The beauty, intelligence, poise and grace of our Trinidad and Tobago women on the stages of international beauty pageants are not surprising to anyone. Miss Aché Abrahams top four placing and the Miss World Americas and the Caribbean title she earned with that, brings glory to our country, as did her predecessors.
“I have to say that it is not a lack of talent or skills, it’s a lack of opportunities,” said the confident Miss Abrahams to the question of “What is the most pressing issue women face, and why,” a question obviously designed to coincide with the International Women’s Day commemorations taking place last week.
As could have been expected, her response, which acknowledges the talents, skills and qualifications of women, highlighted the fact that too often still, those capabilities of our women are made subservient to the ethic of male dominance. Our Trini representative at the festival was wonderfully applauded and acknowledged for her insightful response.
Just to inform those who may have forgotten, or who may have come in late to the participation of our women in these international pageants, in 1977, Janelle “Penny” Commissiong became the first woman of colour designated the most beautiful woman with the Miss Universe title. And 21 years later, Wendy Fitzwilliam also charmed the judges with her beauty and intelligence to outstrip the competition. A few years before Wendy’s much-celebrated victory, Giselle La Ronde was adjudicated winner in the Miss World competition. And there have been others, such as Michelle Khan, who was the second runner-up in the 1995 Miss World competition, who took the beauty of our women to centre stage.
Undoubtedly, the god of the creation has utilised the beauty-producing wonder of the varied gene pools T&T has been fortunate to have inherited from our ancestors.
This said mixture of the races should be another reason for Trinbagonians to be thankful, proud of, and utilise to make silent the occasional contestations we engage in over the annoying “who come from where and through which passage, middle, front, side, and below”.
“In Trinidad and Tobago, we acknowledge our similarities but more importantly, we celebrate our differences,” said Miss Abrahams, seemingly as a means of underscoring the power of our multi-ethnic population, and guiding us to its capacity for pulling together.
Also on show at these international competitions have been the design talents of our artists, who have created world-class wear and costuming for our participants.
As an additional benefit to T&T, Abrahams will soon be off with other top-four participants to tour significant parts of the world. During the course of her year-long activity, Miss Abrahams is surely expected to further enhance the reputation of her homeland, and to do so with dignity, beauty and the intelligence she displayed throughout the 2024 Miss World Pageant. All the very best to you Aché, and we say so knowing you will represent your country and show the world the beauty with which Trini women walk and talk.
