The reigning Miss World has defended her crown as empowering women.
Manushi Chhillar from India who won Miss World 2017 told Māori Television’s Native Affairs the pageant is more than how a woman looks.
“Half knowledge is dangerous so for people who actually know about pageants would know that it’s actually empowering women. We’re all young girls and we’re getting the opportunity to do something big and that’s empowering for us. We feel more confident about ourselves. We learn so much,” she says.
“A group of women can’t empower by putting another group of women down. I mean, that doesn’t make sense.”
The 21-year-old who is studying medicine is in New Zealand to promote Beauty with a Purpose, a project that has raised more than a billion dollars for the development of young women worldwide.
Miss Chhillar arrived in Auckland this morning with the 2016 Miss World winner, Stephanie De Valle, a law student from Puerto Rico. It’s the first time two Miss Worlds have visited New Zealand.
Both encouraged Māori Television reporter, Jessica Tyson, who was crowned Miss World New Zealand in May, to approach it as a journey, not a competition.