Princesses ready to support the queen
Spira Tlhankane | Friday September 27, 2019 11:21
First Princess Uua Murangi and second princess Winfred Motcher tell Arts & Culture about how they changed the whole narrative despite losing the crown to queen Oweditse Phirinyane.
In an interview, the people’s favourite Murangi said what she had to keep in my mind was her goal because when she went to Miss Botswana contest she wanted to change the narrative.
“I changed the narrative of what beauty means and what beauty standards are. I got messages from people telling how they used to think they are not good enough because they are dark skinned.
They said I have shown them that they can be who they truly are and love the skin they are in and still be beautiful,” she said.
For Motcher, the fact that she was the shortest girl amongst the other 11 finalists pushed her to enter the race and to see how far she could go. For someone who was not new to Miss Botswana, Motcher said they were certain height requirements but that did not distract her from trying her luck. “It was more of a challenge because of heights requirements. But I found out that Miss World doesn’t have the same heights requirements as Miss Botswana,” she said.
Motcher also advised future queens to not doubt themselves. Everyone was taller than me and I got all the dwarf jokes. I always stood out because of my height and I turned that into a positive,” she said. Murangi scooped the second princess back in 2017 and she came back this year and won the first princess title.
“In 2019, I wholly applied myself and learnt not to be afraid of the person that I am. It’s okay to be different from another person and just be yourself. This year, I let myself be and I made more impact than I did in 2017. I never cocooned myself or tried to be somebody that I am not,” she said. For someone whom the people on social media were rooting for Murangi admitted that there was a lot of pressure on her. “People were sharing my stuff and there was even a picture of me with a crown on it,” she said.
Even with the pressure Murangi said she knew that she had already won in so many way because she had managed to change the narrative.
She said the fact that she didn’t win is because it wasn’t her time for the crown. She added that her place maybe is somewhere else in something else. “My purpose has been fulfilled I am content with the results. Whether I will try or not I have not thought about it yet,” she revealed.
Murangi said she would support the queen no matter what. “I have a lot of following and people who are supporting me and if I can extend my help through them then that would be great. Sometimes I think we don’t do well at Miss World because when we are supposed to support queens such as Phirinyane, we will be too busy focusing on what could have happened,” she said. Murangi stated that people who supported her understand what she stands for and the fact that she is not about to drag anyone down.
“We can all have a seat at the table. The more we support the queen the more we support ourselves,” she concluded.
For Motcher she always envisioned herself in the top three. “I had fun and made friends throughout the journey. I am available for the queen in any way to help”, she said.