Digital art by me

When I was a kid, I was well aware of the kind of Mom I had (a connoisseur for beauty )and the kind of girls I was surrounded with (girly-girl tweens). While I do find myself interested in shows girls my age liked or get amazed watching my mom put lipstick, I also dodged a lot of "un-girly" things unexpected of me as a natural-born female. I didn't really enjoy Barbie dolls (but I love their look in bags and notebooks) and I would be ridiculed when I declared I wanted to be a soldier(I was in elementary after all during the Makati-Coup d'etat days).

Imagine my confusion when just because my interests and way of life clash with what society expects from my biological sex, I'm forced to follow the norms every little girl has while knowing I have the freedom to like what I like. At one point in my life, I was forced to join a beauty contest even if I feel it really was't something I do.

But even at that young of an age, I know and feel like a woman because I know I am and declare to the world that I associate myself as a woman. I was obviously too young to differentiate gender from sex but it didn't matter. Me liking makeup (and still do), watching Medabots(Anyone remember this?), preferring pants(because skirts are so Catholic girl school), and wearing heels(yes, I wore heels as a kid) don't really equate my worth as a woman. I know I just AM

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Recently, a certain contestant from the Miss Universe came under fire just because she is a transgender. Ms. Spain Angela Ponce caused quite a stir because she wasn't a natural born female, probably a "requirement" for such prestigious pageants as this. But still, millions have watched her strut around the stage, beautiful like all the statuesque beauties in this year's competition.

It just made me really disappointed how many here in the Philippines, raking as one of the Top 10 Most-Gender Equal countries in the world according to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2018, have expressed how they support the LGBTQ+ sector but disagree with Ms. Ponce being in Miss Universe, just because she's a transwoman.

Also, I was triggered reading this article back from July What's appalling for me is that most still believe that Miss U is meant for natural born females only and many of those interviewed are from the LGBTQ+ community. While of course, transgenders have contests they can be a part of, Miss U has become open to them already. You have to remember that back in 2012, the Miss Universe org put an end to the ban on transgender aspirants. While personally I have always disliked beauty contests for being too shallow, many beauty contests are beyond what a lady looks on the outside. It's about advocacy and helping others. Miss U, in my opinion, is leading the pack of this regenerated pageants in terms of advocacies they endorse.

It's not about beauty on the outside anymore.

For Ms. Ponce, she has always believed she is a woman and no one should declare her a man just because she was born as one nor should they make comments that she doesn't deserve to be on the Miss U stage. For Spain to have chosen her to represent the country, they obviously did not make a mistake in "choosing" her. Unlike the Philippines where we still have archaic opinions and thoughts, Spain recognizes change happening in this generation and is getting along with it. Mind you, they colonized us and introduced to us most of our culture. At least they are more forward-thinking compared to many here who still believe man is man and woman is woman, nothing else.

Who are we to point at someone like Angela and tell her she can't compete and be Miss Universe and tell her she isn't a woman?

It's all a matter of choice and accepting others' choices, especially if they aren't made by us.

I believe that we still have a long way to go in accepting one's expectation of the gender they're born with. Letting a transwoman in a contest is actually a breath of fresh air for a pageant once known for bringing in "naturally beautiful women" to compete with each other. With this, you see how definitions of being a woman has further expanded.

On being a woman, Simone de Beauvoir said it best: “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman." Becoming a woman is a result of what we choose to do. Uber traditional and conservative society, sadly, dictates what a woman should be.

Traditionally, a woman is someone born with a vagina and likes boys. These days, being a woman is more diverse and beyond what biology dictates. It's a matter of choice, like what I earlier mentioned. I'm a girl who like boys and call myself a woman. Caitlyn Jenner is a transwoman who can go out with women but considers herself a woman. You are a girl who prefers girls but still call yourself a woman. And there are so many different and personal aspects of womanhood other women embody.

The definition of what a woman is doesn't exist in the same line as one who's biologically born female because the times now witnessed a plethora of women choosing to be their own version of being a woman.

So women today can be born female or male and aspire to be who they want to be, whether be Miss Universe or be Sonny Trillanes(Hi @ me as a kid hahaha).