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Fil-Am supermodel Geena Rocero looks back on pageant days in the Philippines
She may be a famous supermodel now, but Geena Rocero will forever cherish her Filipino roots.
In an interview with Kapuso reporters, Geena looked back at where it all started: joining beauty pageants in the Philippines.
"I miss the time when I would go on a bus with my trans mother, with my trans sisters when we would join pageants all over the provinces, all over the way to Pangasinan, Ilocos to La Union, to Tarlac to Pampanga," she recalled.
"I remember those days when we would just... We didn't know where we're staying that night and because we're joining pageants, we get invited by hermano mayor and so we get invited to their house and because of that we get to meet their family, their extended family. It's one big happy barangay fiesta. I miss that," she added.
She said that every month of May, there were many pageants because were so many fiestas.
This pageant culture is something to celebrate, she added.
"The way we do pageants in the Philippines is so Filipino. In my travels all over the world, I've never seen a culture that's like us when it comes to pageants," she said.
"And that's something to celebrate and it's so unique," she added.
However, she said that people should also start being more "open" to the evolution of pageants, particularly on the topic of transgender women.
"Especially as a transwoman, we're having a conversation about inclusion of transwomen in different types of pageants. I think we need to continue that conversation. I remember as a young trans beauty queen, you know winning pageants became my economic empowerment. I was able to afford a hormones, I was able to afford to take care of myself," she said.
Geena was born in Manila, and moved to New York in 2005 to pursue a career in modeling. After a successful eight-year career, Geena came out as a transgender woman during a TED Talk.
During the same interview, Geena expressed optimism over pageants being more inclusive of transgender women.
"So things are changing," she said. "Come on, Miss Universe Philippines. Let's do this."
Geena is currently hosting Miss Universe Philippines 2020's "Ring Light" series, which premiered on September 27, and will culminate in the pageant's coronation night on October 25. —JCB, GMA News
