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Former Miss Jamaica World and trailblazing beauty queen Dr. Sanneta Myrie is sending heartfelt encouragement to Tahje Bennett, Miss Jamaica World 2024 who is currently representing the island on the global stage in India.
In an exclusive interview with The Gleaner at the Mother’s Day Spring into Fashion Show, where Myrie modelled several brands, she reflected on her own pageant journey and how she came to the realisation that “pageantry offers much more than a crown”.
Myrie candidly shared how she thought that being “a science nerd”, she didn’t think that she fit the traditional beauty queen mould.
“I was in labs one day and because I was a performer ... I was a dancer ... somebody said, ‘Hey, you’d be great on a stage,’” Myrie recalled.
That leap from science to stage eventually catapulted her into the spotlight, but not without deep introspection about the role of pageantry in today’s society. The Jamaican culture and the Jamaican energy, she said, are infectious. The goal of pageantry is to bring that to the world and showcase what truly represents the Jamaican brand. Myrie acknowledges the scepticism Jamaicans have about the importance of pageantry in the culture.
“It allows you to build your brand and think about what you have to offer the world. It’s about understanding what it means to represent Jamaica, to contribute to society, and to be proud of who you are,” Miss Jamaica World 2015 said.
Turning her attention to Bennett, Myrie offered inspiring guidance. “Jamaicans always do well on a stage, we stand out naturally,” she praised but, in her belief, there is a downside. She said, “It’s almost crazy that they steal a crown from us every year because it’s just so hard to give it to us every year so they find some reason or another.”
She continued, “So you have to really know what you’re going in the pageant for and it’s really at the end of the day to make yourself proud. Really go in and analyse who you are and what you want to bring to the table. Build on your strengths and improve on your weaknesses and at the end of the day, make an offering that you can be proud of, regardless of whether you have the crown, yes or no.”
It is with this mindset that Myrie conquered and understood pageantry. “When you can say, ‘I did myself proud’, then I think that’s a crown in and of itself. And that’s what I want for her, to just walk away feeling and knowing that she is a queen in her own right. She’s represented herself and she’s represented her country well.”
Bennett is currently representing the country at the 72nd Miss World pageant in India. This year’s queen will be crowned on May 31 at the HITEX Exhibition Centre located at Hyderabad, Telangana. Jamaica has won the pageant four times already, first in 1963 and most recently in 2019.
Bennett, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Law at UWI Mona, uses her platform to uplift women and girls, especially through her advocacy project, ‘Fix Your Crown’. A women’s empowerment initiative, it is aimed at helping survivors of gender-based violence rebuild confidence and reclaim their sense of purpose.
The current Miss World is Krystyna Pyszková of the Czech Republic who was crowned on March 9, 2024 in Mumbai, India.
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