Beauty knows no gender, as Miss Universe Organisation recently announced that transgender women would be allowed to participate in the annual pageant. The decision by the organisation came after a transgender participant, 23-year-old Jenna Talackova, was forced out of the competition after pageant officials alleged she was not a “naturally-born female”.
Fashion fraternity and aspiring transgender models in the capital welcome the move.
Designer Payal Jain, who has been a judge at model hunts in the capital says, “If you have great modelling capabilities then you should get the opportunity. We are evolved people and times have changed. With the country hosting gay pride marches and so many coming out of the closet, tolerance levels have gone up. There’s certainly no taboo in the fashion industry.”
Publicist and LGBT rights activist Mohnish Kabir Malhotra seconds Payal and adds, “No offense, but if you’re keen to be a model, you have to look beautiful. And it certainly doesn’t matter if you’re a male or female as long as you’re a good model.”
Interior designer Shweta prefers to be known as an inter-gender. Reacting to the news, she says, “It’s not just transgender women, but also transgender men who are looking for equal opportunities. They (transgender men) should also be allowed to walk the ramp. And not just the fashion industry, but the market needs to open up for transgender. I am a woman and like to wear a man’s clothes and shoes. But often I don’t get anything in my size.”
Ruhin (name changed), a transgender model, is very happy to learn about the development. She says, “I am going in for sex change operation and this is surely a good news. To undergo sex change, one has to be mentally stronger and bear the physical pain. I have been modelling for a few years now and I would love to take this opportunity to participate in a beauty pageant.”
Shaine Soni, a designer says, “Isis King is the world’s only transgender model who participated in the reality show America’s Next Top Model. Looking at her, no one can say she isn’t beautiful. This is bound to inspire many who want to make it in the fashion industry, but hold themselves back because they fear rejection.”
Designer Poonam Bhagat says we need to show empathy and support them in anyway possible. “If a man decides to become a woman and undergoes a surgery, can you imagine the agony he must have gone through? If a transgender model wants to walk the ramp, she should be good at her work. If she/he satisfies my parameters of a model who can walk well and display my clothes well, I will have no problem whatsoever. I will be as partial or impartial to them as anyone else on the ramp.”