Ufa Dania is the first plus-size woman to compete for Miss Universe Nigeria. Like many plus-size women, she is not considered the conventional beauty standard, talk less of ‘beauty queen material’ but that’s what made Ufa stand out. I spoke with the photographer, filmmaker, stylist and social activist on why representation matters, her journey and growth through the competition.
“I felt a nudge from God saying step out. Even me, I asked God, I was like God, I look like this but he was still like “step out, there is something I’m calling you towards.” – Ufa Dania on why she competed.
The self-made competitor
Ufa Dania works as a stylist and she believed this competition was a perfect way to show off her craft and skills. She created all her outfits and props to go with each outfit, even her hair and makeup were all done herself, showcasing her unique and vivacious style. When I asked her about this approach we laughed about her trust issues with stylists.
“I feel like I can only trust myself (and maybe Zendaya’s stylist) to dress me up because for plus size people, they don’t tend to understand our body so the way I’ll dress myself and I’ll look really good, someone else will just slap a boubou on me… I was particular [about making] sure that I dress myself the way I want to because they may not really know how to work with my dimensions and my body”.
Is this unique to Ufa? Think again.
Why representation matters
The average dress size of women around the world is a Size 16 but looking at the runway, magazine spreads and store racks, you may not think so. It looks like the fashion industry is so far removed from reality, presenting body ideals instead and in the process alienating more than 60% of women worldwide. This is why Alex Obochi’s satirical video auditioning for the GTCO fashion weekend got a lot of negative backlash.
@fatshionistaa I attended gtco fashion weeked last year. I didnt see any plus size model on their runway. And by plus size i don’t mean mean a size 12 with a huge behind, i mean a woman that looks like me and bigger in fact. Rolls ,fupa and more. I said i wasn’t going to apply this year because its always one disappointment after the other, but after i thought about the reason i keep coming back to preach body positivity i decided to apply and use it as a avenue to educate y’all. For the people in the comments that bodyshame me, remember , your sisters and mothers and friends and family look like me and most even bigger, how would they feel if you told them what youre telling me ? Exactly !!! So here’s to hoping once again. #gtcofashionweekend #plussizemodel #plussizetiktok #model #abujatiktokers
Why is someone who isn’t a conventional beauty standard getting this much attention?
Ufa was faced with the same reality after competing for Miss Universe. She expected this backlash and responded as gracefully as the beauty queen that she is. She said, “the more you bash me, the more popular I become” and the people who matter will see why she’s getting all this hype.
And I saw it. Ufa’s easy-going nature enamoured me in the course of our virtual conversation. She had just returned from an interview with Channels television alongside the competition’s winner. In her silk robe, hair swooped to the side with a pink flower clipped in it and pink eyeshadow, she was very much the demure beauty queen she showed to the world and still the down-to-earth woman who continues to uplift her community.
The audacity
When the competition was over, Ufa who represented Kwara State finished in the top 10 contestants and with a Miss Charismatic title to her name. Refusing to be typical, she constantly shows up as the brightest version of herself.
“I already came with a positive mindset. Sometimes… most times, when you see curvy, plus-sized people, they tend to be timid, they don’t show [themselves] like yasss, see me. But I was like the complete opposite of that”.
In a thank you note on Instagram to her supporters, she mentioned specifically the South African women who reached out to her, expressing their excitement at finally being represented in a competition like this. A gossip blog (name withheld) misconstrued her video and insisted she was only getting praised by South Africans to spite the winner, Chidimma Adetshina who previously contested in Miss South Africa and who faced xenophobic attacks.
This insistence is supposed to imply that Ufa could not possibly be supported for her beauty and poise- both factors that are considered by the Miss Universe Nigeria judges, but to spite another contestant. It’s a sore reminder that plus-sized women are not seen as beautiful unless they serve an adjoining purpose, in this case envy.
Alex’s video posted 5 days ago on her TikTok page got over 870,000 views. ‘The audacity of this plus-sized person to demand for change’, this was a repeated sentiment from video critics but comments like “Hit the gym”, “stop eating so much”, “you don’t walk like a model” don’t change the fact that plus-size people deserve to see themselves in clothes that are marketed to them. If the statistics are anything to go by, they make up a core amount of customers for clothing brands. So why don’t the runways reflect this?
Another Miss Universe
Ufa Dania was inspired by Jane Dipika Garrett, who won Miss Universe Nepal in 2023 and the first plus-size Miss Universe contestant ever. She even made it to the top 20. This visibility was important because she needed to see someone like her who had done it before to know that it was possible. This is why visibility is important.
Nigerians can be very particular about keeping the status quo and this is why plus-sized women are shunned and abused in our society. They are taught shame and timidity. How dare they speak up or show off looking like that? They’re regarded as unhealthy and treated like they are other than but these are people and they deserve respect, visibility and at the very least, humanity. This is why the message from women like Ufa and Alex are important. The road is long but we must persevere. All of us whether plus-size or not must hold space for each other.
Ufa Dania goes on to inspire more people. A beacon of hope and a symbol of beauty, she hopes that more women can see themselves in her story and reach for the stars.
“You can grow beyond what people try to put you inside. You can break that box, you can come out and you can be the best. You don’t have to fit into someone else’s mould to show up and show off. This was really important to me to show people that beauty comes in different forms. We talk a lot about inclusion but we hardly see that happening. This was me putting myself out there to say that you can be size 14 and you can have class and poise.”
