Stereotyping of Latina Women in the United States - Research Paper Example

Stereotyping of Latina Women in the United s Stereotyping is not considered a negative quality but it does put into hot water those who are subjected to it. In fact stereotyping by its very definition implies pinning the perception of a person to a one image. In the United States there are many people of assorted family backgrounds, races, social classes and religions; it is one of the most cosmopolitan countries if not the most cosmopolitan one. Hence it is harsh to expect of someone to understand completely the nuances of values of every culture abiding in the U.S. But some sections of society seem to be purposely promoting the stereotypical images of some races for conveniences of a certain kind. One of these sections is the entertainment media industry and their convenience in this regard is the ease in selling their product. While there are a few common tendencies of the TV and film industry of stereotyping groups of people, like African Americans and chopper riders, this paper sheds light on the entertainment media’s love affair with certain portrayals of Latino women. It traces the origins of the practice of stereotyping Latinas on TV and film, investigates its immersion in modern society, calculates its impact on the lives of its affectees and alludes to the solution of the problem. Stereotypes It was Gary D. Keller (2) who, in 1994, first drew a detailed picture of the problem, characterising the three principle types of stereotypes that are promulgated by the mainstream TV and film media. These include the image of a sexually attractive, flamboyant middle-aged woman; the ill-fated, subservient, selfless single woman and the deceptive and cunning beauty that stabs its admirers in the back for vested interests. The portrayal of Latino women as sexual objects is the most common stereotype of Latinas in the TV and film industry. The fact that Latina bodies are desired for their exoticness (Guzman, 205) is a testament to the fact that the larger American audience still views Hispanic heritage among Americans with a connotation of foreignness. The portrayal of attractive, smart-looking Latino women as femme fatales can be traced to as far back as the film periodicals of the silent era, when Russian actresses Vera Karalli and Vera Kholodnya, ironically, played roles of Latin vamps (Zale, 169). It is also common for producers to cast Latinas as poor housewives sacrificing their joys for the well being of their family’s interrelations or as housekeepers showing utter selflessness and subservience to their masters. In a recent study (Rivadeneyra, 393), seven groups of thirty seven students in total were shown montages of different TV shows and movies casting Latino actresses. In their observations, two of the seven groups noted that that it is rare to see Latinos playing positive roles on television: “They always portray them as the lower class or as the maids or whatever. You never see a CEO of a company being Hispanic or whatever like in a regular TV show.” These trends of stereotyping of Latinas are not fading away yet. Just this year a new show called "Devious Maids" (Shearmur), produced in the famous ABC studios aired, depicting the story of five Latino maids. The show seems to combine two popular stereotypes of Latino women and proves that there still is great market demand for such portrayals of Latino women. Origins and Causes The portrayal of a certain group of people on camera cannot have much bearing on the group’s place in the real world. How then, does this stereotyping of Latinas by the TV and film industry translate to the great inaccuracy in perception of Latinas in American society? In her critical analysis of this issue’s manifestation in the popular TV series Desperate Housewives, Debra Merskin (133) answers this question: “It is through the repetition of these Latina stereotypes in mass media, both on and off screen that solidifies these stereotypes of Latina women in society.” It is evidently well qualified to say that Carmen Miranda can be regarded as the prime suspect in the plantation of the sexy Latina image in the minds of American audiences. From the 1920s through the 1940s, she broke through racial and ethnic barriers to ascend to celebrity status in U.S. popular entertainment. It was the path to success, the need to play the roles as stipulated that led to her cementing the notion of spicy attractiveness of Latinas and association with the lower classes of society. Along with Dolores del Rio and Lupe Velez, she directed American movie audiences to the image of the exotic, flamboyantly sexual Latina that they could easily memorize in absence of significant real-life contact with the budding Latino constituent of American population. It is possible that the dexterity required for commendable performance of the ballet dance along with the bodily projections of the Latina entertainers in the late part of first half of the last century may have played a role in the characterization of certain types of Latino women as femme fatales. Though it is not hard to see where the third kind of Latina stereotypes, characterized by the association of a race with a certain social class, comes from. It comes from the Latinos’ status of immigrants. It is inconceivable that a rich Mexican would risk attempting to cross the border into U.S.A. Hence since a lot of Hispanics in the U.S. are illegal immigrants, this perception seems relatively justified. Consequences Esther J. Cepeda, a nationally syndicated opinion columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group, says that wherever she has worked in America, people have chalked up assumptions about the basic tenets of her life as a child. She says that people assume she had a dramatic, impoverished childhood, growing up in a barrio. She in fact grew up in an affluent neighbourhood in Chicago and both her parents had attained college degrees before her birth. Such generalizations create damning complications in Latino women’s professional careers. The notion of the ‘bimbo’ that has been engraved into the public’s understanding of the Latina’s intellect makes it hard for these women to be accepted as seniors in corporate settings. Even when Latinas do manage to get to the top echelons of corporate management, they are often not taken seriously by their subordinates, especially by men. Addressing the Issue The key, according to some feminist Latinas, to dissociating oneself from generalizations about oneself is not buying into the perceptions of others. “Don’t feed into it yourself. We give into in and then complain about it” advises Diaz, a feminist social worker. She believes that by participating in the building of these preconceived notions about themselves, the Latinas not only undermine their own images but also do a disservice to the other working Latino women in society. The media tends to stereotype minority groups in America in its pursuit of providing its audience descriptions of matters concerning these minorities (Correa, 426). This is a consequence of the lack of support for naturalization of cross-border immigrants from some quarters of the white American populous. The most ardent opposition comes from conservative lobbyists and legislators and this helps to maintain a barrier in the path of psychological naturalization of the whole Hispanic community of the United States. Therefore political activism is the most efficient and effective method of battling these public perceptions. The National Association of Latina Leaders (NALL) has made exactly that its main aim. Co-founded in 2003 by Former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin and Media entrepreneur Cathy Areu, NALL is a non-profit organization representing 46 million Hispanic women from all over the United States. The organization works to break stereotypes of Hispanic women in the private and public sectors. NALL launched the Catalina magazine in 2001 in order to take its battle against Latina stereotypes to the entertainment media front. Having a circulation of 500,000, the magazine has featured on its cover many famous names like Daisy Fuentes, Eva La Rue, Mario Lopez, Ricardo Antonio Chavira, Maria Conchita Alonso, and Natalie Morales to promote its message. Conclusion When assessing the importance and impact of the issue of stereotyping, it is to be stressed that Latinas have to absorb the pressures of beating the Latino-related stereotypes whilst also navigating through the societal dogmas regarding women’s roles in society. What is more likely to undermine a Latina or a woman than the challenges posed by the stereotype itself is the ‘stereotype threat’ or the apprehension about conforming to the stereotype through one’s own actions. Inability to deal with the resulting anxiety then makes the person wear the stereotype. While the road to complete disassociation of Latinas from Latina stereotypes is long, what is encouraging is that unlike most other social issues, this one does hinge, to a large degree, on the course of a governmental policy; and there is a history in the United States of major societal paradigm shifts being caused by political activism. Works Cited Correa, Teresa. "Framing Latinas: Hispanic women through the lenses of Spanish-language and English-language news media." Journalism 11.4 (2010): 425-443. Guzman, Isabel Molina, and Angharad N. Valdivia. "Brain, brow, and booty: Latina iconicity in US popular culture." The communication review 7.2 (2004): 205-221. Keller, Gary D. "Hispanics and United States Film: An Overview Handbook." Bilingual Review/La Revista Bilingue 18.2/3 (1993): 1-230. Merskin, Debra. "Three faces of Eva: Perpetuation of the hot-Latina stereotype in Desperate Housewives." The Howard Journal of Communications 18.2 (2007): 133-151. Rivadeneyra, Rocio. "Do you see what I see? Latino adolescents’ perceptions of the images on television." Journal of Adolescent Research 21.4 (2006): 393-414. Shearmur, Edward. Devious Maids. A+E Networks. LIFE, New York City, New York, Summer 2013. Television. Zale, Jennifer. "Dance and the Hollywood Latina: Race, Sex and Stardom (review)." Black Camera 3.1 (2011): 168-171. Read More