Like Women of color, Latina and Hispanic women are not fully represented in the media. If they are, they are usually represented in a stereotypical and inaccurate way. The marketing aspect of choosing a Latina or Hispanic woman for television shows is created to maintain the image of what a Latina or Hispanic woman is like in real life. The viewer only sees the foreign woman who does not speak proper english, or the sexy latina with an accent. The same image is shown on the television screen of the attractive and curvy Latina or Hispanic women, and thus only makes that image much more difficult to break for the next woman. If the woman does not have similar characteristic of what a Latina or Hispanic woman looks like, then she becomes a character for television comedy show.
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The battle between light skinned and dark skinned Latinas and Hispanics creates a huge division in our representation in media. The image of the Afro-Latina is often not embraced, and shunned because of the image that is already created for the Latina and Hispanic woman in media and society. In an article on Feminspire, Gina Torres, a Dominican actress, has yet to play a Latina on screen. She says “when I became an actress I quickly realize that the world liked their Latinos to look Italian. Not like me. So I wasn’t going up for Latina parts. I was going up for African American parts.” Torres’ experience is one that is very widespread. There is no place for Black Latinas in Hollywood. Not having anyone to look up to on the big screen and lack of representation kills the confidence of real-life Black Latinas.”
On television shows, the Latinas and Hispanics socioeconomic status is often associated with poor or struggling families who immigrated from a foreign country. We are never the rich, but always the poor. In a typical sitecom, the woman is both the mother and the housewife, while the man is the father and the worker. In the Latino community, the woman almost always has the same equality and importance as the man. The relationship between the sexes and their roles are not inferior to one another. However, the Latino and Hispanics are always almost categorized as the hard-working but struggling family. We are either the maids of the white family or man, or the woman who is saved by her prince charming and escapes the vecindad (low-income neighborhood).
I have created a blog on wordpress.com called Latinausente. I will analyze and critique the misrepresentation and underrepresentation of Latina and Hispanic women in media, specifically on television shows. As I was researching for this project, I noticed the lack of information I found on the perspectives of Latinas and Hispanics in the media. As a Latina, I believe that my project will only strengthen the Latina and Hispanic community, and create new perspectives that have not yet been discussed. Our community is growing, and therefore we are becoming huge markets for television sitcoms. However, there is no progression if the same image of the loud, poor, but sexy Latina are being casted with the same storyline.
Timeline:
Post 1: Introduction Nov 1th
Post 2: Analyzing stereotype: Appearances. Long wavy hair, busty, and curves? Nov 6th
Post 3: Light skinned Latinas in Media Nov 13
Post 4: Dark skinned Latinas in Media Nov 20
Post 5: Analyzing Socio-economic status Nov 27
Post 6: Analyzing religion on Spanish networks and sitcoms Nov 31
Latinos, Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People by Arlene Dávila
Very interesting proposal, Thalia! As a Latino myself, I completely recognize and turn a critical eye to the misrepresentation of Latina women in popular media. Change needs to be made. Your topic is interesting and your timetable offers consistency and enough diverse topics to tackle. Besides the negative though, try to write one or two additional posts on those "special cases", highlighting those Latina women who are both accurately represented in media and who proudly represent their heritage outwardly. (Just to cover all the bases!) And check out this article! http://bit.ly/1HTExSN It might be interesting to write a post on the shocking amount of actors/actresses who aren't even marketed as Latino(a) (Going back to the point you made with Gina Torres!) All in all though, this final project is looking very promising!
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