According to Miss Universe, Zozibini Tunzi, “Women are often their own harshest critics. We fight an internal dialogue about our worth. We hold back in case we are wrong.” Tunzi and 1st for Women Insurance have joined forces to encourage women to instead, start asking themselves “what would you do if you were fearless?”
“Being fearless is both a decision and an action. It doesn’t mean living a life devoid of fear, but living a life in which our fears don’t hold us back. Fearless is the audacity to be unhindered by failure or judgement, and to walk with freedom, strength and hope in the face of things unknown. Fearless is feeling doubt and insecurity, but deciding that something else is more important. Being fearless is to be free – of the constraints of self-doubt and the constraints of external judgement. When it’s easier to reside in the shadows than show your light, we encourage women to make the choice to step out and be seen,” says Robyn Farrell, CEO of 1st for Women Insurance.
Tunzi joined Joanne Joseph at a recent TimesLIVE Dialogues, in partnership with 1st for Women Insurance, to discuss what it means to be fearless and how women can be empowered to realise their worth and strength.
“When women fear less, they become fearless,” said Tunzi. “They can then do what they thought they couldn’t and say what they thought they shouldn’t. It’s a choice with the ultimate reward of true freedom.”
An icon of strength, courage and resilience, Tunzi is a vocal advocate of the rights of women. Fearlessness, she told Joseph, is not the absence of fear, but rather about having the strength to push beyond the fear.
She conceded that she too has fears: of inadequacy, of not being perfect enough and like many women, also suffers from imposter syndrome at times. “I try to appreciate myself for being perfectly imperfect,” she said.
Given SA’s poor track record when it comes to violence against women, she said it was time that patriarchal systems are dismantled. Education needs to focus more on respecting women and asking for consent.
“Women are not asking for special treatment, but rather equal treatment,” she said.
In the workplace they need to ensure they are not side-lined and that they receive equal pay as men for the same jobs. At the same time, women need to stop viewing other women as threats or competitors and instead help to empower and uplift each other.
We need to start raising girls to be leaders rather than followers and teach them that they have every right to follow their dreams. “As women we need to remind ourselves every day that we are competent and that we deserve our success.”
Tunzi said she was a firm believer in practicing positive self-affirmations and in talking kindly to yourself. Although there is a never a good time to start realising your dreams, she urged women to stop putting it off and to make the necessary changes now.
A firm believer in the value of mental health, she said women can’t even begin to be the best versions of themselves unless they have addressed their own mental health. While the black culture sometimes frowns on to talk about mental health, she said that stigma needed to change.
Wining the Miss Universe title in late 2019 has taught her that she’s got a thicker skin than she thought she had and given her a greater understanding of people from different cultures and nationalities.
As women we need to keep pushing harder so that society has no choice but to take us seriously, Tunzi concluded.
To watch the online discussion, click here.