As with all beauty pageants, there are many rules contestants and sponsors have to be aware of for the Miss Universe competition. One of which is that each contestant must be a natural born female. Miss Universe Canada contestant, Jenna Talackova is twenty three years old. She was born a boy, but states that she has known she was a girl since the age of four. She has competed in quite a few beauty pageants in the past, both for women and transsexuals. She was disqualified for "lying on her application" by stating that she was female. The news was broadcasted everywhere including ABC. Since her diqualification, there has been an online petition circulating the internet in attempts to get Jenna re-instated into the pageant.
When Jenna was fourteen, she had began hormone therapy and underwent gender reassignment surgery at nineteen. This made her a legal female in the eyes of medical doctors and the law. It did not, however, make her a "natural born female" to pageant officials. Jenna has been living her life as a girl for a very long time now and I don't believe that we need to judge HER for that. I think she should just keep working hard and being the best that she can be even though there are people out there who are tearing her down. As you can see, Jenna is a very beautiful woman who seems to have very strong morals. Her parents also must be strong people because they would have had to sign and allow for her to go through hormone therapy. With your parents, friends, and quite a few supporters looking after and supporting you for who you are, you are already a winner. I know she feels as if she has been discriminated against, but I hope she realizes that this won't be the last time either. Unfortunately society can be cruel, but you have to be strong and not let it get to you.
Let me know what you all think about this. I would love to hear any comments about the whole thing. I know some people who think highly about this subject already and others who are completely against it. What do you guys think about a child "knowing" they were born the wrong gender? What do you think about parents who allow their children to go through sex changes? And, what do you think about the pageant disqulifying Jenna?
That sure is a tough one. On one hand you have a rule set in place, but on the other hand I think most rules should be challenged because we do evolve over time and things change. I guess since she lied and the rule is in place, she should not be able to participate this year, but the rule should be changed for the future contestants.
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