When the beauty fades …why former pageant queens struggle in later life
IN 2003, Phoebe Monjane was the toast of Zimbabwe.
She was, after all, the new apple of the nation’s eye, having been crowned the country’s top beauty queen during the 2003 edition of the Miss Zimbabwe pageant.
As the bona fide crème dela crème of the modelling scene, the world was at her feet and at a time when national beauty contests still captured the hearts and minds of Zimbabweans from far and wide.
Fast forward almost two decades later, Monjane’s story has taken a tragic and heartbreaking twist. Monjane is now reportedly down and out in neighbouring South Africa, where instead of rubbing shoulders with industry gurus and fashion icons, she is now reportedly regularly seen in the company of South Africa’s infamous “nyaope boys”. The assumption is that she now also consumes the same illicit and dangerous drug that has given Mzansi’s young drug addicts their name.
However, she maintains all is well, and is responding to a calling to be a traditionalist. Nonetheless, Monjane, whose beauty once beguiled a whole nation, has seemingly now forgotten about modelling. Instead of the ramp, she now reportedly struts the pavements of Mzansi.
“I am worried about Phoebe; she really needs help,” her friend, Chipo Chopera told our sister publication, H-Metro last week. “What I saw in the pictures is really worrisome. Anogona kuzopondwa mu- road since she is staying and sleeping anywhere. With the state she is in, she can even be raped as well. She is moving around with the nyaope boys who are into drugs. People are afraid to approach her on the streets of Johannesburg,” she said.
Despite accusations that she is now taking drugs, with her downward spiral into the dirty world of illicit substances kickstarted by a romance with a South Africa-based boyfriend in 2006, Monjane claims that she is clean, with her problems coming from a spiritual calling that’s haunting her.
However, while Monjane claims that she wants to be a n’anga or a prophetess, the plight of the country’s one-time top beauty queen has brought to the spotlight the fact that life after the ramp does not seem rosy for some of the country’s top models.
Perhaps the most disturbing fact about Monjane’s story is that news of a struggling beauty queen did not seem at all surprising. Over the past few years, the Miss Zimbabwe crown has been trailed by the stench of scandal, with a cloud of controversy hanging over past and present winners of a pageant that is set to make its return this year. From nude pictures to reports of rampant drug and alcohol abuse, top models seem to be on the receiving end of misfortune, most of which is of their own making.
Questions have been asked if the ailing Zimbabwean modelling industry is doing enough to nurture and groom beauty queens for life beyond the ramp. With pageants the world over regarded as a young woman’s game, most seemingly find themselves lost when their youthful beauty fades.
According to veteran model manager, Nokuthaba Sibanda, the problem for most beauty queens starts when they first emerge on the scene.
“What is sad is that she (Phoebe) is not the only one going through that kind of thing. The problem is that there’s little education given to models, especially the girls, on how to handle their life and careers after their prime in modelling. The problem starts when they first attain fame because they usually go off the rails when this happens. The fame gets to their head and they become totally different people in a short space of time. They get into drugs and other substances which they get exposed to once in the industry,” she said.
According to Sibanda, a go-it-alone approach had led to the downfall of some models, as they were not equipped with the know-how to deal with life after their beauty inevitably fades.
“We don’t have structures to support these young women once they are in the industry and they don’t know how to structure their lives and careers holistically. I think in general, the models in agencies tend to do better than those that go out there and try to make it on their own. If you look at people like Samantha Tshuma, she came to us and said she was leaving the agency and starting her own. She had already had an extensive time under Fingers so she was well groomed and educated. That’s why she has managed to be a success later in her career and continues to make a good living from modelling. Others that never had that education lost their way.
“Most of the girls don’t realise that looks will eventually fade. You will not be pretty forever and when looks fade you need something to fall back on,” she said.
Sibanda said she has had to turn away some models trying to come under her wing as they did not have the requisite academic qualifications that they could fall back on when their modelling careers were over.
“I remember I had an experience with a girl who came to me wanting to audition for the Miss Zim pageant. She was pretty and she believed she was now ready for the big stage. I asked her how many O-levels she had and she said two. There and then I turned her away. I told her she needed to go back to school and further her education and she broke down and cried right in front of me. Two years later she came to me and said “do you remember that girl you turned away from your office?” She had now got her matric and although her modelling career did not take off as planned, she had something to fall back on.
“The girls need to be taught that it is not all about looks. Some tend to think that you only have to turn up and look pretty for everything to fall into place. That is not the case especially in our industry which is not as lucrative as overseas. Our modelling industry simply does not have the money to sustain one’s life because you can do a fashion show with some of our stores and they will pay you US$100. How will that sustain your life? You need a better plan because those that make money tend to be those that eventually break the overseas market,” she said.
Fellow model manager, Godwill “G-Factor” Tasunga said there was a need to equip models with basic life skills as most of them were like ducks out of the water when not on the ramp. He said the industry could take a leaf from the world of sport which, although not perfect, at least had a pathway for careers for some its professionals after they retired.
“The beauty industry needs developmental programmes in place to help models with navigating life after modelling. What I mean by that is, models should be helped to acquire basic life skills and basic education and that’s just the low hanging fruit. There are a lot of things that can be done to ensure that their life after modelling is fruitful.
“We really need to focus on a future beyond looks by raising women of substance and men of significance. We need to foster a culture where we value beauty with a purpose such that in the future, a model that succeeds on the ramp is still a purpose driven achiever when they’re off it. We still have a long way to go as an industry but we could definitely learn a lot from the field of sports,” he said.
In an industry so dependent on looks, G-Factor said it was alarming that there seemed to be no cover for beauty queens, in case they had accidents that marred their cherished looks. Thus, some of them were only one unfortunate incident away from poverty.
“Here’s a thought-provoking scenario. Imagine a model gets involved in a car accident and is seriously wounded. What happens next? What happens to them and their livelihood because their looks and physical appearance are what makes them money? This is definitely a tough and struggling industry but I believe with the right developmental programmes and other growth strategies in place, the modelling industry will prevail and last beyond these harsh times,” he said.