whites.

Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

And Winslet reportedly lives in the Cotswolds IRL, so there’s a chance you can channel The Holiday in more ways than one.

Try your luck and enter the contest before midnight on December 2.



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Some Fans Think Serena Williams' 'Business Bun' Helped Her Win at Wimbledon


Serena Williams is continuing another epic run at Wimbledon. She’ll play in the semifinals on Thursday (July 11) against Barbora Strýcová in hopes of making her 32nd Grand Slam final. (She’s also still in the hunt for the mixed doubles titles with British star Andy Murray.)

As always, she’s shown off her incredible skill, fitness, and endurance on the court. But some fans think there’s another key to her powers: her hair. During her Tuesday (July 9) match against fellow American, Alison Riske, Williams initially wore her curls in what has become something of a signature look for her—a modified ponytail with a headband. After losing the second set and with the third tied at 3-3, she pulled her hair up into a tight bun.

Soon enough, Williams was once again dominating the match and ended up winning that set 6-3 and the match.

Before:

TPN/Getty Images

After:

Serena Williams during Day 8 of The Championships Wimbledon 2019
TPN/Getty Images

“Well, today [my hair] was just in my way, and the wind. I was missing a shot because it’s in my face,” Williams said of the hair switch. “I was like, ‘This is not happening.’ I just needed to get it out of the way, put the business bun up and just get to business.”

She also called it her “emergency exit.”

Listen, I’m just a fan, and I’ve fully convinced myself that whether my hair is up or down has an effect on the sporting event I’m watching—so I’m totally with the people online who credit the “business bun” with changing the tide of the match. Even Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, weighed in. “#MamaStrength. What an amazing match between two women who went all out today. But the #BusinessBun means business,” he wrote.



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Nike Released an Incredible Commercial After the U.S. Women's Team's World Cup Win


Following the U.S. Women’s National Team’s beautiful victory over the Netherlands in Sunday (July 7)’s World Cup final, Nike released a one-minute ad that pays tribute to the soccer champions while touting a message of empowerment for women and girls in sports.

The commercial is made up of images of athletes like Alex Morgan, Alyssa Naeher, and Tobin Heath, who just helped the U.S. cinch its fourth women’s World Cup win in a row. The ad features a single voice leading a crowd in the well-known “I Believe That We Will Win” sporting chant. However, the narration starts to trail into a different direction and settles into a powerful affirmation about just how historic the current team is—and how they’ve been working to change the course of history for other women.

“I believe that we will be four-time champions and keep winning until we not only become the best female soccer team, but the best soccer team in the world,” the voiceover declares. “I believe that we will be four-time champions and keep winning until we not only become the best female soccer team, but the best soccer team in the world, and that a whole generation of girls and boys will go out and play and say things like, ‘I want to be like Megan Rapinoe when I grow up,’ and that they’ll be inspired to talk and win and stand up for themselves.”

The ad coincides with not just the women’s impressive victory but also with the fight the team has led for equal pay. Several members of the team first filed a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission in 2016, pointing out that they were paid less than their male counterparts on the U.S. Men’s National Team (who had consistently lost games at the time).

Although they signed a collective bargaining agreement that helped boost how much they made, the athletes have continued striving for a more equitable paycheck. In 2019, they officially sued the U.S. Soccer Federation and accused the institution of gender discrimination.

While any form of corporate feminism deserves critical inspection (especially as Nike deals with claims of pregnancy discrimination), the company’s ad does nod to the team’s equal pay lawsuit, and a quote at the end reflects the message that the women’s team has been pushing this entire time as they try to change massive institutional gender disparities.

“I believe that we will make our voices heard, and TV shows will be talking about us every single day and not just once every four years… And that we will keep fighting not just to make history, but to change it forever,” the ad continues. “This team wins. Everyone wins.”



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The USWNT Score Just Broke the Record for Biggest Win in World Cup History


When the U.S. Women’s National Team comes to play they mean business—in their 2019 World Cup debut today they not only crushed the competition, they broke the record for biggest World Cup win ever with a USWNT score against Thailand of 13-0. Remember this moment: the Women’s National team just made sports history—again.

The USWNT is the highest ranked women’s soccer team in the world. They already have three World Cup titles under their belt and, despite the fact that women’s soccer has become more competitive than ever, they’re confident they’ll clinch a fourth title this summer in France. “This team has always found a way to win no matter what the circumstances,” forward Carli Lloyd, told Glamour in an interview last month. “We step out onto the field and we give it our all. We all come together and we find a way to lift that trophy.”

Odds are looking pretty damn good after their first match of the 2019 World Cup. For 90 minutes on the field, the women of the U.S. National Team were relentless, pummeling Thailand with goal after goal—five of which came in the last 11 minutes of the game. The 13-0 win against Thailand was the biggest win in the history of the World Cup—men’s or women’s, according to CBS Sports.

The overall score wasn’t even the only record-setting moment of the match: co-captain Alex Morgan scored five goals, tying the Women’s World Cup record for goals scored by a player in a single game. Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan, Sam Mewis, Megan Rapinoe, Mallory Pugh and Carli Lloyd also scored, sealing the record-breaking victory.

The win prompted reactions from people on Twitter—including Senator and democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand—who referenced the sexism the team has faced.

The USWNT plays their next match against Chile this Sunday, June 16 and they’ve already made it clear: the USWNT is here to bring home their fourth World Cup title.

Macaela MacKenzie is a senior editor at Glamour. Follow her on Instagram at @MacaelaMac and Twitter at @MacaelaMack.





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