‘Do it afraid’ - At 50, Barbie Mudahy is ready for her crowning moment
Published:Friday | May 9, 2025 | 12:08 AMOâbrian Wynter/Gleaner Writer
To access this article in full please login or register today
Beauty pageants have long been defined by youth and traditional beauty standards, but 50-year-old Barbie Mudahy is boldly challenging the narrative. Like the Miss Universe Organization — which in 2023 indicated an adjustment to their rules for...
Beauty pageants have long been defined by youth and traditional beauty standards, but 50-year-old Barbie Mudahy is boldly challenging the narrative. Like the Miss Universe Organization — which in 2023 indicated an adjustment to their rules for entry would take effect in 2024 — the various franchises and those trailblazing contestants who have come before her, Mudahy is rewriting the script.
The poised and radiant marketing executive from CVM TV has secured her place in the 2025 Miss Universe Jamaica competition after a rigorous elimination process last Sunday at the AC Hotel Kingston, and will undoubtedly make waves. But for Mudahy, this journey means more than a crown.
“My mom has definitely inspired me, and so this is a gift to her,” Mudahy told Living. “She has always wanted me to be a Miss Jamaica or to just enter Miss Jamaica, and so I did this for her initially. But as I went along with it, I recognised that I was also doing it for myself.”
Named ‘Barbie’ by her father, who just liked the sound of it, the name now feels symbolic of her mission – to challenge society’s mold of beauty and show that power and grace don’t expire with age. With confidence, clarity, and warmth, she is stepping onto a stage she once believed was out of reach.
When asked the big question – why now? After being encouraged by her mom for years with no success, why is now the time for Mudahy to step out at 50 years old?
‘I’M READY’
“I never said no, but I never said yes,” she confessed. “I just never thought that I could. Growing up, I had insecurities. I never saw myself as pretty. And I never saw myself as pretty enough to be on that stage. However, at 50, I’m fully aware of not just my beauty, but also my confidence and who I am. So I’m ready.”
It was the example of other groundbreaking women, like Dr Sandra Swaby, a board-certified cosmetic surgeon, who competed last year, that lit the path forward for her.
“Last year, as you would have seen, older women entered, Dr Swaby being one of them. And, that for me, was really the [light] in the path saying ‘Go’. So that was the moment I said, if they did it, I can and I am doing this! I had no excuse and no reason not to after I saw that.”
Swaby, then 52, placed fifth in the beauty and wellness competition, while Elaine Allen-Landy, then 59, achieved a top-15 placement.
Now fully immersed in the pageant sisterhood, Mudahy says she doesn’t feel like “the old woman in the room”. Instead, she feels honoured to be in a competition and to be able to compete with women who are so much younger than her. She believes it’s an amazing opportunity to be close to these girls as sisters, as this is much greater than anything else.
As someone who has spent her life doing things “afraid, but doing them anyway,” Mudahy’s message to other women, especially those battling insecurities or questioning their worth, is simple but powerful – “Do it, and do it afraid! If you don’t think you’re pretty enough, come anyway. Because believe me, you are!”
“Most of my life has been about me doing things and doing them afraid, but still doing it,” she shared.
“I think that the Miss Universe competition and the machinery behind it is something that gives you an experience and feeds and pours into you so much that there’s nothing that you will regret through it. You’ll definitely come out a better person and more beautiful.”