Lupita Nyong’o is the world’s most beautiful person, for 2014 at least

People magazine has released its annual list of the world’s most beautiful people and this year Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o is number one. My initial reaction to this was a mix of surprise and delight. While I think Lupita’s gorgeous I was surprised she topped the list simply because girls who look like her don’t often make it onto lists like that. Look up any major annual list of beauties and you’ll mostly find white women and maybe a couple of light skinned black women with long flowing, straight hair thrown in to add a little ‘diversity’.

The positive side to this

Lupita has noted that when she was younger she equated beauty with light skin and long, straight hair. She may have gotten over that view and embraced her looks but many more have not. I live in an African country where I see more weaves and wigs than natural African hair and skin lighteners are easy to come by and increasingly popular. (This is not to say that anyone who wears weaves and wigs or lightens themselves is necessarily consumed with self-hatred.) For a while I gave up on going to hair salons because I was tired of hairdressers asking me why I won’t just relax (chemically straighten) my hair. The number of hairdressers I’ve come across in Lusaka who either don’t want to deal with natural African hair or are just clueless about what to do with it is astounding. While Ive never used skin lighteners, there was a time I thought lighter skin would make me attractive. With this in mind it’s great to see one of the world's top celebrity magazines embrace both her natural hair and dark skin.

It’s possible that many black girls and women will be get a boost from seeing someone who looks like them being declared the world’s most beautiful person. Dark skinned black females as well as black females with natural hair have a new beauty icon to look up to. Black women have been featured on People list of the 50 most beautiful people before and even been awarded the title. Beyoncé topped the list in 2012 but considering the fact that she has pale skin and more often than not is seen donning one of her trademark blonde wigs, her win didn’t do much to make dark skinned women proud or validate black beauty.

On the other hand

While I appreciate positive media coverage of black women and women in general my excitement over Lupita’s latest accolade didn’t last that long. Lists like these are unrealistic and the title of the award is deceptive. It’s about popularity at the end of the day. Lupita is Hollywood’s latest 'It girl' and chances are she would not have been considered for People’s list if she had not recently starred in a hit movie and won a slew of awards. Furthermore, the idea that people sit in a room and decide who the world's most beautiful people are on behalf of everyone else is absurd.

I wouldn’t want to understate or overstate the importance of Lupita being declared the world’s most beautiful person by people. On the one hand People is just a gossip magazine but then again magazines like these help us form our ideas about beauty. If Lupita’s latest accolade helps challenge people’s single-minded ideas of what beauty is and helps a variety of women feel better about themselves, then it’s a good thing.