Au Naturel Only: Ivory Coast Pageant Shocks Contestants With Wig & Weave Ban

Pageant organizers hope the changes will allow more women to participate.

The Miss Ivory Coast Pageant has released a shocking new rule for contestants’ appearance.

The pageant for the West African country has announced a ban on all wig and weave extensions. Instead, it wants participants to showcase the beauty of their natural hair.

The Ivorian competition will forbid those vying for the crown from wearing fake hair or hair extensions in its preliminary stages. These qualifying events will take place in 13 cities and two international slots.

While the rules limit the hairstyles, contestants can still wear their real hair in any fashion they choose. However, the pageants want to distance themselves from promoting cosmetic surgery and skin lightening.

“We want the candidates to be natural – whether with braids or straightened hair, it should be their own. Beauty must be raw,” Victor Yapobi, president of the Miss Ivory Coast organizing committee, told the BBC.

The organizers hope to encourage contestants to embrace their natural beauty. They also decided to eliminate certain costly barriers that prevent many from competing.

While the new rule allows women to spend less on their hairstyles, other changes to the entrance fee and age requirements allow more to try out. Now, women at the age of 28 can enter, and for $30 less than prior years, with the lowered cost now at $50.

Yapobi added, “This change in criteria is because we observed these young women were putting up a lot of money to participate, and it was becoming a bit of a budget drain.”

While some have praised the changes, others have condemned the “attack” on popular fake hair styles like wigs. Deemed “protective styles,” these looks offer women more creativity with their hair expression, while not damaging their real tresses.

On the other hand, the new rules require some contestants to reflect on what makes them feel beautiful to others.

“I would see other girls with long, artificial hair, and they looked so beautiful,” 21-year-old Emmanuella Dali, a 21-year-old real estate agent, said to the publication. “This rule gives me more pride as a woman – as an African woman.”

Wigs are a popular hair form in West Africa and across the Black diaspora. However, the stark change in the pageant reflects a trend toward natural beauty and hair. Wigs are also a pricey investment in women’s appearance, with human-hair units costing hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Some hairdressers are concerned that the pageant’s new declaration will decrease sales and their own profits. However, in a culture where one’s natural hair is still considered inappropriate in some professional settings, the ruling seeks to change the narrative.

Despite this, some naysayers say women should define their own beauty and not have pageants determine these standards. For those who see both sides of the issue, acceptance of women regardless of their natural or altered hairstyling remains the priority.

Thus far, the ban only applies to the preliminary rounds. Yapobi has not disclosed if the 15 contestants who will compete on the main stage will have to adhere to the controversial guideline. The official pageant will take place at the end of June in Abidjan.