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Transgender female Geena Rocero has been named one of Glamour magazine’s 2023 Women of the Year. The Filipino model is not only known for strutting on the ramp but also for being the founder of Gender Proud, a media house that covers stories of transgender and gender-nonconforming people.
However, her pivotal win has come with rampant backlash, as netizens are now debating over a member from the transgender community winning an award traditionally nabbed by biological females.
On November 2, Glamour magazine took to their official Instagram account to share the cover of their latest issue, which featured Geenra Rocero. They wrote in the caption:
“Rocero is using her voice to fight for the rights of the voiceless.”
Meanwhile, popular X page Clown World took to their official account to troll Glamour magazine for their decision to name Rocero as one of their Women of the Year. They wrote in the caption:
“Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year is a biological male.”
At the time of writing this article, the tweet had amassed over 300K views and launched a debate about the transgender community taking titles that were previously reserved for biological females alone.
Geena Rocero is a TED speaker
Geena Rocero was born in Manila, Philippines in 1984. She was a regular at beauty pageants until her mother invited her to move to San Francisco, California with her. In her interview with Glamour, she revealed that her mother advised her to move to the U.S. as the country would let her legally change her name and her gender.
At the age of 19, she went on to have a s*x reassignment surgery and build her career. When she was 21, she was discovered by a fashion photographer in a restaurant and signed up with NEXT Model Management. In the years that followed, she worked as a swimsuit model internationally and served as the inspiration for beauty editorials.
Geena Rocero also revealed to Glamour that her mother helped her tremendously to transition and encouraged her to embrace her new identity as a woman. Her father was also reportedly supportive and gave her “early freedom.”
She has since become a TED speaker. Rocero took the stage in Vancouver in 2014 where she shared her trans-identity publicly for the first time. She is also the founder of Gender Proud, a media production company that focuses on elevating the stories of trans and gender-nonconforming people.
Geena Rocero is also the author of Horse Barbie, her memoir that recounts her rise to advocacy in the U.S.
Geena Rocero’s Woman of the Year nomination sparks debate online
It seems like not many were pleased with Rocero becoming one of Glamour’s Women of the Year. Many expressed that nominating the transgender model would erase biological females and their identity. A few tweets read:
This is not the first time a trans person has garnered backlash for being named Woman of the Year. Recently, Attitude Awards nominated social media personality Dylan Mulvaney for the same. Trans leader Dani Laidley also was met with criticism after Maxim named her the world’s 92nd hottest woman.
