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An Open Letter to Miriam Quiambao (1999 Ms. Universe Runner-Up)

Ron de Vera
Ron de Vera

Dear Miriam,

Warm greetings to a lovely woman! I have been a big fan ever since you placed first runner up in the 1999 Ms. Universe. Yes, even before major major mistakes and tsunami walks came into existence, you already captured the global audience (and me) with your signature statuesque pose. And who could forget how gracefully you picked yourself up when you fell on stage? Indeed, you have become an inspiration to other women. As for me, my admiration went beyond that pageant. I consider you one of the few women in show business who actually have real skill and talent plus a humanitarian heart to boot.

But today, I am writing you about this deep pang of disappointment that stabbed me from the inside when I read your tweets. The first that caught my attention was this:

Screenshot of retweet

(http://m.tmi.me/obI4l – posting retweet as original has been deleted)

I immediately called this out and sent you a direct tweet:

my reply

after which, you replaced your tweet with this (the version that others picked up and retweeted):

Miriam s new tweet

I want to make it clear that I have yet to take a stand on the policy change so I don’t think we will have any problems in that area. I am writing you in hopes that I could help you form a new perspective on transgender issues and concepts by addressing your tweets point by point.

Tweet #1:

Tweet #1

Do not be surprised but just by putting the words “real” and “women” next to each other, you have already made a discriminatory remark. You have already judged transgender women as “fake women” thereby relegating them to second class citizens. My friend Sass wrote a comprehensive explanation on what makes a woman, a woman. She wrote:

“How do you determine who is “naturally born a woman”? By considering who is born with a vagina or not? Or by considering the configuration of the brain when one is born? According to research, the sexual differentiaton of the body into male and female does not end when you were born. The brain itself undergoes sexual differentation as well and this sexual differentation happens independently of the differentiation of the genitalia, and it continues even after you were born (Hence, assigning a baby female or male at birth should be, at best, considered provisional). ALL these processes are natural. If we are going to use this line of thinking with the case of Jenna Talackova. Jenna is a “natural woman” for she was born with a brain that sexually differentiated into a female brain. Unless of course you want to confine femaleness to (being born with a vagina), which of course is not a scientific decision but a social decision based on a genital centric tradition.”

 

Although I could be wrong, I believe you are the kind of person who would favor the brain as the seat of identity instead of the genitals. Indeed, if a baby is born without genitals, we can always wait for the baby to grow up and decide (using their brain) if their identity is female or male. However, if a baby is born with genitalia but without a brain, this discussion would be irrelevant as there would not even be a living human to speak of. So as long as there is a functioning brain that self-identifies as female, the owner of that brain shall be a woman, a “real woman”, regardless of her genitalia.

Tweet #2:

Actually, the Miss Universe website states the following rule:

“CAN CONTESTANTS BE MARRIED?

No, contestants may not be married or pregnant. They must not have ever been married, not had a marriage annulled nor given birth to, or parented, a child. The titleholders are also required to remain single throughout their reign.”

Falling in love and marrying a partner, giving birth, becoming a mother, aren’t all these part of the essence of being a woman? Before you even turn your back on Jenna, shouldn’t you be defending the rights of the “real women” out there who are disqualified because they’ve gone through such womanly experiences like giving birth? This is not a rhetorical question. I honestly, genuinely believe you are in a position to push this kind of change. I honestly, genuinely believe that given a choice you would pick the path of inclusiveness (questioning this rule) instead of the path of exclusiveness (disapproving of Jenna’s participation).

Tweet #3

Tweet #3

By letting Jenna participate after disqualifying her, Donald Trump has sent a very powerful message. And that message is when Jenna won her case, she “stood up for the rest of the women who have fallen whether on or off stage,” through Jenna’s example, she has “shown courage and strength of being a woman,” she is “a good example to the rest of the women in the world!” Oh wait, that was your message. But see, if you claim to be a humanitarian, I would expect that you would see the positive and share in human celebration rather than see the negative and throw a curtain of exclusion.

I don ‘t think your world would fall apart if I decided I didn’t like you anymore but much of how I regard you depends on how you will respond to this situation. With some luck and critical analysis, may you join the ranks of other LGBT allies like Hillary Clinton, Anne Hathaway, and Adam Levine. When that day comes, no Jenna Talackova would have to pick herself up from falling on a transphobic misinformed stage.

Still a fan,

Ron de Vera

(signed)

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37 comments

  1. According to the dictionary "fake" meant not genuine. Honestly, looking at Jenna, everything about her is manufactured beauty. Her boobs aren't real for one, and I'm sure she has had a lot of plastic surgery done so she can look like a "real" woman. I think that women who should join the Ms. Universe should not have any plastic surgeries done. With regard to the policy of not letting married women and those who have had a child into the pageant, I think this is only sensible as those who win the Ms. Universe becomes busy traveling and helping charitable institutions. Such duties can only be done by a woman who has no responsibility with her family.

    • If cancer takes a woman's breasts and ovaries from her and she opts for surgery to regain her previous look, would you dare call her fake?
      And if not, what would make this hypothetical woman's "fake" -ness different from Jenna's?
      Real women have flat chests. Real women have big boobs. Real women have round hips. Real women have narrow hips. Real women are fat, thin, tall, short, curvy, long haired, bald, muscular, and scrawny. Real women have ovaries, real women don't. Who are you to decide what a real woman is?

  3. I have no problem with gays and lesbians, but having transgenders compete in an arena for "real" women is just pushing the envelope too far, primarily because they are NOT women. How can they be, if they do not even go through the same reproductive cycles of a real woman. Does a mere surgical procedure, or the artificial implantation of sex organs make them female? They cannot claim to have feelings of a woman because they have no idea what a real woman is like. Besides. they have their gay pageants already, so just leave it at that.

  5. IMO, this will be unfair to physically born women since they are confined by an unsaid rule that shuns non-medical surgery. To them, the surgery required for transwomen is a taboo.

    As for transwomen (in the local scene), they're also in a disadvantage, a bigger disadvantage since I really doubt judges would favor them.

    Also, in the pageant itself, I'm betting we're going to see a lot of protests and appeals when a transgender woman wins, especially if the representative of a catholic country with a lot of bad losers gets into the top 5. And winner's gonna have a hard time being an ambassador if she visits such a country.

    It's great they're becoming more open minded, but I don't see this being accepted in the near future.

  6. How about the growing hiv/aids issue? I think 80% of the newly infected are gay men. Theres a growing concern about this. How come gay mouths are mum about this? Isnt this a lifestyle issue? Writer, pls convince me that gay lifestyle is different from straight peeps. And pls explain why are the hiv infected predominantly gay men.

    • 80% of newly infected men are gay? As a health care professional, I feel obliged to tell you that you are grossly misinformed. In fact, gender inequality is directly correlated to rates of HIV infection. http://www.who.int/gender/hiv_aids/en/

      Also, your statement is a non sequitur. the HIV/AIDS issue has nothing to do with transgenders participating in beauty pageants.

    • //I think 80% of the newly infected are gay men. Theres a growing concern about this.//

      What you think is a very different animal from what actually is. So please, if you want to be taken seriously, do back up your claim that 80 percent of HIV cases are from gays with hard data.

    • I am a health care professional as well, and I disagree with your statement that:

      "…80% of the newly infected are gay men"

      This is a grave insult. AIDS and HIV can also be transmitted non-sexually, let's say if you are accidentally punctured by an infected needle, or after receiving blood transfusions, or even getting a tattoo with unsterile methods. Kindly provide an updated and reliable source for your claims. Thanks.

  7. //This is true. In the natural world, homosexuality has been seen among several hundred species.
    Of ANIMALS. You sure have great company. //

    My friend, you're being inconsistent. In you prior statement, you said that LGBTs were "NOT BY NATURAL DESIGN."

    And now you're basically agreeing that they're natural. Which is it?

    //Of ANIMALS. You sure have great company. //

    Funny thing is, humans are the only species of animal that have homophobia.

  8. It's an amazing step for Miss Universe to allow participation of transgenders in the first place. However, there's still the matter of conforming to a narrow, arbitrary beauty standard that focuses on physical assets. Plus I don't see any changes regarding the morality they try to impose on candidates.

    I have nothing against most beauty pageants, really. They're a different kind of fun kitsch. They just aren't terribly liberal or bastions of diversity or equality.

    It really also irks me to hear from people that the essence of a woman is to give birth. I'm a mother of two myself, but I am not defined by my ability to be a proper brood mare.

      • It's actually a very, very difficult "thing" to define, and I'd like to say I'm constantly trying to find it out. I definitely know that being a woman doesn't necessarily have to involve, or possess in absolute:

        1. Biological definitions of male and female (based on hormones, chromosomes, genitalia, etc)
        2. Fertility or conception or child-rearing ability
        3. Stereotypical definitions of "female" characteristics such as liking pink, dresses, being motherly, nurturing, soft, etc.
        4. Who I have sex with

        I do know I'm a person, born female, cisgendered and hetero.

  9. MANILA, Philippines – The Bb. Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BPCI), which sends representatives to the Miss Universe beauty pageant every year, said Thursday it will respect the decision of the Miss Universe Organization to allow transgenders to compete starting next year.

    "We respect the decision of the Miss Universe Organization to change its policy regarding transgender participation in the pageant. At the moment, however, we are still awaiting the guidelines of this policy decision from the Miss Universe Organization," said Tessa Mangahas, Public Relations and Corporate Communications Manager of Araneta Center, Inc.

    This developed as officials of the Miss Earth beauty contest said transgenders are not allowed in the Miss Earth pageant, one of the contests rivaling the Miss Universe competition.

    – http://ph.news.yahoo.com/bb-pilipinas-now-open-tr…

  10. I don't get why people feel the need to be possessive about the term 'woman'. As if considering transgender women to fall within the term were a personal insult.

    Which brings us to the classic pageant question, "What is the essence of being a woman?" What defines "woman" and makes me a "woman"? I'm quite sure that it is not my breasts, my ovaries, my fallopian tubes, my uterus or my vagina. (If a woman had all these parts cut/closed off, would she still be a woman?) I'm sure it's not the fact that I wasn't born without a penis, either. (What of hermaphrodites, then?) I'm sure that it's not the estrogen and the progesterone in my bloodstream. (Women after menopause are still women, the last time I checked.) I'm VERY sure that it is also not my ability to bear a child or my willingness to raise children. (The decision not to bear and nurture children does not negate womanhood.) I'm also positive that it's not the gender role that society expects me to fill. All in all, I cannot claim ownership of this term. I am a woman, but given the diverse conditions of women worldwide I do not own it nor do I have the right to define it as one thing or the other.

    Neither do I think that my womanhood is threatened by transgender women joining pageants, marrying men, raising children, or generally just living their lives the way they want to. If anything, I'm happy that we are slowly growing into a society that embraces diversity instead of placing everyone in rigid, degrading gender roles.

    Might I also say that, as a liberal Christian, I believe that God created LGBTQ people as they are. They are not anomalies. Christians love to claim that they have 'God-given' talents and virtues. Is gender identity no less a gift?

  12. Which do you think is better, you are what you are by how God created you, or you are how you are by what you've chosen to become? You can choose to remain as how God created you and be dissatisfied, as I'm sure you are, or you can utilize the gifts he has given and improve what you can to go about with what makes you happier. At the end of the day, respecting the beliefs and choices of a person proves to be what's most important. The LGBT community are who they are by choice, and while maintaining their "natural design" might not be of everyone's stature, it is important to note that being "anomalies" is out of the question. And since we are what we are by choice, we respect each other by what we choose to become, and if other people acknowledge and support us for such, there is no reason that one cannot work their God-given gifts of comprehension and understanding to do so as well.

  13. Mr. Ron de Vera, you may rant endlessly about empowering LBGTs, but at the end of the day, LBGTs are an ANOMALY. FAKE. ARTIFICIAL.

    LBGTs think they are who they are. But they are who they are by choice; NOT BY NATURAL DESIGN.

  14. Miss Mirian used the term ‘real’ woman because she was stating the obvious..transgender are ‘fake’ woman coz they used science to trick people and their minds to thinking they are true women..it is not about how ur mind decides on what gender u want..God made us the way we are coz there is a divine purpose for it…he gave you that brain for u to tell what gender u are by looking at ur body and accepting what he gave you..not go against his will…dont even use as excuse the situation where in one is born without gender coz that is an exception..dont make that as basis for all the human being in this world to just decide on their gender as they wish…a REAL woman ACCEPTS everything that is given to her,and makes the most out of the situation…she doesnt run away and pretend to be someone whom she knows she’s not….she is strong enough to handle the truth and resides to what is RIGHT.So i dont see why Miss Miriam has to explain her actions…as a representative of the ‘real’ woman,she has all the right to protect women’s rights…it’s already enough that most society already accepts transgenders…GIVE TO THE REAL WOMEN WHAT IS TO THE REAL WOMEN ALONE.

  15. simple lang yan tsong kung Bibliya ang pagbabasehan 2 tao lng ang nilikha ng Diyos there’s no in between but still i respect other genders

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