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PUBLIC OPINION > It's OK for Beauty Pageant to Disqualify Transgendered Contestant

SodaHead Celebs 2012/03/27 21:00:00
The Miss Universe Canada beauty pageant found itself in a strange situation when the organization discovered that Jenna Talackova, one of 65 finalists, was not born a woman. The 23-year-old Vancouver native was disqualified because she did not "meet the requirements to compete despite having stated otherwise on her entry form." Officials say the rules require that contestants be "naturally born females," but Talackova argues that she has considered herself a woman since the age of four and has undergone reassignment surgery. Good Morning America asked the public if Miss Universe Canada officials were discriminating when they disqualified her.

jenna talackova sodahead

Unfortunately for Talackova, the public is not on her side. However, in this case it's especially important that we pin down the reason behind the public's decision, as this is a controversial issue despite an apparent consensus. The key factor in ruling the disqualification "fair" was not the public's stance on the LGBT community, or even the public's stance on what should be allowed in such a pageant -- though both obviously influenced some voters. The deciding factor was the rule book.

We couldn't find a digital copy of the Miss Universe Canada requirements, but one official did say that the rules specifically require that each contestant be a "naturally born female." Since "female" denotes chromosomal makeup, there's really no way Talackova can evade it. Perhaps she can present an argument against the rule book for future pageants, but this year she's out of luck.

Teens Support Talackova

Even though the overall results suggest a consensus, there was little agreement in the demographics. Age, for instance, had an enormous correlation. Teens were inversely adamant about allowing Talackova to participate in the pageant, while some older age groups were nearly unanimous.

Liberals Relatively Reserved

The political spectrum is a good illustration of why the results turned out so heavily against Talackova. Not surprisingly, liberals were far more likely than conservatives to call the ruling discriminatory, but they were not nearly as decided as conservatives. While an overwhelming 92% of conservatives voted "fair," liberals were still very close to a split decision, presumably because of the rule-book argument.

Males Make a Statement

Gender mirrored the political spectrum in that men showed a strong opinion and women were relatively undecided, but the reasoning here is a little less obvious. We suspect the primary factor here is that men don't want to accidentally oggle someone who used to be a man. Even for men who are reasonably progressive, the idea might seem a bit awkward.

If you'd like to vote on this question, dig deeper into the demographics, or engage in existing discussion about the topic, visit Good Morning America's poll about Jenna Talackova. We'd love to hear from you!
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Top Opinion

  • Sterling 2012/03/27 22:03:52
    Sterling
    +24
    I think the reason teens are for it is they don't really understand what goes into a sex change. You can't reproduce female organs, nor can you reproduce the male organs. You can make someone LOOK like they have female organs but A) they aren't functional, never could be and B) they will still have a Y chromosome.

    "well what about women born infertile?" Do you really want to make the comparison between a man who cut off his junk and flipped his penis inside out to a woman who was born with female parts but is infertile?

    This is why you had all the people in the comment section asking for us to "define male and female" as though it hasn't already been defined.

    If I took a dog, chopped off it's legs and shaved it, cut its tongue to make it forked and did plastic surgery to make it look like a snake, would it be a snake or a dog?

    There are things you just can't change.

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Opinions

  • freakoutnow... cuz mom's here 2012/03/28 03:16:26 (edited)
    freakoutnow... cuz mom's here
    +3
    She is legally a woman and socially a woman. As a woman, I wouldn't be offended competing against her in a beauty pageant because she is a beautiful woman. Also for those who don't know the lining of her vagina will be muceousy like a natal woman's and it will become cellular unidentifible from one of us natal women's vaginas. The only way to be able to 100% tell a trans female from one of us natal females is if you run a chromosone test. Even then there such chromosone abnormalities as XXY and XYY and XXYY that muddle the waters of chromosonal testing's merits. Plus what do we do with intersexed people (once they were called hermaphrodites) that have sex organs of both sexes? She had the surgery so she's a woman as far as I'm concerned. Now they do have the right to ban anyone they want including non-natal born women however what if she was born male but appeared female naturally? It does happen. This disorder causes them 2 appear feminine & their genitals don't drop to the outside like they are supposed to.
  • Inquisi... freakou... 2012/03/28 03:26:36
    Inquisitve Kat
    Clearly Americans have a long way to go in terms of scientific understanding of 'gender'.
  • Inquisitve Kat 2012/03/28 02:50:31
    Inquisitve Kat
    +1
    Wow, are the majority of Americans really that backwards, or did the rednecks flock to this question?
  • Dan Inquisi... 2012/03/28 03:17:28
    Dan
    +1
    Backwards? Calling a man a woman isn't "backwards"? And many of the so called "red necks" used biology/science to back up their opinions.
  • Inquisi... Dan 2012/03/28 03:23:58
    Inquisitve Kat
    Biologically, transgendered people, upon brain imaging, show white and gray matter and other chemical signs that belong to the gender with which they identify.
    Your science ended at how the external parts developed, and nothing else. Simple.
  • Nomad58 Inquisi... 2012/03/28 07:02:40
    Nomad58
    +1
    Wrong, transgendered people show distinct class of patterns recognized for transexual/transgendered classes. Upon further examination, they did not specifically register as male nor female, yet established a patterns peculiar to their gender classification as well as their gender orientation. (King's College London, et al)

    So does your simple white & gray view now make you a "redneck" like the rest of us who expressed a contrary opinion?
  • Inquisi... Nomad58 2012/03/28 07:26:58
    Inquisitve Kat
    No, it still shows that there's something wrong with trying to classify this woman as a man.
  • Nomad58 Inquisi... 2012/03/28 07:54:13
    Nomad58
    +1
    Not a woman ~ a transgendered male.
    Not born with uterus, ovaries, or functional mammary glands = male
  • Dan Inquisi... 2012/04/02 03:08:24
    Dan
    +1
    DNA is far from external parts. I do think it would help if the pageant had clear rules that are spelled out enough to eliminate gray areas. I do want to say that I wish him well and have no ill will. We all have defects and have to deal with them as best we can. But I do insist on honesty. He was asked if he was born a woman and lied.
  • Inquisi... Dan 2012/04/02 05:37:11
    Inquisitve Kat
    I will agree, 'natural born female' should be less vague.
  • Dan Inquisi... 2012/04/03 02:57:30
    Dan
    +1
    True. In his mind he may feel he has always been a woman regardless of appearance and that his answer was honest.
  • Inquisi... Dan 2012/04/03 04:30:54
    Inquisitve Kat
    I believe that's the case. I'm close to the issue... my step-child, through my ex, is physically female, but identifies as male and will even say "I'm totally a dude."
  • Dan Inquisi... 2012/04/03 12:42:30
    Dan
    +1
    See, I'm not as heartless as you thought;)
  • Inquisi... Dan 2012/04/03 16:56:16
    Inquisitve Kat
    Didn't think you were. :-)
  • sandra 2012/03/28 02:41:47
    sandra
    +2
    Very wrong to disqualify her.
    In my opinion Pageants are disgusting.
    She`d be better off doing something more productive in her life, than wasting precious time in a stupid pageant.
    Just my opinion.
  • Shane sandra 2012/03/28 03:48:14
    Shane
    +3
    It's wrong to disqualify someone who breaks the rules?
  • sandra Shane 2012/03/28 13:29:18
    sandra
    Is one of the rules say that no person who had a sex change isn`t allowed to enter?
    This person is a woman now. And has been all her life ,only with the wrong private part.
  • Shane sandra 2012/03/29 20:11:12
    Shane
    The rule was, in case you didn't actually read before commenting, that you must naturally be born a female. So with some basic application of common sense, that would mean transgendered people can't. Or maybe we should let people who want a sex change enter too since they were also born with the "wrong" private part? All they have to do is dress like a woman and their junk is their own business!
  • sandra Shane 2012/03/29 21:32:19
  • Shane sandra 2012/04/02 21:02:09
    Shane
    Exactly. So maybe instead of people trying to force her back into them, they should realize that maybe the pageant isn't their place to be? Mmmkay.
  • sandra Shane 2012/04/02 21:35:16
    sandra
    ya ,I guess so since she is probablly a better person. And I hope she reads this.
    As a matter of fact most woman are too good for scuzzy pageants , they are so superficial.
  • Shane sandra 2012/04/03 19:58:10
    Shane
    +1
    You're assuming she's better off of what? She's a pageant competitor just like all the rest of them.
  • sandra Shane 2012/04/03 22:51:36
    sandra
    This outcome should change her mind about pageants now, hopefully.
    I hope all the girls will one day realize how superficial and stupid pageants really are. And not to promote them by entering them.
    Then maybe when they see their losing money, they`ll start allowing others to enter, and hopefully by that time it will be to late for them . Then they may start allowing ALL woman to enter.
  • vinone 2012/03/28 02:36:28
    vinone
    +2
    I can't decide... Pageants are a joke now-a-days anyways.
  • Atmara 2012/03/28 02:26:54
    Atmara
    +1
    Most of the trannies Ive seen just look plain weird. So that would be unfair to compete against them. I think she could win as any sex she chooses.
  • Deb 2012/03/28 02:22:58
    Deb
    +1
    Sure is! They do have "Drag Queen" beauty contests and others of a similiar nature, he should have been in that. And this is in Canada...their laws
  • Kidasha 2012/03/28 02:19:17
    Kidasha
    +3
    If she considers herself a woman and the government considers herself a woman then there is no questions asked, she is a woman. Whatever happened to "its on the inside that counts"!? Transgendering is a hard thing to go through without the whole "it's against nature" crap. It can be argued that medications we use today go against nature. Nuclear weapons are against nature. Live and let live
  • Shane Kidasha 2012/03/28 03:50:38
    Shane
    +1
    If its so hard then why go through it??? Honestly, people confuse me so much with this. The rules say she must be naturally born a woman. It's like breaking a rule that says you can't dye your hair color in the pageant either, and there's nothing wrong with that if they want that.
  • volley15 Shane 2012/03/28 19:48:37
    volley15
    Life itself is hard to go through so why not just kill yourself and end it now?

    Anything you want to accomplish or become can be hard. Nothing in this world is easy.
    This doesn't mean that the rough journey is not worth it. If it makes you happy (and doesn't actually hurt anyone else) then the hardship is worth it. We all have to go through hardships.
  • Shane volley15 2012/03/29 20:16:57
    Shane
    Yes but that doesn't mean that you get to decide the rules for a beauty pageant that you aren't running.
  • Kidasha Shane 2012/03/29 01:59:46
    Kidasha
    People go through it because they don't want to live a lie. It's better to be true to yourself and be proud of who you are. The big guy upstairs can get really busy answering prayers and stuff so every now and then he can make the mistake of putting the wrong people in the wrong gender.
  • Shane Kidasha 2012/03/29 20:15:51
    Shane
    And the wrong nose, and the wrong face, and the wrong family, and oh wait I can apply that logic to anything I feel like and nobody can dispute me because I have made no sensical foundation for that opinion. So I say, according to your logic, that being transgendered is living a lie because she doesn't really have a vagina, she has a flipped, mutilated penis, and her parents thought for some reason that a little kid can make a good decision about cutting up their own penis.
  • Kidasha Shane 2012/03/30 00:53:46
    Kidasha
    I meant spiritually not physically! If she feels like a woman then to her, living as a man would be like living a lie. I have a close friend whose transgender (girl who switched to guy) and he described it as being forced to wear clothes that were 5 sizes too small. No matter what you do you can never get comfortable. After he transed her became for confident and happy and I'm glad to see him comfortable in his own skin.
  • Nomad58 Kidasha 2012/03/28 07:04:41
    Nomad58
    +1
    If nuclear weapons are against the law ~ how do you explain the Sun?
  • Kidasha Nomad58 2012/03/29 01:56:54
    Kidasha
    The sun does not design weapons for the exact purpose of killing people more effecientally.
  • Nomad58 Kidasha 2012/03/29 02:27:33
    Nomad58
    +1
    60K a year die due to skin cancer. I don't trust the bastard ~ I think he is out to get us.

    60k year die skin cancer trust bastard
  • Akosi V... Kidasha 2012/04/12 02:28:33
    Akosi Vhine
    +2
    but in god eyes he is a man that he created!
  • Kidasha Akosi V... 2012/04/13 01:05:31
    Kidasha
    hey god can make mistakes! I mean come on! You would screw up every once in a while too if you had to answer two million while ruling the universe and creating beings at the same time
  • peaches 2012/03/28 02:03:38
    peaches
    +4
    I don't even care what is considering discriminatory or not in this contest anymore.
    Truth is, humanity needs to become more tolerant of transgenders and just those who differ from themselves in general.
  • austin weber 2012/03/28 01:52:41

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