Ai Haruna, Miss International Queen 2009

Japanese TV personality Ai Haruna is back in Japan promoting her new photo book. A few days ago, she was crowned winner of Miss International Queen 2009 pageant in Thailand:

The winner, Japan’s 37 year-old Haruna Ai, was overjoyed at press time, but also aware that her beauty and victory would not be well-received among all audiences, including her home country. “The way of life in Japan is more traditional and transsexuals cannot live freely, but in Thailand they can do what they want,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

In fact, the pageant, which took place at the Thai beach resort of Pattaya, is taken very seriously and respected for its open tolerance of sexual diversity. The contestants, all born men, were competing for the grand prize of $10,000, a year’s stay at the Pattaya hotel, and a 500-dollar surgical voucher, all of which Haruna Ai took home.

The prize money and the surgical voucher probably seem big to the other contestants, but they wouldn’t even come close to paying the bill for all of Haruna’s cosmetic surgery. In a past TV appearance, Haruna said that she has spent about 60 million yen ($660,000) on various surgical procedures.

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k

ahh I remember them calling her fat on a show and bet her that she couldnt lose 15 kgs, it was pretty funny because they gave these two fat chicks a diet of only oranges(so they said) before.
Haruna Ai is on tv alot in japan so I wouldnt say its that bad, plus I remember they play a drama in the morning actually called “new half”.

p.s you messed up on your zero’s man. ” ($660,00)”
STDV

She looks so Phillipino.
kuiasg

ahem, I believe all the Strings matching “her” in this article should be replaced with “his”

Luke

If a person wants to be identified as a woman, then you should respect that and use feminine pronouns appropriately.

laggedreaction

How is that any different than if I want to be identified as a Martian or an aardvark?

helical

Social recognition of whether it’s an issue, is the main difference probably.
It’s widely known that a significant number of people have serious issues with their own sexual identity, often by genetics and forces beyond the person’s control, so the custom arose where to respect what the person identifies themselves as.

Extraterrestrials and burrowing mammals probably don’t enjoy the same level of recognition, I suspect.
George

To echo helical:

Gender and sex are different. Gender is self-identified. Sex is not. “Her” refers to her gender.

In civilized society, we respect self-identification of gender.
tokyojesusfist

The only reason why I call her a her is because she bears more resemblance to a woman than a man. The notion of “self-identifying” your gender is ridiculous.
The Other K

According to the AP style guide, reporters are to:

“Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics (by hormone therapy, body modification, or surgery) of the opposite sex and present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth. If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly”.

Enough said.
Tensigh

Shouldn’t we respect truth more than “gender” (a word which has been hijacked and misused, it actually refers to genetalia! Notice the root of the word.)
Luke

Well, You’re wrong.
Both ‘Gender’ and ‘Genitalia’ come from the Latin, ‘Genus’, which means ‘race, stock, kind’.

Respecting ‘truth’ over one’s preference?
Should we call biracial persons mulattos?
The Overthinker

“Biracial” is not inaccurate. Nor is “mulatto.” Calling someone with one black parent and one white parent a black is in fact more inaccurate.

Face It

I’m not going to refer this he-freak as a “her” regardless of how badly he or any of you want me to. To do so would be to participate in a lie. I might be convinced to refer to him as an “it” as a compromise.

By the same argument, I will not be bullied into referring to a terrorist as a “freedom fighter.” The rest of you may do as you please. Your credibility will reflect accordingly.

k

hey i didnt post this. lame.

sublight

Good for her. She always comes across as one of the more charming and genuinely funny tarentos.
Alec

Wow, well done to her! She’s very beautiful. Last year’s winner looked hot too. Is she Korean?

k

nah dude its haruna ai she was a singer back in the day when she was a boy and now shes a tv personality

robert

OMG, I thought she was hot… until I read the word transsexual. My eyes have been rapeplayed.

The Overthinker

Yeah, it’s very disturbing. More acceptable if all the bits have been replaced, but otherwise it ends up as being a crying game.

http://animemiz.wordpress.com animemiz

Congrats! I am happy to hear of her win.
Dchama

That’s alot of money for surgery! you’d think she’d look super amazing at that price.
Tensigh

Yeah, I think a disservice is done both to this man and to readers by mistakingly referring to this man as “her”.

Ingy

That’s very disrespectful of you. She is just that, a ‘she’. Referring to her as a man is just wrong.

Ai Haruna, Miss International Queen 2009

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