Mr Ugly

Modern culture usually confuses me, Zimbabwean culture baffles me, at least if the Mr. Ugly contest is any indication of how a Zimbabwe thinks. That they have a Mr. Ugly contest and that it is a kind of super event there is odd, but now this year's contest brings it to a new level. Oh well, I guess when you live in a dictatorship like impoverished Zimbabwe even a Mr. Ugly contest is important.

Anyway, judges have crowned a new winner of the annual Mister Ugly contest, upsetting supporters of the crowd favorite and prompting violence at the event. They chose 42 year old Mison Sere, a dentists one man advertisement for bad dental practice. Mison's numerous missing front teeth and a ugly facial expressions were enough to win over just plain ugly William Masvinu, who had held the title since 2012. William and his supporters mobbed the judges upon hearing their decision, claiming that Mison was “too handsome” to win and his ugliness wasn't natural since it was based on missing teeth.
Hmmmm It's the opposite of the dilemma we men face when seeing a pretty lady. "Is she naturally beautiful or a product of cosmetics of plastic surgery". I guess in Zimbabwe the ideal is to achieve great ugliness, not great beauty. Loser William summed it up best after losing the contest to Mison, “I am naturally ugly. He is not. He is ugly only when he opens his mouth. Do we have to lose our teeth to win?"  "This is cheating,” shouted another contestant, Patrick Mupereki.
While no one was injured, there was a great deal of pushing and shoving as the results were announced and insults were hurled at the judges. Beauty pageants are popular in this Zimbabwe, where most people have nothing to do except rue their abject condition in one of the world's worst countries.  Beauty contest scandal seems to be the norm there, not unusual. Earlier this year, the Miss Zimbabwe winner faced "ugly" criticism on social media, with Zimbabweans calling her ugly and undeserving of the crown. She was later forced to step down when just two weeks into her reign, images surfaced of her posing nude. They don't like nude beauties or artificial uglies in Zimbabwe.

The new Mr. Ugly dismissed the critics as just “sore losers” as he pocketed the $500 in winnings. Five hundred dollars is a lot in Zimbabwe. In fact it even launch a career for Mison. “I hope to get a TV contract. I already moved around schools performing and showcasing my ugliness so this is a chance to make it on TV.” Maybe there should be a reality TV in Zimbabwe called " Zimbabwe Ugly Idol.

You might be wondering how they choose their Mr. Ugly? What goes on in a Zimbabwe Mr. Ugly pageant.? The pageant this involved three rounds of modeling, with individual and group struts down a catwalk of a Harare nightclub. "Natural ugliness' was the guideline, which is why so many were upset at the unnatural/toothless look of Mison. One judge put it best. “Sere made tremendous effort to enhance his ugliness by pulling facial stunts,” said judge Abigail Mataranyika, a university student. “Masvinu thought he is so ugly that he didn't need to try hard. That cost him the crown.” It's not easy being ugly in Zimbabwe.