The Miss Costa Rica organization is in full swings with the application and casting process of this year’s national pageant. While beauty pageants, in the recent years, have been inspiring and working towards women empowerment, changing beauty standards and breaking stereotypes, this drive has motivated many young and aspiring beauty queens to step forward and make change.

For Miss Costa Rica 2022, breaking stereotypes has encouraged plus size model Jessica Rodriguez to participate in the casting of the national pageant. The 23 years old from Palmares, is a body liberation activist and went to the Miss Costa Rica casting with a clear slogan: fight against fatphobia, the repulsion towards obese people.

Gabriela Alfaro, director of the Miss Costa Rica organization, asked her about her inspiration to sign up for the casting, to which she shared that she considers it a challenge “not only to represent what I consider beautiful for me, but also to represent the many women who follow me and who see me as an example. So that they see that I am beyond a body and that I can represent it in a beautiful, special way and with great enjoyment and with great affection."

She is also a a publicist, audiovisual producer and audiology student. She uses social media to promote self-esteem, acceptance and for people to understand that the size of curves does not define a woman. The plus size model highlighted that she wants to break with the stereotypes that are held in beauty pageants.

She also went on to share the news on her social media as she wrote, “Today I decided to do something that would never have crossed my mind when I was younger, I saw it as unreal and impossible. I dared for each of you who write to me every day telling me how insecure you feel, telling me how you spend comparing and how you feel insufficient and undeserving of beautiful things. Today I tell you with all the love in the world, you are valuable, they are beautiful, they are intelligent, they are fighters and never let anyone make you feel otherwise.”

The results of the auditions will be revealed in the coming days, and although it is not yet known if Jessica is among the 10 selected, she already has the support of multiple people who have not stopped sending her good vibes, congratulating her on social networks and trust that she could become the next Miss Costa Rica.