42 Year Old Man Wins Mr Ugly Pageant In Harare,Zimbabwe.

Last Friday, 200 spectators gathered in Harare, Zimbabwe to crown the winner of the nation's fourth annual-ish Mr. Ugly pageant. The victor, Maison Sere, an unemployed 42-year-old sporting a handful of crooked teeth and torn overalls, beat out 36 competitors over two rounds of competition, walking away from the nightclub where the finals were held with a $500 [€468] cash prize. But unlike in previous years where everyone had fun, the media scratched its head over potential exploitation issues, and then everyone went on their merry ways, when Sere was crowned this year the audience erupted into shoving and heckling. The rabble-rousers were supporters of the pageant's runner-up, vegetable porter William Masvinu, who claimed that Sere was too handsome for the title. By the start of this week, Masvinu, who has won the competition twice before, had publicly demanded a do-over, claiming that Sere's ugliness was due to his teeth and the grotesque faces he pulled – not true, inherent repugnance.

Zimbabwe's Mr. Ugly competition began in 2011 as a pet project of David "Apama" Machowa, a local comedic dancer and entrepreneur. At first the contest only attracted a handful of entrants, and could only give out a first prize of $50 [€46] – that year to one Brian Mateyazondo. But within a year, the competition had grown large enough, with official sanction from the government and the support of local bars and entertainers, that the prize money doubled – Masvinu walked away with $100 [€93] and a hotel voucher in his first win. The competition lapsed in 2014, but its absence inspired aresurgence of support that made the 2015 pageant the largest and best funded yet.

The pageant's popularity may seem offensive at first blush, given how blatantly it seems to use the physical difference of a few for the amusement of the many. But according to Apama, the pageant was created not to mock, but to celebrate perceived ugliness, giving people typically rejected in society a venue to be appreciated and cheered for who they are for a night instead.

"Looks are God given," the AP recently quoted Apama as saying. "We should all be proud of who we are."