Here are the most beautiful women in the world according to Kenya. Well, at least the English-speaking, online-content-creating part of it as filtered by Google Images:
1. Lupita Nyong’o (1983- ), a Mexican-Kenyan actress, best known for playing Patsey in “12 Years a Slave” (2013), for which she won an Oscar. People magazine in the US named her the most beautiful woman in the world in 2014. Four of its top ten appear on this list: all three of its Black women and one of its White women.
2. Aishwarya Rai (1973- ) is a Bollywood actress and winner of Miss World in 1994. In 2008 she was the most beautiful woman in the world according to Google Images.
3. Olympia Owira is a Kenyan actress and model.
4. Kerry Washington (1977- ), an American actress, is best known for playing Olivia Pope on “Scandal” (2012- ). In 2014, People magazine named her the tenth most beautiful woman in the world.
5 Elizabeth Faith Sakwe is the adopted daughter of Nigeria’s former president, Goodluck Jonathan.
6. Vera Sidika (1989- ), a Kenyan model, is one of Kenya’s curviest women and one of Nairobi’s most beautiful – at least according to the websites that appeared in this search. She has bleached her skin and enlarged her breasts. I have seen pictures of her on Tumblr, better than the one above.
7. Juliana Kanyomozi (1982- ) is a Ugandan singer.
8. Gabrielle Union (1972- ), an American actress, is probably still best known for starring in the cheerleader film, “Bring It On” (2000). She tried out for the part of Olivia Pope but lost out to Kerry Washington. She also loses out to her on this list. People magazine, though, considers her more beautiful, putting her at number seven in 2014.
9. Jenna Dewan-Tatum (1980- ) is an American dancer and actress. In 2014 People magazine named her the third most beautiful woman in the world. Never heard of her.
10. Tiguida Sissoko is a Malian model who lives in Paris. I have seen pictures of her on Tumblr, better than the one above.
Honourable mention:
Tiwa Savage (1980- ), a Nigerian singer, would have beat out Tiguida Sissoko but she was in a group photo of beautiful Lagos women, so I could not count her individually. What a beauty!
How I made the list: I searched for the most beautiful women in the world using Google Images but limited the search to just those websites that end in “.ke”, the top-level Internet domain for Kenya (like what “.uk” is for Britain). I took the top ten women who appeared alone in a picture and who could be identified. That means group photos and stock photos were not counted.
Why Kenya? I looked at the top ten of 28 different countries (that have at least a million people who know English) and liked Kenya’s the best.
You might think that countries that are mostly Black would have top tens that are also mostly Black. That is not always true. Here are the top four or five for different African countries. Click to enlarge:
Kenya:
Ghana:
Nigeria:
Uganda:
Cameroon:
Tanzania:
Zimbabwe:
South Africa:
– Abagond, 2015.
See also:
- The most beautiful women in the world
- The women I most reblogged on Tumblr in 2013
- women listed:
- 12 Years a Slave
- The most beautiful Black women:
- Nollywood
- Hollywood
- The Vast Talking Machine
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Wow! The Bible is RIGHT! ‘Only the fool says in their hearts there is no God.’ Need proof of the existence of the Almighty just look at these magnificent women!
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Da-a-ayumn!! My sisters are so, so beautiful!!
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Wow!! No East Asian beauties?
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Woof. Sidika and Sissoko are like, dayum! Unfortunate to hear that Sidika is/has been bleaching. I wonder what she’d have looked like with her full complexion. Owira and Sakwe are really cute. I think that people in the US need to broaden their beauty horizons. They’re missing out on a lot with the narrow “white norm/default”. I don’t think it does Whites any favor either. How can you really appreciate Whites’ beauty, if you can’t also appreciate the beauty in others?
This is also why I get mad when I see a study claiming to find the “most beautiful woman in the world” and it’s another lily-white blond blue-eyed girl. Not that they can’t be pretty, but they’re not the majority of the world’s population, and so it stands to reason that if one could hypothetically pick out a “most beautiful woman”, they would more likely not be in that category than be in it and would probably be one or several shades darker, have black hair and brown eyes. Which, of course, makes me think those studies have built-in Eurocentric biases. The US, and probably the world too, needs a more universal standard of beauty, a more flexible one that doesn’t restrict the concept “beauty” to some narrow standard, including not just racial/color group but also things like body shape, e.g. curvaceous women like Sidika vs. skinny models. If we don’t do that, then people will continue to hurt themselves in various ways (like by skin bleaching, or by extreme dieting, or by extensive plastic surgery, or…) to try to conform to the narrow standard.
Really, we need to allow people room to form their own conceptions of beauty, including the subject themselves. E.g. I personally like the thicker, curvier look more than the really skinny look, and I like darker-colored girls (not just Blacks) more than light-colored ones, even though I’m White! But others may differ, and that’s OK, as long as nobody pushes their standard over everyone else as being “superior” like is done with Eurocentric standards around the world given global White supremacy and White imperialism (although with skin bleaching in particular, there is also in some cases locally homegrown preferences for paler skin, but GWS and GWI just reinforce that instead of challenging it).
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@Michael Cooper,
I noticed immediately the dearth of East Asian, SE Asian, as well as mestizo Latinas.
I suppose people in many African countries have little contact with such images or people.
But in all honesty, we wouldn’t find many of those if the survey was done in Europe, Australia or the USA either.
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I’m with you Pumpkin, though Tiguida Sissoko and the women of Zimbabwe are all, IMHO, a close second! 😄
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@ jefe
Actually that is curious in regard to Asian women. With all the White male disposition towards Asian women, I think you are right that they do not turn up in a lot of these lists. I honestly wonder why not?
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@King…“Actually that is curious in regard to Asian women. With all the White male disposition towards Asian women, I think you are right that they do not turn up in a lot of these lists. I honestly wonder why not?”
Maybe cuz the post is about, “The most beautiful women according to Kenya” and the “white male gaze” doesn’t necessarily have to play a prominent role therein??
Yes, China is surely making inroads into Africa (and full disclosure: I’m not all that mad at that), but — can WE just love up on ourselves for a minute if we’d like to???
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@Deb,
I don’t think that was King’s point.
Not only do they not appear in lists of most beautiful women in Kenya or other African countries, they also do not appear on the lists of most western or white majority countries either.
So, it seems more straightforward to explain in African countries, which do not have large Asian, mestizo or indigenous American populations, but it is not clear why it is also the case in western countries where there is a marked Asian fetish. How does the white male gaze apply there?
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Fair enough Deb!
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Agreed Jefe
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King,
I can speculate an explanation for this, although I have not done any study on it.
Whites don’t really regard Asian women as beautiful per se. White women are still more beautiful. The attraction to dating and marrying Asian women is not based on beauty, but on something else that we can trace back to the US war machine in Asia and the Asian War Bride phenomenon, as well as the need to control for Asian male sexuality.
They attract mostly white men who, for various reasons, have not had satisfying results with white women, or have difficulty attracting them in the first place. Add to that the subconscious stereotypes from the wars in Asia and presto.
However, they still see white women as more beautiful.
Africa has not been at war with Asia in recent times and Asian populations in Africa are still small, so there is no expectation there.
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@jefe: “…but it is not clear why it is also the case in western countries where there is a marked Asian fetish. How does the white male gaze apply there?”
Can’t help you there, Brother. I agree your question is valid, but, for you — does it really matter? I can only speak for myself here but, I’m so damned tired of thinking about whether, or not — “the white gaze” is gazing at me!
After 59 years, I FINALLY know for sure, why the whole, “First, (or most beautiful),Black ___” (fill in the blank) declaration always gets on my last, damned nerve — OUR underestimation of ourselves, and the seeking of THEIR permission!
People do what they know, jefe — until they know something different…
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Tiwa Savage has the smile of an angel and pearls for teeth.
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^^^ And the rest of her ain’t too bad either…
Just saying’
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@Kiwi
The reason why there are so many white women is because of television. Most of the content on Ugandan televisions are from America, Europe and Mexico -even Brazil. We had the same in Kenya until the government put a ban on non-African television shows-now we have mostly Nigerian movies on TV. I used to think that only white people were beautiful when I was young (27 now) mainly because those were the people I watched on TV. Now, I prefer people who look like me the most. Dark flawless skin, good heart and intelligent.
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The Black Queens are the stars.
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i think gabrielle union got a nose job like michael and janet
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beautiful,beautiful,GORGEOUS…we brownladies got it all yall !
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Pretty Lupita she is golden. I am happy for her endorsements in the beauty industry as well.
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Tiguida Sissokou is gorgeous.
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Continental African women are indeed beautiful, but many of them, like our beautiful Black women in the States and Caribbean, have bought into the lie that straightened hair is a better fit for the Africoid phenotype. It is not! I don’t knock Africoid women – like my twin sister and female relatives and friends – with straightened hair but happy-to-be-nappy hair is definitely organic. There are societies whereas a woman beauty is her natural hair. Thumbs up to my beautiful wife and Lupita for staying natural.
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@Michael Cooper
I too wish that our women would go natural but you have to recognize the fact that hair products are very expensive. Most women over here only go natural when they can afford products that can help keep their hair looking natural. A weave is a much cheaper option because it can last for probably a month and they only need to use hair products rarely. Another fact is the media. Its usually a matter of cost, that’s all.
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Beautiful brown ladies.. ❤
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Lupita gets my vote! 🙂
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“You might think that countries that are mostly Black would have top tens that are also mostly Black. That is not always true. Here are the top four or five for different African countries. ”
I wonder about the list of most beautiful men…is that any blacker?
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“I too wish that our women would go natural but you have to recognize the fact that hair products are very expensive. Most women over here only go natural when they can afford products that can help keep their hair looking natural. ”
You don’t have to buy products to make your hair look natural. Relaxers and weaves are way more expensive than wearing your natural hair.
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@Solesearch
I am here in Kenya and I know that most women here buy the Chinese made weaves, which are way cheaper than good quality hair products that keep your hair looking healthy and natural. I was not talking about relaxers.
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Abagond….check me out on Facebook (Menelik Charles). A total poetic celebration of Chocolate-skinned sisters.
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@Kiwi
Not really; some, maybe. But it is usually because of convenience and cost rather than copying western appearance. The ones that do it to copy western appearance are usually emulating Black American women not white women.
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villagewriter,
ok…I don’t know anything about the price of things in Kenya. It is hard for me to see how water and a moisturizer is more expensive than a weave when you still need those things to rock a weave.
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@solesearch
Stick to things you know; really, because I am not going to argue with a fish about breathing with a nose.Most of the women I have met here are proud of who they are and the men are proud of them. Higher middle class women here can afford those hair products and some of them do keep their hair natural but most women have to decide whether they will buy food for dinner or moisturizer. I am done arguing with you!
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Village writer,
If you didn’t want to argue you wouldn’t have responded. What you don’t want is to admit your answer is bs. The only expensive thing about natural hair is changing people’s mindsets that it is difficult. You still need moisturizer for your hair if you wear weave! You still have to wash your hair.
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@solesearch
Again I say and I will again, stick to what you know; I am not here to pamper your ego. What I have said is my truth your verbiage is your truth.
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I am a Kenyan. I enjoy reading this blog and many others based in other countries. Sometimes these blogs mention Kenya or another African country and it is almost always a negative experience reading what is said about us.
My friends and I have never even heard of two of the women on this list but OK.
Here are some Kenyan women many of us consider beautiful if anyone feels inclined to google them:
Pierra Makena
Sanaipei Tande
Sheila Mwanyigha
Sarah Hassan
Brenda Wairimu
@Solesearch
Why can’t you allow the Kenyan commenter to be the expert on Kenyan life? Why do you have to argue? Is it so hard to understand that people from other countries have different experiences from yours?
Natural hair is only inexpensive if you keep it short. I am sure you know that water and moisturizer are not enough to maintain long natural hair.
@kiwi your question sounds absurd to me but let me just say, I believe as Kenyans we take many of our cues in terms of hair and fashion from the black american community rather than western christians(whatever)
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Lastly, I am very glad I am a Kenyan. I know some people may not find me attractive and that is fine because I am confident I have my admirers. I dont have to lap up condescending compliments like “all the women of ZImbabwe are beautiful”
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@Mueni
Thank you for sharing. I always find joy in hearing from our African brothers and sisters. I wish to hear more from you when such posts come about. I urge you to consider doing a guest post. Hearing yours and others from Africa’s perspective is golden.
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Reblogged this on Mbeti's Blog and commented:
Interesting post on perceptions of beauty.
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@kiwi…I’m not bOthered bc I understand it…dont necessarily agree but I get it. The white standard of beauty prevails especially in major..more industrialized cities in those country.
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@Mich it’s simply mind over matter. It took me while to decide to go natural. I still have some family members that frown upon it. When I visited JA a few years back afro puff and all….an unusual amount of men kept approaching me. I mean..I get appeal approached regularly anyway but this was running ridulous. Finally I asked one of the staff members at the resort I stayed on towards the end of the day. I actually asked to different people for consistency purposes. Both explained more or less to me how a lot of their men love black women with natural hair and the look and somehow it was associated with Christianity …bc oddly enough the next question after complimenting my beauty and asking my name was if I was a Christian. Anyway… The next day I decided to test this theory..blow dry my hair out and put it in a pony tail. Numbers drop at least 50%.
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