Ugliness, according to the Urban Dictionary, is the quality which makes a person or thing physically unappealing. It is the property of physical things that are unappealing to the eye. The term is frequently used in reference to human appearance. The opposite of ugliness is beauty.
Ugliness, as is beauty, is a matter of subjective aesthetics, one person may think something beautiful that another may find ugly. Ugliness, of course, is not a crime. That is why William Masvinu, voted the ugliest man in Zimbabwe, is the darling of many commuters at a bus station in his Mbare district of Harare where he works.
Not because of his appearance, but by the kind of service he renders travellers. Masvinu may be Zimbabwe’s Mr. Ugly 2013, but his beauty is in how he serves travellers at the bus station.
His children say they are often laughed at by people at work or in school but they have learned to shrug off the tease and live with it.
His ugliness also did not stop one beauty from falling in love to become his loving wife who is proud to pose with him at their home in the outskirts of Harare. William Masvinu defeated 10 competitors to retain, yes, retain, his Mr. Ugly title at Zimbabwe’s annual competition held late last year.
His posters are all over Harare and he is more than willing to pose with one. The back-to-back title did gain Masvinu fame but not much fortune.
Lately, he has returned to Mbare bus station and continued his old job of a porter, carrying loads of luggage for less than 20 US dollars (Sh1,500)a day. Masvinu’s wife and children say they are often laughed at by people at work or in school for being related to Mr. Ugly, but they have learned to shrug off the tease and live with it, happily!
Masvinu’s wife and the man himself loading a bus in Mbare, Harare
