Village model aims to break stereotypes
A 16-year-old beauty pageant contestant, Dyondzo Rikhotso from Daniel Rababalela village outside Giyani has broken a stereotype on how girls should present themselves in their community.
“I joined the pageant to show people from my village not to define who the person is. I’m not saying that they should be disrespectful to their parents, but when someone wears shorts, it has nothing to do with being disrespectful to the elders, and it is not about looking for attention from boys,” said Dyondzo. She also said that she got the courage to enter so that she could break the stigma of how young girls are expected to behave in her village.
“In my village, if you wear a short dress or pants, as a girl they will call you bad names, you never feel safe as the elders will also tell you that you are asking to be raped with what you are wearing. If you take pictures in swimwear and post it on social media, old people will comment on your body. I want to encourage young girls to feel free to wear what they like and help them gain confidence,” she added. Dyondzo is a finalist in the Miss December pageant.
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The pageant focuses on empowering women to be positive about their body and their natural beauty. “It also helps to keep the youth from substance abuse and many other socioeconomic issues. Being a model comes with a lot of responsibilities, such as taking care of your appearance and recognising your strength. Being a model involves being hyper-focused on your appearance,” she added. Dyondzo hopes to inspire young girls who have low self-esteem and a lack of confidence, and also encourage young girls to look into their inner-self and explore their skills and talents.
She hopes to create a youth group which she wants to call Girls Guide where young women can help each other raise their self-esteem. “We will talk about how we can take care of ourselves as girls yet not drift away from respecting our elders,” she concluded. She also added that since she is still young, the group will have an older person who will guide them and give them advice on situations they may encounter in life. For more details on how to vote for Dyondzo to be crowned as Miss December 2022, visit her Facebook account @Krish M Lassy’s.
