Sheynnis Palacios made history for Nicaragua by being proclaimed Miss Universe 2023, a pageant where she shone for her Central American beauty and also for her message committed to women around the world.
The young Nicaraguan model, who beat Miss Australia and Miss Thailand in the final round, answered powerfully to the questions asked by the judges of the beauty contest.
First, when asked to highlight her greatest qualities, she spoke of humility and gratitude for the little things in life. The second question was more profound: “If you could live in a woman’s shoes for a year, whose shoes would it be?” the judges asked.
Her response dazzled the public in El Salvador and fans around the world through social networks. “I would choose Mary Wollstonecraft (English philosopher and writer), because she was the first woman who broke ground for women’s rights. I would do my best to make wage gaps the opportunity for many women to be able to work in any area that they can perform, because there is no limit for women. That time was 1756, it is 2023 and we are making history,” she proclaimed.
What did the other finalists answer?
The answers of Moraya Wilson (Miss Australia) and Anntonia Porsild (Miss Thailand), did not achieve so much repercussion or echo. The Australian representative confessed that she would choose to be her mother, “a strong woman who taught her to work, to be brave and to whom she will always be grateful”. For her part, the Thai representative chose Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai for “her constant struggle to help women and be an agent of change”.