Dear Pageant Girl,
Once in a while, you get that special pageant person who causes some waves. Some are good waves, others not so much.
And I’m not talking about that blasted Tsunami Walk.
In the last 24 hours it has been brought to our attention that the gorgeous Jenna Talackova has made it through to the finals of the Miss Vancouver pageant.
Representing BC, Jelena’s bio is sweet and reeks of pageant wholesomeness. Her most memorable moment was performing as a child with three girlfriends in a county fair and receiving a rousing reception. Her role model is her uncle who has taught her the value of knowing her roots and cherishing her heritage, allowing her to be a more rounded person.
Jenna is also a transsexual.
Jenna competed in the Miss International Queen pageant in Pattaya, Thailand. Miss International Queen is owned and run by the Tiffany’s Show Group who also run the Miss Tiffany Pageant – one of the biggest transgender pageants in the world.
Jenna was a contestant in the 2010 pageant and was a top ten finalist. Check out Jenna in the video below. She appears at 7:43 and 7:50.
As per the video, Jenna “knew” she was a woman at the age of 4 and began her hormone therapy at 14. She had the “chop” at 19 and has never looked back.
If you watch the video many of these contestants are undeniably beautiful and will give any pageant contestant a run for their money. I have been to Thailand a couple of times and some of the lady-boys I have seen with my own eyes have taken my breath away.
The question is, should transsexuals be allowed to compete in beauty pageants such as Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss Earth or Miss International?
Since hearing about the “news” Dear Pageant Girl has been monitoring the site and noticed that The Beauties of Canada – the Canadian license holders for the Miss Universe Pageant has pulled down Jenna’s page. For a good three hours the site was down for maintenance.
When it finally came back up, Jenna’s contestant page has mysteriously disappeared.
So what happened?
We have sent an email to the Beauties of Canada organization and await their reply.
If you base it on technicalities, there is no reason why transsexuals cannot be allowed to compete in many of their respective national pageants.
See: http://www.beautiesofcanada.com/muc/become/
According to the Beauties of Canada site which holds the Canadian license for Miss Universe:
“Would you like to become Miss Universe® Canada 2012? Fill out the following information and we will get back to you directly. To qualify for the 2012 competition, you must be a Canadian Citizen and at least 18 years of age and under 27 years of age by February 1st, 2012.
If you meet the basic requirements, we’ll be sending you an application form to participate in a Casting or Local pageant to select the finalists for the Miss Universe® Canada pageant.”
Vague.
I alluded to this in a previous post on how some of our national pageant sites are incredibly vague when inviting potential candidates to join the competition: https://dearpageantgirl.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/an-open-letter-to-all-beauty-aspirants-3/
On the 5th of December I wrote:
“The Miss Universe Australia application form states that to qualify entrants must:
- Be an Australian citizen or Permanent Resident
- Be aged no less than 18 years and not more than 27 on the 30th of January 2012
- Have been residing in Australia for at least six months prior to March 2012
- Have a valid passport
- Have never been married
- Have never given birth to a child
- Have not committed any crime or been involved in any inappropriate behavior, photographs or films which may cause embarrassment to both parties if disclosed at a later date
Bear in mind that neither one specifically tells you that you have to be first and foremost, a female.
In fact, nowhere does it state in the Miss Universe guidelines that applicants must be born biologically as a female.
So Jenna has a case.
Speaking to a few pageant industry commentators, the feedback I have received have been rather mixed. While some are adamant with their opposition to Jenna’s involvement, the majority greeted it as a welcome change.
The question is, where do we draw the line?
If you get into the argument of “must be born female and remains a female” opens another can of worms. If we go with that, then it makes it clear that “new women” or those who have gone through ‘the change’ (post ops) are rendered ineligible to enter.
But the majority of us do change and no longer have EVERYTHING that we are born with.
Some are born as blondes and grow up becoming brunettes. Do we then hold that against them as they are no longer what they were originally born as?
And what about the cosmetic changes?
Do we discriminate against a potential contestant because someone has exposed her to be a bottle blonde?
Some of us are born with dark eyes and we wear contact lenses to change them to a different color.
Some of us are born with pale skin yet we slather on fake tan to look darker.
We remove moles from our faces.
Why do some want to deny this woman the right to compete because she no longer has that one thing that she was born with? I can guarantee that our Miss Venezuelas definitely didn’t walk out of their mama’s womb looking like THAT.
So let’s be fair. To all you National Directors reading this, be precise with your criteria. Don’t lead people on. If you choose to color your criteria with shades of grey then expect a rainbow of applicants to come knocking down your door.
Dear Pageant Girl applauds Jenna’s bravery and commitment to diversity.
We await a response from The Beauties of Canada regarding Jenna’s status.
In the meantime, what do YOU think? Should transsexuals and transgenders be allowed to compete in your national beauty pageant?
********* JENNA UPDATE: MARCH 25 **************
Unfortunately it has been reported today that Jenna is once again out of the competition. According to pageant organisers, Jenna was disqualified for claiming to be a “naturally born female” on her registration form. According to Denis Davila, Beauties of Canada owner and organiser, ” the rules are very clear and there’s no way we can go back on it.”
Are the rules really that clear though? I had a look at the rules page when this big bruhaha started and nowhere does it state that one must be born genetically a female.
Sorry, the rules are not as clear and there are PLENTY of loopholes. Dear Pageant Girl will keep a very close eye on this and wish Jenna all the best for the future. In or out, Jenna sure gave everyone something to think and talk about and we salute you for that.
dearpageantgirl 
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Hell yes. Since at big part of these contests is superficial, why not allow SRS as part of that. The rest is on talent and personality which we are all on equal grounds.
haven’t you read about the guidelines you posted from miss australia? reading it carefully , you’ll see guideline number 6 of miss australia…it is specifically state a woman… how can a transgender give birth to a child? (no offense meant to transgender people)
Hi Javk
Of course Transgenders can give birth! Check out the case of Thomas Beattie for example: http://boingboing.net/2008/03/24/transgender-man-is-p.html
There was also a case in 2009 in Spain.
Now this opens another can of worms. Can someone who has relinquished their legal status to be a woman (yet were biologically born as one) be allowed to compete? If Thomas wanted to make a political statement and join Miss Universe Australia (and if he didnt have a child but was capable of getting pregnant) be allowed to join because according to the pageant, he is a woman because he was born one?
You know exactly what that person means – MALE to female transgenders cannot give birth. The other person was FEMALE to male. Please don’t be stupid.
Really, really simple, Javk. It says that candidates must have NEVER given birth to a child. It does NOT say that candidates must be CAPABLE of giving birth to a child. If it were to state that candidates must be capable of giving birth, then candidates would have to be tested for fertility… and could you imagine the mess associated with that? Discrimination against infertile women? No, not going to happen. So, there’s no requirement about being *capable* of giving birth. There’s only a requirement that a woman have not actually given birth before.
I am pretty sure that Jenna Talackova has never given birth to a child. Therefore, she fully complies with that requirement.
Plenty of genetic females can’t have children either, maybe you should ban them….
It is different from being born a female and realizing you can never or will have difficulty giving birth or getting pregnant vs. being born a male and have the ability to impregnate instead of giving birth or becoming pregnant.
Better wake up people and get right with God! He creates,we destroy. No period,no child to bare,not a woman. Hormones and a dick removal does not make it! Same with women becoming male. Chaz Bono is a woman! Wake up!
jenna is a woman you are ignorant
Well she’s not asking to compete in Australia so your point is, well pointless
Since most beauty contestants have had surgery to enhance their appearance, transgenders are on an equal footing with them.
There is a flaw in the way we tend to think about gender. Sex is a spectrum, not an “either/or”. Those who try to define gender are bound to eventually find an exception. Jenna is undeniably beautiful and has already won a nomination, so why not let her compete?
Ugh, I’m soooo glad someone said this… Though sex and gender are separate concepts, however interrelated they may be. There is no stable definition of a ‘naturally born woman’ or ‘natal woman’. An individual born with testis and androgen insensitivity? ‘Woman’. So you’re going to say no to 1 out of every 2000 individuals? (Ratio of intersexed individuals per those without intersexed traits). No one opposing Jenna’s reinstatement would ever bring up intersexed persons because it screws their premises.
There’s an awful lot of stupid, misguided bigotry up here in this comment section.
Don’t twist bigotry with truth! Satan has you tricked and one day you will face God. I truly hope that you and Jesus get things ALL worked out before your last breath on earth. Eternity happens and it is a personal choice. Heaven above or hell below.
Look up 2 live and live ready! Jesus loves you most of all and He desires that you NOT perish without Him as your Lord and Savior. He is the only one who can cancel our eternal burn notice! Just ask Him, it’s FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow that was intense. I’m all for freedom of speech and I usually leave God out of all of this (God has enough to deal with) but I must say that Dear Pageant Girl believes in a God of Love and that Jesus was on the side of the marginalised and the oppressed. I don’t want to turn this into a religious argument, let’s stick to the topic at hand.
Good article – I think she should be allowed to compete – she’s definitely pretty enough! 🙂
Good article – I think she should be allowed to compete – she’s definitely pretty enough!
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God made him a frickin MAN! Why should we change rules to accomodate those who have convinced themselves otherwise.
Bumblebee,
Rules are rules yes, but if the rules are not clear people will find loopholes. In this case, the rules were not very clear and Jenna has a case. Go to their website and read their rules. The argument is if the Canadian government recognizes Jenna as a woman, legally, why can she not compete?
If people want to hack off their genitals and shoot themselves full of hormones to appear something they are not in reality, it is their business and between them and God. I’m sure this guy was molested as a child and probably worse. In any event, it’s their business….but that doesn’t give them any right to force their “choice” upon the rest of us. Don’t parade a dude in a bikini out in front of millions of people and call him a woman. Wise up.
You’re an ignorant moron. Rot in hell.
Wow, that’s harsh. Yea, you are absolutely right, these people are forcing their choice on the rest of us “normal” people. After all they are less than human and should bow to your belief system, am I right? It should be the “normal” people making the rules and forcing their “choice” on anyone who is different. You must live in an incredibly small and pathetic little world.
You’re idea of a ‘Doug’, or hetero-normative white male, is lacking in the department of humanity. You have been found wanting. And stop bringing in your God argument. I don’t tell people it’s ‘between you and the Flying Spaghetti Monster, pray he doesn’t take away all your beer’.
Think.
If there’s wasn’t a rule about being born female, why on earth would there be a place on the registration form for him to mark the he was “born a female”???
No amount of Surgery or Hormone Therapy or Wishing will ever turn a man into a woman.
RE: Retards who choose to ignore Science…
Gender Identity != Biological Sex
Us Transwomen ARE women where it really counts (Between the ears)
MANY of us know we are female as soon as it is possible to really “know”, some of us even sooner. As such, she was very much “born female.” Also, science has proven that Transwomen (as well as many gay guys) have thought patterns (and brain waves) that align more with the feminine side of the spectrum. (Read, we think like women do.)
Just cause you are afraid of what you are, doesn’t mean we have to be afraid as well…
BTW, calling her “him”, “he”, “dude”, and the like, just further shows your bigotry. And no, we aren’t “molested as a child and probably worse.” This just shows you watch and believe Faux News (or worse, listen to some fat old pedophile priest spew his hatred on the airwaves and internet!)
Please schedule yourself for a frontal lobotomy at your next earliest convenience and give the world a small sliver of peace…
wowgreenwinner: You make the argument that I find myself repeating to people like the OP. She was “born a female.” Her mind is female as it always had been. That she was born with some deformities in her genitalia and hormonal imbalances is not reason not to consider her female.
I would like to take your argument one step further, and try to show ‘she’ (I don’t mean the quotes pejoratively, don’t be negative) was born as nothing other than a human being. Society, and I almost certainly mean worldwide (save a few small, seemingly rational societies who don’t consider gender or sex as primary structural organisations), is a genital society. We sex and gender ourselves, through ritualised behaviour and presentation. Her mind was not female, nor was it male. It’s only important to gender ‘her’ as a female, or male in the case of the haters, in a patriarchal world- which is what we live in. Third wave feminism might be the best teacher ever. ❤
I hope your post helps some people understand that this is not just about a physical change. Some years ago I had a close friend who was going through this procedure, a woman in a mans body. At the time I met her she was preparing for her surgical procedures and in the final stages of a psychological evaluation. She really helped me to understand what she was dealing with. I was young and stupid ( 22 physically about 17 mentally). She was incredibly kind and patient explaining things in a way that I could get my head around. We spent a lot of time together and went out quite a bit and I don’t think anyone we met ever questioned she was a woman. Sadly I lost touch with her after her surgical procedures. I really was heart broken, she was an incredible friend. I did find her briefly about a year and a half later, Somehow our friendship had changed but at least I had the opportunity to tell her how much she meant to me and how much she had enriched my life. Some of these people just need to get over themselves and stop puking their religious dogma and prejudices on those who are different.
I never understood the whole beauty pageant thing but it obviously means a lot to the women who compete and I say more power to them, follow your dream and that goes for Jenna too! Let the woman compete!
Jeff, this has to be the most educated, decent and kind post I have seen so far. Thank you for sharing.
Let me ge a bit scientific on you all. In humans sex is determined by our chromosomes – Jenna will alwasy be and XY and therefore genetically a male. However, in humans gender is determined by more than our chromosomes. This is a quote our of a Human Heredity text book. ” …having and XX or XY chromosome does not always mean someone is male or female. The outcome depends on interactions between genes on the X an Y chromsomes with many different environmental facotrs.” The environmental factors mentioned here are other genes someone may have inheritied. Jenna claims to have known she was a girl since the age of 4. She may have been born with XY chromosomes wich will produce male sexual organs but everything else about her was not a male. So I do not even think she lied on her application. As fas as she is concerned she has alwasy been a girl.
What’s happening to this world? Lots of gender confusion out there. Gays, lesbians, transgenders, what’s next? Mutant? Our planet is becoming a big freak show.
The more we deviate from Christ, the more deviant behavior becomes normalized. This is why so many in the LGBT+ community are atheists. I wonder if Talackova considers himself transgendered still or does he belief he is a full-fledged woman because of his surgeries and change of birth cert and passport?
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First of all. what the hell does giving birth have to do with being recognized as a woman? Many biologically born women choose not to have children. Does this make these people less of a WOMAN? no. If those who are TRANS cannot have children the natural way.. they can have children in OTHER WAYS. making someone who is transgendered no less of a woman.
What makes a woman a woman is her mental capacities. How she thinks How she behaves How she chooses to present herself How she lives her life.
Daily activities make people the gender they choose to be.
Not whether a person can give birth. Thats completely irrelevant. Many people cant even have children including male and female bilogically born.
This is disgusting.
That’s a switch because my understanding is a woman is a woman because she has a womb and the capacity to bear children once menstruation begins….hence womb-an from man. Granted, some women cannot have children but they are not the norm.
How many natural born women participate in transgender pageants? That would be an interesting read.
What they should do is just make a different gender classification for men who feel effeminate and want to appear female, same for female to male. I can only imagine it being a heavy burden to call yourself a woman when you know you have a genetic history as a man.
I think Jenna is already a role model for alot of transgirls out there. I was born a female but always felt like a male. I pretended to be a female for as long as I could. Now in my 30’s, I said I had enough and decided to transition. I am in accountability with myself and that is all that matters.