Beauty pageants remind me of the Crufts dog show, but there is no doubting their popularity in some parts of the world, and a new rule-change could see them becoming more inclusive. The Miss Universe pageant has changed its rules to allow transgender women to participate. Jenna Talackova, the Miss Canada contestant, who underwent sex reassignment surgery four years ago, prompted the change. Talackov’s sex change initially meant that organisers in Canada had to disqualify her because formerly the rules demanded that all contestants be “naturally born” women.