The contestants in the Miss California Latina proudly represent the beauty of the Hispanic woman as well as the heritage of their families, as is the case with this year’s winner, Cristal Muñoz.
“The Latinas of today feel prouder of being Latinas, because … U.S. society … discouraged them from feeling pretty,” Miss California Latina 2012 told Efe.
Muñoz said that when she was a girl she felt that “it wasn’t good enough to compete in a beauty contest on this level and win.”
At the gala, held Sunday evening in the Pasadena Convention Center, each of the 50 contestants expressed her pride in being Hispanic after she had performed.
“In my reign, I want to encourage all Latinas that what is important is that we be happy. Our race doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter if we belong to a demographic minority. We’re different and therefore, as Hispanics, we need to embrace all the ethnicities and all the cultures that there are here in California,” said Muñoz.
Miss California Latina 2012 holds a degree in communications and journalism from Azusa Pacific University and currently she is studying law at Glendale University.
“I’m very happy and proud to have won and I want to be an example for the Latino community, because I want everyone to fight for their dreams as I have fought for mine,” Muñoz said.
Reprinted from Hispanically Speaking News