Miss/Mr (?) Canada

Miss Canada contestant, who is not a natural born woman

As an ex-pageant girl, pageant news sparks my interest. So when I heard about the D/Q of a Miss Canada Universe contestant I was intrigued. A contestant in the Miss Canada pageant was recently disqualified because she is not a natual born woman, Vancouver’s Jenna Talackova was born a male and underwent gender reasingment surgey at age 19. When pageant officials found out they disqualified her. Not only was she not born a woman, she lied about the fact in her application.

Now, I am a pretty liberal, social right person, and normally this would outrage me, but for some reason I find that I am ok with this. I do do belive the people should be treated equally regardless of race, creed, sex, etc.. but I can see another side of this issue. Not so much because I think that she is not good or pure enough to hold the title, but more because I have been there and done that... competed that is.

It is pretty well-known that men can lose weight and tone more than women. And for those of you who have never competed before, swimsuit competition is not just strapping on heels and doning a bikini. Pageant girls spends months preparing for this phase of competition. Strict diets, personal trainers, dedicated workout routines, all for 30 seconds to look your best.

Now imagine competing against a man instead. Who can burn calories faster, and gentically tone muscle more than a woman. A wo"man" who has perfect breast due to cosmetic surgery, not sure good padding in your bra top. I often joke with my husband about this very issue: how he can eat a cheeseburger and fries and burn the calories off in a day and I struggle to burn them in a week.

So, for me this is not about discrimination because of her gender reassignmnet (though I'm not saying pageant officials didn't have discriminatory intent), this is about the inherent fairness of the competition. Especially for the Miss Universe pageant which is basically a beauty/bathing suit pageant. Yes the women still have an interview, but they win more of a modeling contract then Miss America where you get scholarship money. Miss Universe is built on the premise of the beauty of the body. So is it inherently fair to allow a genetically-altered wo"man" to compete with natual born women?

This is not an attack on LGBT individuals. To me this is about a fair opportunity. This is also about the rules. The competition rule clearly state that a contestant must be a certain age, never married, pregnant, and a natural born woman. She should have disclosed her past before she lied about it on her application as well. I do applaud Jenn for being honest and open about her surgery and her life. She is a role model for young people everywhere and should be commended; however, she does not meet the qualifications for this particular pageant.

Just my two cents. How do you feel? I'd love to hear your comments and feedback. ~The Illegal Blonde