Hair-colour, breast implants, transgender: Where's the problem for pageants?

Tamsyn Burgmann, Today, Canadian Press

http://thetyee.ca/CanadianPress/2012/03/28/Sex-Change-Miss-Universe-17492762/

VANCOUVER - In the stage-managed world of beauty pageants, hair colouring is essential, learning to walk goes without saying and contestants often undergo cosmetic surgery without batting an eye.

Yet revelations that a 23-year-old from Vancouver vying for the Miss Universe Canada title went under the knife for sex reassignment has ignited a debate about the contests that's more than skin deep.

Jenna Talackova was disqualified earlier this month after admitting to officials she was transgender, which ran contrary to rules set out by the organization that participants must be "naturally born" women.

At the heart of the controversy is whether the decision constitutes discrimination.