The Weekly Whims Of HatManJim: Transvestite Beauty Queens

A weather-beaten eye cast over the media: HatManJim looks at a story in the headlines and as a feminist with a penis (Menimist? Femi-meni-mist? I just believe i n women’s rights, I’m not having gender-reassignment. OK?), attempts to map the sexism inherent in the press, without inadvertently saying anything lecherous about breasts.

Venezuela is, it seems, a country dominated by machismo. Even their president, the controversial Hugo Chavez, portrays himself as a fiery left-wing firebrand, both dutifully violent (he is usually seen publicly in military uniform) and intellectually passionate (he writes poetry. I’ve read some of it. It’s… interesting…).

In Venezuela men are men and women are beautiful, apparently. Specifically they are beauty queens. Under the auspices of the Miss Venezuela Organization the country has produced no less than six Miss Universes, five Miss Worlds, five Miss Internationals and one Miss Earth (that is, according to Wikipedia – don’t tell me I don’t do my research properly).

It’s hardly the progressive socialist image that Chavez wants the world to associate with the country but, hey, the chicks are hot there and the guys appreciate them. Them big, macho guys… Grrr!

Which is possibly why this report in The Guardian UK by Rory Carroll seems to have created quite an internet buzz.

Yes, the latest beauty pageant to hit Caracas is Miss Fat Gay Venezuela, a parade of overweight transvestites. Genius. But to give Mr Chavez some credit, according to one of the drag queens in the video that accompanies the report, this would not have been possible until recently. He claims that public homosexuality is more accepted now, a sign at least that the radical left leader has instilled some sense of tolerance. Or as Carroll puts it: “In this environment a beauty contest for overweight drag queens is revolutionary…”.

But building a more tolerant society means changing the culture and getting people to reassess the values they pass on to the next generation. Also in the video, witness the disapproving uncle of one of one of the transvestites. The uncle in question is a car mechanic (grr!!) and says:

“Me? I’m machista. It’s the way I was brought up since I was small, they encourage you to play the part of the machista.”

Whereas his nephew claims:

“Machismo is something that is still very strong in Venezuela. However, the gay community is there fighting every day for our rights to be respected.”

So one guy who says he’s playing a role he’s been told to ever since he was a child and another who risks violence and family disapproval every day to fight for his rights and those of others like him. I know which one sounds more like a real man to me.

HatManJim’s column will appear every Saturday.