My mother died 18 months ago.  She was your typical Cuban mother — i.e., she loved you unconditionally and switched to tough love if necessary. 

I always remember her when I see a TV promo for a beauty pageant.  Back in my younger days, my mom and sister watched "Miss This" or "Miss That" with passion.  It was like their Super Bowl or Game 7 of the World Series.  They kept and exchanged notes about the participants.  By the way, my father, brother, and I were told to go out and eat burgers or pizza that night.

Over the weekend, I saw that Miss Universe had sort of gone woke.  This is the story:

The new owner of Miss Universe gave a speech extolling the organization as run by women, for women, and composed of women, as a "trans woman." Twitter users had some questions. 

"Welcome to the Miss Universe organization," JKN Global Group CEO Anne Jakrajutatip told the live audience at the 71st Miss Universe competition in New Orleans. 

R'Bonney Gabriel, a model, fashion designer and sewing instructor ultimately took the Miss Universe crown, beating out 83 other contestants.

"From now on it's going to be run by women, owned by a trans woman for all women around the world to celebrate the power of feminism!" Jakrajutatip declared as the audience burst into applause. 

Jakrajutatip, who purchased the parent company of Miss Universe for $20 million in 2022, continued to celebrate a new era in the Miss Universe competition. 

"Diverse cultures, social inclusion, gender equality, creativity, a force for good, and a force for the beauty of humanity."

Jakrajutatip is a well-known Thai reality TV star.

Let me confess that I did not know who Anne Jakrajutatip is.  Maybe it's because I don't follow Thai reality TV shows.  Honestly, I don't watch U.S. reality TV shows, either.  Nevertheless, it was his speech, about the power of feminism, that created controversy.

I don't know how women reacted to a man dressed up as a woman and talking about this being for all women.  I had a feeling that Anne was a bit weird when I heard his voice.

What would my mother say?  First, she would have exploded and threatened to never watch a beauty pageant again.  Then she would use one of her favorite lines: "El mundo está loco," or her way of saying the world is crazy.

Yes, the world is a bit crazy when something as simple as Miss Universe has to go political.  Last, but not least, I did check with my sister to see if she had watched it.  She said, no way!

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Image: Miss Universe.